This week I have been giving particular thought to the role of resilience in stress reduction, and the benefits of a mindfulness practice in the development or enhancement of resilience. I was delighted to have an opportunity to present some of my ideas to in-house lawyers at the BBC on Wednesday and inspired by some initial research have given the subject a little more thought, formulating some of this theory into a (hopefully) digestible form for a 'Staying Mindful' workshop I held this afternoon for individuals seeking to refresh their mindfulness practice.
Were I to introduce myself and my work, I would say that I am interested in the reduction and/or alleviation of suffering. This is a common thread across the different contexts I move between, as a psychotherapist and as a mindfulness teacher.
I have, I think, developed something of an understanding of the territory of depression and, collating the evidence gathered both from a personal and professional perspective, I know that clinical depression is a likely outcome when exhaustion and hopelessness are overwhelming. It is this understanding that I have built upon to further develop my interest in wellbeing and the vital role that resilience plays in both the prevention and treatment of burnout. The mainstay of my work is with individuals but, as many of these are leaders, I am confident of a ripple effect.
Our individual stress 'signatures' are not only interesting, but useful. They can be very useful, provided we pay attention to them in a timely fashion, as they can activate strategies of self-care that can ward off an otherwise likely depression, or simply calm us down when we're becoming stressed or agitated. In this way, mindfulness is necessarily a practice. Theory alone, whilst all terribly interesting, will get us nowhere. (And may even contribute to the downward spirals we seek to avoid or escape). In fact, as I was sharing with the group today, awareness can itself be a double-edged sword. The novelty of a shiny new mindfulness practice soon wears off, and with it so can self-forgiveness. We are apt to forget. When we forget we are unlikely to reap the benefits. When we notice we're no longer feeling to super sparkly, we start to beat ourselves up. I should know better. I could do more. I ought to...
All that good stuff. The relentless internal monologue.
Cue: resilience!
This is, I think, the ability to maintain performance in the face of high stress, and uncertainty. Sound familiar? We most of us exist much of the time within a climate characterised by stress and uncertainty. Surviving, let alone thriving, requires creativity, flexibility and engagement.
But not necessarily in that order. We must engage with our realities, if we are going to change anything about them. We must approach our experience with flexibility, and be prepared to get creative. And that's where I think a mindfulness practice comes into its own.
To adequately respond to the challenges that beset us, we likely need to draw on new models of the mind and the brain. Mindfulness has become a term that is being used increasingly frequently. But what is it that we are actually referring to?
Mindfulness is something of a translation of a Pali word, 'sati', which might otherwise be translated as awareness, or non-forgetfulness. It is this more direct 'knowing' which we seek. Traditionally cultivated by the formal meditation practices, but also by living in a way that fosters compassion, deepens wisdom and builds resilience.
Whilst I'm thrilled that meditative approaches are becoming increasingly popular, it strikes me that getting zen on a mat might only be part of the answer. To really integrate the practice into our busy lives, and be able to feel the difference, we probably need to understand what it is and how it is that mindfulness and the practice of pausing increases resilience.
To become mindful is to realise what gear we are in. For we have a choice. Put simply, we can either think about what it is that is going on for us, or actually get up close and personal, and sense it. Much of the time we are encouraged, if not required, to be in this driven doing mode, neglecting the more mindful sensing that becomes the name of the game when undertaking any form of mindfulness training.
Pure awareness transcends thinking. It allows you to step outside the chattering negative self-talk and your reactive impulses and emotions. It allows you to look at the world once again with open eyes. And when you do so, a sense of wonder and quiet contentment begins to reappear in your life.
Mark Williams
It is not that mindfulness is the ‘answer’ to all life’s problems. Rather it is that all life’s problems can be seen more clearly through the lens of a clear mind.
Jon Kabat-Zinn
When we are mindful, we have the ability to move from the conceptual towards a more embodied or experiential experience. Our preoccupation with the past or future fades, giving way to the present moment, and as we step out of the habitual automatic pilot we have at our disposal an altogether more intentional and therefore flexible way to be. We can respond, rather than react, and our thoughts which might otherwise be powerfully believable become more recognisable as no more than events in the mind.
There is nothing wrong with thinking, or doing. They are not the enemies to be assassinated in favour of being, but we need to be able to switch gears. Our thinking serves us, and enables us to make meaning of our experience. It allows us to get stuff done. But when we are done doing stuff, we might perhaps want to sit comfortably, and perhaps even do so in silence.
For this is where we harness our resilience. We need to be able to move flexibly between the constrasting modes. This is how we become less preoccupied with the internal commentary and planning that might otherwise consume us. Short term stress is beneficial, but if it does not switch off it will destroy the vessel that contains it. And this is where burnout happens.
The common factor in stress, anxiety, depression and PTSD is the persistent and chronic over-use of thinking mode: our tendency to ruminate and not be able to stop thinking about thinking. Our basic emotions are useful to us only if they are temporary. Get stuck in any of the emotional states we are capable of, and we have a problem.
We need to be able to come out of the doing mode, in order to come back to baseline, and recharge our energies which will otherwise begin to feel depleted or exhausted.
Mindfulness can be helpful in training the muscle which enables us to switch modes (and perhaps then switch off). In learning to develop present moment awareness we begin by paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, without judgment to things exactly as they are.
Mindfulness means being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t).
James Baraz
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