If you ask people on the street where their mind is most of the time, they will probably think you are really odd, but then they will answer, “My mind is right here.” Is it? Most of us spend a great deal of time lost in thoughts about the past or the future. Many of our thoughts are about things we regret from the past or things we are worried about in the future. We obsess, worry, grieve, imagine the worst happening in the future, and replay situations from the past that caused us pain. Theoretically, it might be wise to replay only pleasant thoughts, but we mostly replay negative thoughts, as if we have broken records in our heads. Most of our thoughts hardly seem to vary. We have been thinking the same (often painful) thoughts day after day! So our minds are often not aware in the present but living in a different time period, either the past or the future.
Mindfulness can take you out of your habitual thinking by bringing you to what is actually happening at the present time. Stop right now, take a breath, and pay close attention to the present. Exactly in this moment, are things, for the most part, okay? The future has not happened, the past is over, and right now, well, it just is. This foundational technique of learning mindfulness—learning to return your mind to the present, no matter what is happening—is tremendously helpful for working with challenging thoughts, emotions, and experiences.
Emma, a twenty-three-year-old aspiring actress, struggled constantly with negative thoughts about herself. After a few weeks of the Mindful Awareness Practices (MAPs) class at our Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA, she came into class elated: “I had an audition today, and for the first time ever I didn’t judge myself. Well, I did notice judgment in my mind, but I just stopped and took a breath and decided to be mindful instead of judgmental. I felt my body, noticed my thoughts, and all the judgment just stopped.”
Coming back into the present moment by letting go of thoughts does not require that you eliminate creative ruminations, reflections on the past, or abstract thinking. Mindfulness is more about giving yourself a choice with your thoughts. You can exert some control over them rather than being at their mercy. As you learn to regulate your attention, you also learn when it is useful to focus on the present moment (particularly when working with difficult or negative thinking) and when it is useful to use creative and other functions of mind.
This practice excerpt is from Fully Present: The Science, Art and Practice of Mindfulness by Sue Smalley, PhD and Diana Winston. Da Capo Press, 2010.
