Reflecting on the Benefits
As you approach the end of this course, it is important that you acknowledge all that you learned, even if it might not all be obvious right now. Formulating your thoughts into words can be helpful to see just how much you have come to understand from this experience. Though this is the final full lesson from this course, staying grounded in the here and now will be a life-long process with continued challenges and successes. We hope that the success and personal discoveries that you have experienced during this course have been extremely significant, but what is even more important is being able to recall the material from the course and apply it to your life thereafter.
Looking Forward
Consider these two questions: First, what are the benefits of continuing to practice mindfulness outside of this classroom? Second, what would this practice look like?
Before answering the first question, it is important to note that it is perfectly acceptable to want to stop now, after exerting great mental effort as well as a substantial amount of time. However, if you were to continue with the practice of mindfulness, you would reap the benefits of extended repetition, which would most likely make the practice feel easier over time. Just as athletes tend to have more success when they practice their sport frequently, you can find the same results with mindfulness.
To answer the second question, you can actually continue many of the practices that you participated in during this course. It is actually recommended that these exercises be repeated, as their repetition can assist you in staying in touch with your awareness as well as the connection between your mind and body.
Identifying Heartfelt Intention to Sustain Mindfulness Practices
Here’s an optional exercise that may help you see why continuing mindfulness can be beneficial in the long run:
Assume a sitting position in which you feel comfortable. Take a couple of breaths, gathering your thoughts and centering your awareness. Next, consider this question: “What is the most important thing in my life that practicing mindfulness could help with?” Let the question sit in your consciousness for a few seconds, washing over your awareness until it has coursed through your entire body. It is alright if nothing comes to mind right away; just try to think of something that is significant to you. Once you identify it, write it down. This action will cement it in the world more permanently than it would be in your head. Remember that it is in our human nature to take care of others, but sometimes it is important to prioritize taking care of yourself. The act of mindfulness is a form of self-care, as it allows you to focus on your how you are feeling in the moment and address any sensations that are causing discomfort.
The “What” of Continuing Practice
Practice can help you to continue to live mindfully. These techniques will help you live mindfully day by day:
Some Daily Formal Mindfulness Practice
Some Everyday Informal Mindfulness Practice
Plus 3-Minute Breathing Spaces – Responsive
Some Daily Formal Mindfulness Practice
In order to maximize your success in practicing mindfulness, it may benefit you to practice mindfulness on a daily basis as you may have been doing over the course of this class. You may find it helpful to reevaluate your daily practice every three months or so.
Tips in Sustaining Mindfulness Practice
Do some practice, no matter how brief, every day
This repetition will facilitate the process and make mindfulness feel like less of a chore and more of a beneficial exercise.
If at all possible, do the practice at the same time, in the same place, each day
This will build the mindfulness into your daily routine to the point where it just feels like brushing your teeth or eating breakfast – you just do it rather than question it.
View practice like caring for a plant
When you care for a plant, you water it a bit every day rather than drenching it with water once a month. Try to apply this same style of thinking to practicing mindfulness. This will allow you to grow healthily as well as keep track of your progress in a much more consistent fashion.
See practice as a way to nourish yourself, rather than anything on a “to-do” list
Even if practice feels like it is being forced sometimes, it will still be beneficial as you are simply letting it be as it israther than trying to control it.
Explore ways to inspire and re-inspire yourself to practice
Sometimes, practicing mindfulness can feel stagnant and repetitive. If you ever start to feel this way do not worry. Simply reread this text (or any other reputable one on the same topic) to refresh your memory on various exercises to reinvest yourself in the process.
Explore ways to practice with other people
Practicing with others – also known as a “sitting group” – is one of the simplest and most enjoyable ways to keep mindfulness alive. If you feel comfortable doing so, get together with some other classmates after the end of the process and have “reunion days” during which you catch up and practice different mindfulness techniques that each of you enjoy.
Remember, you can always begin again
As you have learned throughout this course, assigning blame to yourself is rarely (if ever) a beneficial practice. If you find that you have gotten out of the habit of practicing mindfulness but you want to start again, simply recall some mindfulness techniques or refer back to practices that you found insightful or enjoyable during this course.
Everyday Informal Mindfulness Practice
Remembering to be mindful can often be more difficult than the being mindful itself. Many individuals have found luck with setting alerts on cell phones, writing notes on calendars, or simply being reminded by a friend who is also a follower of mindfulness. Here are The Five Reminders for Practicing Mindfulness throughout the Day as stated by meditation teacher Larry Rosenburg:
When possible, do just one thing at a time.
Pay full attention to what you are doing.
When your mind wanders from what you are doing, bring it back.
Repeat step three several billion times
Investigate your distractions
Though Rosenburg employs some comic over-exaggeration in this list, his fundamental ideas are correct. Although your mind will never stop wandering entirely, practicing the skill of bringing it back to the task at hand can be very helpful and can make it easier to stay focused in the future.
Tips for Everyday Mindfulness
Right when you wake up in the morning, make a conscious effort to focus your attention on your breathing. Try to observe at least five mindful breaths.
Be aware of changes in your posture. Notice how your mind and body each feel when you change from lying down to sitting, to standing, or to walking.
Focus on the sounds you hear during a normal day. They can be anything, ranging from a dog barking to a car honking – use any of these sounds as a reminder to practice mindfulness. Be an active listener and be present in the current moment.
Just as you did when you woke up, be mindful of your breathing. This can be extremely beneficial in grounding yourself if you ever feel as though you are out of touch with your mind or body. Observe five mindful breaths just as before, and then continue with your day.
Think about where your food may have come from before you eat it. Can you reason how it got from its most simplistic state into what you see before you on your plate? Bring awareness to each action associated with consuming the food: smelling it, chewing it, swallowing it, etc.
Whenever you must wait in a line, use that time to practice mindfulness. Think about the connection between the ground and your body. How does the earth beneath your feet feel? Is it hard, making your feet ache? Or perhaps it is comforting and giving your feet a break.
Bring awareness to any physical discomfort you feel throughout the day. See if it is possible to breathe in fresh air and breathe out the tension. Try to complete body scans throughout the day, identifying exactly where the discomfort lies and what its potential cause may be.
Before you fall asleep, take a few minutes to bring your attention back to breathing. Once again, observe five mindful breaths.
As We Close
Though this journey has come to a close, the path that mindfulness presents will allow us to continue forward with the confidence and sense of calm that will help to succeed in life. As strange as it may seem, this is a good time to befriend ourselves. Although we can often view ourselves in a much more critical light than we would a family member or close friend in a similar situation, it is important to know that we can also be our closest acquaintance. We are told to listen to the voice inside of us to gain wisdom regarding how to act or how to feel, and that voice can often be the one that feeds on self-doubt and self-criticism, however it is important to remember that there is another voice inside, one may be quieter but is wiser and more discerning. This second voice is often more accurate as well as more kind, and it can help us to find our way in life despite any hindrances that may stand in our way. “We can all so easily become strangers to ourselves. Mindfulness offers a way home.”
References
Teasdale, J., Williams, J, & Segal, Z. (2014). The mindful way workbook: An 8-week program to free yourself from depression and emotional distress. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Application: Effectiveness of Mindfulness for ADHD and Other Conditions
As this course comes to a close, it is time for you to consider the role that you want mindfulness to continue having in your life. We hope that the research component of each lesson has been helpful in providing evidence-based accounts of common benefits experienced by those who practiced mindfulness. As we close this lesson, we have designed the research portion to reflect commonly held perceptions of mindfulness including common challenges that practitioners experience. Whether you have ADHD or not, you may have experienced some of the concerns below that have been captured in the literature.
Williams and colleagues (2011) developed the Determinants to Meditation Practice Inventory (DMPI) without a focus on ADHD. They stated that previous literature has identified the following concerns about meditation: “affinity for diversion; discomfort with being with oneself and with silence; work and family responsibilities; lack of support from family, friends, community, and social leaders; lack of knowledge about meditation; and lack of perceived personal need for meditation” (Williams et al., 2011, pg. 17). The following core clusters of concerns were identified in this study’s research: pragmatic concerns, perceptions and misconceptions, and sociocultural beliefs.
Sears, Kraus, Carlough, and Treat (2011) performed a qualitative study that was unrelated to ADHD involving 65, general population, university students. Findings revealed that individuals completing a meditation program had doubts primarily involving seven considerations: 1) difficulty maintaining focus while meditating, 2) concerns about meditation’s effectiveness, 3) physical issues such as fatigue, restlessness, and pain during meditation, 4) feeling a lack of time to practice all the meditative exercises sufficiently, 5) experiencing a lack of motivation to continue, 6) confusion about how to correctly meditate, and 7) general difficulties such as experiencing meditation as a hard task to perform. Nevertheless, this same sample reported enjoying numerous benefits as well which can be broadly clustered into the following categories: 1) increased relaxation, 2) increased attention/awareness, 3) higher quality of thought, 4) stress relief, 5) clearer thinking, 6) elevated energy levels and mood, and 7) spiritual enhancements. Nearly 60% of participants noted both benefits and doubts whereas approximately 25% reported solely benefits and only 3% solely doubts and 12% reported neither benefits nor doubts.
Another study supported Sears et al.’s findings such that Gryffin, Chen, and Erenguc’s (2014) study revealed that primary concerns included: time constraints, lack of knowledge, lack of confidence, and the belief that meditation is a waste of time. Benefits were noted to be increased calmness/stress reduction, more reflection, and enhanced focus. This data was gathered in a sample of general population university students and was not targeting individuals with ADHD.
A study conducted in the United Kingdom interestingly highlighted that credence was given to mindfulness because it did not appear to be associated with any religion (Keyworth et al., 2014). Participants (N = 16) were motivated to engage in mindfulness-based treatments with hopes of reducing their reliance on medications to treat the physical illnesses they were battling (diabetes and coronary heart disease). It is possible that individuals with ADHD would be similarly motivated. Perceived benefits included increased present-moment awareness, less worry about the future, and enjoyment of being able to practice mindfulness anywhere at any time. Participants indicated that although mindfulness-based interventions do require a significant time investment, this investment is feasible and warranted. Many participants noted that they were emboldened by the power of the mindfulness group led by an expert. Participants reportedly preferred group-based mindfulness to individually-practiced mindfulness. Overall, mindfulness was found to be feasible and well-accepted by this group of British adults.
Many other studies have documented the feasibility of mindfulness or various types of meditation for numerous populations. One study indicated that meditation was greatly enjoyed, faithfully adhered to, and found to be effective in a population of adults with mild cognitive impairment (Wells et al., 2013). Another study used an online-based mindfulness program to target stress reduction in adults (Morledge et al., 2013). Results revealed strong feasibility for this format of service delivery. 45% of participants rated the program as extremely helpful and 35% rated it as somewhat helpful. The online messaging board component was not found to be helpful by 85% of participants. Primary barriers to mindfulness practices in this study were primarily pragmatic in nature (e.g. technological problems with the online system, time constraints, and finding the program too demanding). Significant gains in stress reduction, increased mindfulness, transcendence, and self-acceptance were maintained at the end of the program (week 8) and at follow-up (week 12). This indicates that nontraditional mindfulness program formats can demonstrate high degrees of feasibility and acceptability.
Thank you for taking the time to review the weekly lessons and research segments. We hope this has been informative and relevant for you. If you identify with any of the challenges mentioned above, please hold those in your mind as challenges experienced by nearly all mindfulness practitioners. Overcoming these challenges is part of the practice and we hope you are not permanently deterred by them because, as the literature has shown, mindfulness holds great benefits for individuals from all walks of life.
References
Gryffin, P., Chen, W., & Erenguc, N. (2014). Knowledge, Attitudes and Beliefs of Meditation in College Students: Barriers and Opportunities. American Journal of Educational Research, 2(4), 189–192.
Keyworth, C., Knopp, J., Roughley, K., Dickens, C., Bold, S., & Coventry, P. (2014). A mixed-methods pilot study of the acceptability and effectiveness of a brief meditation and mindfulness intervention for people with diabetes and coronary heart disease. Behavioral Medicine, 40(2), 53-64. doi:10.1080/08964289.2013.834865
Morledge, T. J., Allexandre, D., Fox, E., Fu, A. Z., Higashi, M. K., Kruzikas, D. T., & ... Reese, P. R. (2013). Feasibility of an online mindfulness program for stress management—A randomized, controlled trial. Annals Of Behavioral Medicine, 46(2), 137-148. doi:10.1007/s12160-013-9490-x
Sears, S. R., Kraus, S., Carlough, K., & Treat, E. (2011). Perceived benefits and doubts of participants in a weekly meditation study. Mindfulness, 2(3), 167-174. doi:10.1007/s12671-011-0055-4
Wells, R. E., Kerr, C. E., Wolkin, J., Dossett, M., Davis, R. B., Walsh, J., & ... Yeh, G. (2013). Meditation for adults with mild cognitive impairment: A pilot randomized trial. Journal Of The American Geriatrics Society, 61(4), 642-645. doi:10.1111/jgs.12179
Williams, A. L., Dixon, J., McCorkle, R., & Van Ness, P. H. (2011). Determinants of meditation practice inventory: development, content validation, and initial psychometric testing. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 17(5), 16–23.
Nonpharmacological Management of Chronic Pain (powerpoint):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3-1-RkV8UaCbWx6X0V0dzIwYjQ/view?usp=sharing
reviews a large amount of literature related to nonpharm. ways to manage pain – including mindfulness
TedTalks on Mindfulness for Chronic Pain (video):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVwLjC5etEQ
relating differently to your pain
what is difficult about mindfulness – 6 month retreat forest monastery
pain is inevitable, suffering is optional