The litmus test for mindfulness

Mindfulness is often misunderstood, or maybe better said, it's not understood well enough.

Do you think you're clear on what mindfulness is?

You might be nodding 'yes', but would you be able to state whether a particular meditation or mindful practice is truly 'mindfulness', something else, or a hybrid of some sort?

The key traits of mindfulness

After many years of running and attending many workshops and teaching mindfulness facilitators, I'd love to share with you my list of the Key Traits of Mindfulness.

Here's how the 'litmus test' concept comes into play here: If you are wondering if a practice you're doing is mindfulness or not, see if it matches some or all of these Key Traits.

I invite you to read this uninterrupted. Slow down, and really take in what you are reading.

Do these traits align with your understanding of mindfulness?

Key Traits of Mindfulness

1. Presence

• Being in the now

• Bringing full attention to what we are experiencing in the present moment

• Not thinking about the past or the future

2. Awareness

• Being self-aware of what we are experiencing within and around us

• Observing our thoughts, emotions, and body sensations

• Being aware of what is around us (ie: sounds, objects, other people’s body language)

3. Non-judgment

• Not getting caught up in our likes and dislikes

• Being aware of our tendency to judge

• Noticing when judgment is arising within us without acting on it

4. Being with what is

• Seeing and accepting people, situations, objects, places, etc. as they are

• Acceptance does not mean we have to like it or passively resign ourselves to it

• A willingness to observe not only what is happening but the acceptance that it is happening, so we can move forward with intention

5. Kindness and compassion

• Having an attitude of and acting with kindness and compassion towards ourselves and others

• When we have self-talk and deal with other people, it’s good to check-in with ourselves before we speak by asking:

  • Is it kind?

  • Is it true?

  • Is it helpful?

Further to this, it's worth mentioning a little more about 'Being with what is'. This implies that we are not necessarily trying to change our state of being, but instead, can we co-exist with what is happening and move forward, with intention, anyway? For example, if we get annoyed with something, 'being with what is' helps us recognize that feeling. Now, we don't necessarily want to 'hang on to' and harbor that feeling but we still need to have our human experiences - it's OK to feel annoyed. By becoming aware of our reactions, we can then act consciously and decide how we want to deal with such reactions, rather than living in auto-pilot and letting our reactions control us without our awareness.

So, back to the litmus test concept . . .

• A test: Let's say you are being guided by a meditation that is suggesting you think back in time of when you were in a happy place, then visualize and feel you are in that happy place (such as on vacation on a beach, and to feel the sunshine on your face and feel happiness). Would this be considered a mindfulness meditation?

  
  

• An answer: In the purest sense of secular mindfulness, this meditation would not be considered a 'pure' mindfulness meditation, because the goal is to bring you away from the present moment and to make you happy. Have a look again at the above Key Traits - would this meditation fit these traits? No, not really, except for maybe a bit of 'Awareness' and noticing how your body might react to visualizing yourself on that beautiful beach...

HOWEVER . . .

• There is a big 'however' here. However: it begs the question "does it really matter if a practice is truly mindfulness or not?" This is an excellent question! For mindfulness facilitators, yes, it matters, because skilled and qualified mindfulness facilitators must understand the difference, but for participants it may or may not be of interest that a meditation or practice is truly 'pure' mindfulness, because if the goal of the participant is to relax and they are getting the benefit, that is a wonderful thing.

Warmly,

~Wendy Quan, Founder, The Calm Monkey

#mindfulness #meditation #mindfulnesstraits #mindfulnessfacilitation