Mindfulness: The stool of understanding from a clinical perspective

Mindfulness practices have surfaced as a primary way for us to see the world we live in through a lens of non-judgment and total self-acceptance. Past this basic definition, there are many different interpretations regarding what the practice of mindfulness actually is and how the practice informs our daily living. While I do not believe there is a single, correct definition, as a clinician, I do believe creating a common understanding of the practice of mindfulness can act as a tool in helping us to better understand it’s principles and how they affect our mental health journey.

With this in mind, I have created an infrastructure in which to understand the complexities of mindfulness as well as its impact on the human condition. To begin to understand, imagine a stool. A basic, round, stool. The round base of the stool is mindfulness itself. This stool sits on four legs. These legs represent four primary components of mindfulness-based practices. The four legs of mindfulness are non-judgment/total self-acceptance; retraining our automatic; practice not performance; and connecting (to ourselves as a way to connect with others and the environment in between).

Mindfulness is unique in contrast to several other treatment philosophies and we see this evidenced as we begin to talk more about leg one. Leg one of mindfulness uses the awareness of our judgment thoughts as meaningful information to propel us from judgment to non-judgment. By contrast, many traditional approaches to mental health have us correct; dismiss; or attempt to explain judgment rather than appreciate its role in our journey to self-awareness. To achieve non-judgment, mindfulness practices start with actually leaning into and growing awareness of our judgmental thoughts and feelings.

The term “judgment” is ambiguous and not often referred to in our current western world culture. Here are some synonyms which help clarify judgment, which are found throughout history in both theory and theology. Think of the terms “dark shadow”; “inner critic”; or even “dark angel”. Essentially judgment is referring to the negative and pervasive thoughts and feelings we hold about ourselves and others. Just as the term judgment is ambiguous, there is also a lack of clarity regarding what is meant by the term “non-judgment”. “Non-judgment” is not a free for all ideology that “everything goes”. Rather, non-judgment within the framework of mindfulness refers to discernment, taste, and evidence regarding what is in our circle of control.

There is an operationalized way in which one is able to move from judgment to non-judgment. However, for the purpose of this introductory article, the basic premise to reiterate is that leg one of mindfulness includes non judgment and the way in which we achieve non judgment starts with growing our awareness of judgment thoughts and feelings.

The second part of leg one of mindfulness, total self-acceptance, emphasizes the value of individual agency and self. This construct is informed by science illustration that each of us are uniquely made; theological illustration that we are created and loved by the omnipotent; and in general, the construct leads us into the practice of radical self-acceptance.

Leg two of mindfulness emphasizes that mindfulness practices have the capacity to sustainably, durably retrain our automatic thoughts, feelings, and subsequent actions. There are two primary neuronal pathways which are included in retraining our automatic thoughts and feelings through mindfulness practices. Both our prefrontal cortex and our limbic system neuronal pathways are malleable to mindfulness-based efforts of retraining. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for our executive functioning. This is the conscious side of our brain. There are likely many things you may be experiencing automatically through the efforts of your prefrontal cortex. Where you are getting the results desired, this is no need to retrain your brain. However, where one is not obtaining the desired results, mindfulness-based practices provide tools to retrain those automatic thoughts in sustainable ways. The other area in our brain referenced above, the limbic system, is the unconscious portion of our neuronal pathways.

Within the limbic system, there are two primary areas to highlight, that help better understand the role of mindfulness in retraining our automatic responses. These two areas are the amygdala and the sympathetic nervous system. The amygdala has two primary jobs in our brains. One primary job of the amygdala is the function of fight, flight, and/or freeze. This is the part of our brain designed to keep us safe from harm. It is influenced by many factors, including but not limited to genetic predisposition; environmental factors; and lived experiences. The second job of the amygdala is the manifestation of emotions and assigning meaning to emotions. Once alerted, the amygdala sends messages to the sympathetic nervous system to respond.

The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for the parts of the human condition we do not think to. For example, the sympathetic nervous system is responsible for breath; body temperature; appetite and issues related to digestion; blood pressure; sex drive; emotional expression; and many other unconscious bodily responses. There are ways to retrain both of these neuronal pathways through mindfulness-based practices. How that is possible and achieved is explained in leg three.

I use the term “practice not performance” to describe leg three of mindfulness-based practices. Mindfulness is rooted in practice. The role of practice is pivotal in the functionality of mindfulness. To elaborate on this contrast, I often describe our western world culture as being a performance based mental health culture. There are explicit and implicit core culturally bound beliefs that suggest if we perform well, often demonstrated behaviorally by income, education, lifestyle, race, or other value laden measurements, then we are “well”. This is not the case and we have been shown repeatedly how an individual could conceivable have “everything” and still be very sad and struggling within themselves.

Mindfulness techniques, on the other hand, are rooted in practicing being not doing and includes breath work; thought work; and provide a framework to sustainably retrain our neuronal pathways through the introduction and practice of new processes. Our neuronal pathways are retrained in very similar ways to other parts of our body, such as motor memory or muscle memory.

The fourth leg of mindfulness is what I refer to as “connecting”. This last leg refers to connecting with self as a means to connect with others and the environment in between. Often times, we humans reach out when we are suffering, in hopes someone will be able to relieve our pain. At times, this can be helpful. At other times, what often happens is that we reach out and

feel we hit a proverbial wall. The issue from a mindfulness perspective is not that we or the other person are doing something wrong in the process. The issue is that the disconnect and pain are rooted within ourselves and not others. The more we connect with ourselves, the better we are able to connect with others. Mindfulness based practices help us design and practice ways to connect with our self, develop self-compassion, and improve insight. This in turn, helps us to be able to connect with others in a more meaningful and satisfying way.

Mindfulness is supported in theory, in science, and in theology. The study of mindfulness offers a meaningful contribution to the many ways we can explore ourselves and our environment. Through this lens we are able to learn about strategies which support our journey rather than correcting it. There is room for many worldviews in the study of mental health and the human condition. Mindfulness allows us to draw on historic wisdom while also applying contemporary science methods to grow this understanding.