Present Moments: Mindfulness Matters

(This story is by Margie Culbertson, an AARP Mississippi volunteer and freelance writer. Her photo is on the left.)

Be happy in the moment. That's enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.
― Mother Teresa

Time Magazine’s January 23, 1914 cover proclaimed this is the age of “The Mindful Revolution.”

A simple definition of mindfulness is: “Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment” sometimes during meditation, but also when we begin to notice small details of everyday life. While the full notion of mindfulness began in the Buddhist tradition over 2,500 years ago, mindfulness as a healing technique in the Western world began late in the 20 ^th century.

Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn is the foremost Western mindfulness expert. A Ph.D. graduate in molecular biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, he founded the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Clinic in 1979.

In 1982, Zinn’s research article on using mindfulness in the treatment of pain became the first such study ever published in a bona fide academic journal. The paper reported that a majority of patients “reported ‘great” or ‘moderate’ pain reduction, and even if their pain didn’t disappear, they experienced less depression, tension, anxiety, fatigue, and confusion.” Current reports, such as research from the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center tell us that, just in the last ten years, “significant research has shown mindfulness to address health issues such as lower blood pressure and boost the immune system; increase attention and focus, including aid those suffering from ADHD; help with difficult mental states such as anxiety and depression, fostering well-being and less emotional reactivity; and thicken the brain in areas in charge of decision making, emotional flexibility, and empathy.”

Also research has shown mindfulness aids with loneliness and boosting the immune system. Other research has studied the benefits of mindfulness in the workplace, in struggling school systems and football fields, in K-12 educational settings, with teacher stress, with Alzheimer’s patients, in the slowing of aging, and many other populations.

If I’ve peaked your curiosity about mindfulness, one good place to learn more is to read Elisha Goldstein’s article called “ 7 Things Mindful People Do Differently and How to Get Started”. In addition, here is a list of the foremost scholars studying mindfulness, including links, which you can turn to: Ellen Langer, Ph.D.; Tara Brach, Ph.D.; Jack Kornfield, Ph.D.; Richard Davidson, Ph.D. and Daniel Siegel, Ph.D.

There are also a multitude of YouTube videos such as this one from Dr. Daniel Siegel, and a Jon Kabat-Zinn MBSR guided “body scan” meditation, which are all available online.

Friar Dean Perri once said, “The past is history, the future is a mystery, but today is a gift—that’s why they call it ‘the present.’” I believe Friar Perri would tell us to use our present wisely.

(NOTE: In our next column, we’ll focus on The Power of Humor.” To contact Margie for questions, comments, or suggestions, or to gain access to her earlier columns, email her at humorandlife@gmail.com ).