Mindfulness: a multi-part defintion, part 2

In the first part of this definition series, I gave you a pithy explanation from a Westerner.  In this part, I’m going with Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen monk and strong advocate of mindfulness.

In The Miracle of Mindfulness he quotes the Sutra of Mindfulness as saying:

When walking, the practitioner must be conscious that he is walking.  When sitting, the practitioner must be conscious that he is sitting.  When lying down, the practitioner must be conscious that he is lying down..No matter what position one’s body is in, the practitioner must be conscious of that position.  Practicing thus, the practitioner lives in direct and constant mindfulness of the body…”

However he doesn’t leave us with a simple focus on posture.  He adds:

The mindfulness of the positions of one’s body is not enough, however.  We must be conscious of each breath, each movement, every thought and feeling, every thing which has any relation to ourselves.

That is a huge goal!  Being mindful of what your body is doing and what your mind is doing.  Noticing what the world is presenting to you in the way of bodily sensations. Spread that awareness to how those sensations make you feel and what thoughts they may trigger.  Imagine what it might be like to have all of those things have equal weight in your attentional mind at once.  Do you think you can do that?  Do you think you can build up to it?

Many of the definitions I will be presenting and commenting on may not be the best known formulations by their respective authors. Kalea Chapman, Psy.D. has a great list of mindfulness definitions by psychologists and others, and he’s an admirable blogger on the topics of psychology/psychotherapy (including mindfulness) and big pharma.  I strongly suggest you give the blog a look.