Ever wondered about the reasons to do Mindfulness Meditation?
Is there such a thing as a comprehensive and precise understanding of the benefits of Mindfulness Meditation?
What Are The Benefits Of Mindfulness Meditation?
The Unified Mindfulness System groups the benefits of Mindfulness Practice into 5 broad categories.
Those categories are:
- Reduced Suffering
- Increased Fulfilment
- Insight
- Mastery
- Connection
Each of these categories also has 4 levels of depth. These move from the obvious to benefits which emerge from heightened attention skills developed most commonly through meditation practice over time.
The Common List Of Mindfulness Benefits
Millions worldwide practise mindfulness meditation to enhance well-being, reduce stress, and increase productivity. A common list of the benefits of mindfulness is set out in the American Psychological Association Newsletter in July, 2012.
They list:
- Reduced rumination
- Stress reduction
- Boosts to working memory
- Focus
- Less emotional reactivity
- More cognitive flexibility
- Relationship satisfaction
- Better quality of life, empathy and compassion
Read the full article HERE
Research Into The Benefits Of Mindfulness Practice
Since its early days in the 1950s scientific research into meditation has grown enormously.
In recent decades the huge steps taken in this field have grown along two intersecting lines.
- The coming together of meditation research and neuroscience
- The emergence of Mindfulness Meditation as the dominant paradigm for clinical research (and development).
Neuroscience research of meditation has created a new branch of neuroscience research – contemplative neuroscience.
The impact of meditation on brain structure and function reveals the very significant impact meditation can have on human health and wellbeing. To learn more about this read How Does Meditation Change The Brain.
Mindfulness Meditation Benefits Beyond Stress Management
Many people are drawn to Meditation thanks to its association with managing stress but the research demonstrates that meditation can also lead to deep psychological transformation. It can provide profound insights, clarity, and fulfillment.
Advanced meditation has broad implications for understanding humanity and developing mental health interventions. Research programs at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School are dedicated to studying these advanced states and their clinical outcomes.
Making The Benefits Of Mindfulness Accessible
The Unified Mindfulness System is a Modern Mindfulness System which was created by Meditation teacher and neuroscience researcher Shinzen Young. Unified Mindfulness was designed by and for research. It draws together meditative approaches from across contemplative traditions the world over and identifies the common attention skills. This unique understanding of the Attentional Skills of Mindfulness and how to practise and develop them makes advanced meditation available to everyone with a comprehensive, precise and adaptable skills-based approach.
Mindfulness And Reduced Suffering
While some people with a relatively small amount of pain may experience a large amount of suffering others with a much higher degree of pain experience relatively little suffering. This highlights the difference between pain and suffering.
Mindfulness Meditation impacts how we relate to our sensory experience. Practising the Skills of Mindfulness (Concentration, Sensory Clarity and Equanimity) especially through Mindfulness Meditation Techniques designed to develop these skills can, over time, lead to relief in several ways.
If we greet pain with strong resistance our suffering is likely to be high. This could be any kind of pain – physical or emotional. If our reaction to pain is to bring Equanimity (the ability to let sensory experience rise and fall without push or pull) through Mindfulness Practice then the pain will still exist (although it is often reduced) and our suffering is lessened. Equanimity functions as the opposite of resistance. An increase in equanimity is a decrease in resistance resulting in less suffering. Mindfulness Techniques and Strategies offer various approaches to applying Equanimity to our challenging experiences.
Example:
After a difficult exchange at work you do some meditation and focus on the strong emotion you’re feeling in your chest. Normally you would fight with this feeling but instead you focus on it directly during your practice. As you bring the attention skills of mindfulness to the experience you notice what part of your experience is visual thought, self and emotional sensations in your body. You track your experience like this for a while and discover that the intensity has dissipated greatly after a period. From this emerges a thought about a creative way to handle the work situation so that everyone wins.
Mindfulness And Greater Fulfillment
The Attention Skills of Mindfulness support experiencing pleasant situations with greater fulfillment and satisfaction. Even at face value there is a clear connection between attentional skills and being able to enjoy better relationships, communication and the pleasure experienced from creating or appreciating quality work of all kinds.
In terms of the fulfillment we experience from reaching for our goals Mindfulness can also support our ability to take the action we need to acquire the situations and experiences we seek.
Beyond this Mindfulness Practice can access deeper and less obvious pathways to greater fulfillment. Once again, Equanimity has an important role to play. Learning to let experience come and go is an alternative to grasping or clinging. The same skill that provides a beneficial alternative to resistance in the case of painful experience also helps us let pleasure to come and go without compulsive clinging. Without the desperate need to grasp at our moments of enjoyment we are freed to enjoy them more deeply. With Equanimity and other attentional skills of mindfulness we learn to deeply and fully experience sensory pleasure. We do so without the need to hold it down, freeze it in place or become reliant upon for the fix we need to ‘feel good.’
Mindfulness is a vehicle that both enhances pleasure and reveals deep satisfaction without compulsive clinging.
Example:
After practising a mindfulness technique for a couple of weeks which focuses on all sensory experience you notice that you are able to get off to sleep easier and that your work wins feel more satisfying. Not only are you stopping to notice them but you’re also allowing yourself to really experience them. This feels good. You can tell that the attentional skills of mindfulness have made you more able to focus and appreciate these experiences more deeply.
Mindfulness And Insight
Personal insight at every level is one of the shining lights of Mindfulness practice.
Focusing on sensory experience with the attentional skills of Mindfulness reveals our deep connection with each other and the world around us. This can give us a profound sense of purpose and empathy which can impact our decisions and the actions we take in the world.
Example:
You are practising and notice that the visual thought in your mind triggered an emotional reaction in your body. While not entirely surprising you were also noticed that by exploring that sensation the impact was much less than you might normally expect.
Mindfulness And Change
This fourth category is defined as ‘Mastery’ in the Unified Mindfulness System. It refers to the actions and behaviours we consider positive or beneficial. This is about the ways we can support happiness through what we put out into the world.
You might use mindfulness to:
- support positive changes in behaviour by employing mindfulness strategies to deconstruct negative urges or manage challenging emotions/reactions for more creative outcomes
- nurture positivity directly
- focus on spontaneity to foster creativity and ease.
Under this heading are working with behaviours which range from simple practical value to those concerned with achieving your highest aspirations. The Attentional Skills of Mindfulness not only support the behaviour changes you may seek to reach your goals but also the emotional resilience and integrity you need to do so consistent with your values.
Example:
You are leading a rehearsal and notice you are struggling with your self confidence. You decide to use your mindfulness skills to to deconstruct the discomfort you feel by using the Unified Mindfulness See Hear Feel Technique. You follow this with a technique to Nurture Positivity as you prepare for your next rehearsal.
Mindfulness and Connection
We find deep meaning and satisfaction through relationships and through experiencing Oneness as the source of all connections.
Relationships can include everything from our pets, our colleagues, family and friends. Enjoying what our relationship bring to our life or enjoying the happiness of helping others can be supported directly with the skills of mindfulness practice.
Mindfulness practice over time can reveal our fundamental oneness and connection with everything and everyone around us. This insight can motivate us to act from this awareness in subtle ways (with empathy and compassion) or through offering teaching that empowers others to discover their own ability to experience happiness independent of conditions (a life-affirming benefit of mindfulness practice over time).
Example:
After practising for some time people have started to tell you that you make them feel calmer when you’re around them (a subtle example of enriched connection through mindfulness practice).
In Summary
Mindfulness practice can enrich our lives in countless ways across these 5 broad categories.
In summary with Mindfulness Practice over time we discover that we can:
- suffer less
- experience greater fufillment
- discover insight at every level about ourselves and our lives
- make positive changes to have the impact we want in our world
- connect with others deeply through an understanding of our essential oneness
These 5 areas are part of the Unified Mindfulness Happiness Grid which goes deeply into each category.
With skillful support Mindfulness practice can be applied to an individual’s personal happiness goals.