Meaningful Mindfulness Contributes To Healthier And Happier Life
The Dalai Lama and Lady Gaga walk into a room ...
That may sound like the start of a mildly amusing joke, but the unorthodox appearance of this dharmic duo at the United States' biggest meeting of mayors in June came about to address a serious topic: how to end violence and inequality in American cities.
Their solution: create more kindness and compassion.
In other words, to create peace, find inner peace.
"Change in humanity must start from individuals," the Dalai Lama told the mayors. "We created this violence, so we can reduce this violence."
"We are unified in our humanity, and the only thing that we all know and we all appreciate in one another is kindness, and this has to come before all things," Lady Gaga said.
To get to that kindness, His Holiness and pop star Gaga both engage in a practice that's become popular with celebrities including Oprah, Paul McCartney and Kobe Bryant as well as corporate titans and industry leaders, too. It's called mindfulness.
Mindfulness is a concept rooted in Eastern spiritual practice that, in the West, has morphed into a secular one. It essentially means not letting your emotions hijack your brain. It is a form of meditation, and it is a mindset
"We are unified in our humanity, and the only thing that we all know and we all appreciate in one another is kindness, and this has to come before all things," Lady Gaga said.
To get to that kindness, His Holiness and pop star Gaga both engage in a practice that's become popular with celebrities including Oprah, Paul McCartney and Kobe Bryant as well as corporate titans and industry leaders, too. It's called mindfulness.
Mindfulness is a concept rooted in Eastern spiritual practice that, in the West, has morphed into a secular one. It essentially means not letting your emotions hijack your brain. It is a form of meditation, and it is a mindset.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, a professor of medicine emeritus who started the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and is often considered one of the founders of this Western approach, defines it as paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.
Most people take a class or two to get started, but a simple mindfulness exercise could involve only 10 minutes of your day. Eliminate distractions like your phone, quieting your mind and focusing on your breathing: how it goes into and out of your body. If your mind starts to wander, bring your focus back to your breathing. Focusing gets easier the more you do it.
Paying attention to the matters at hand may sound simple, but most Americans aren't doing it, studies show. Though the experts say there's a lot more research to be done, the number of scientific studies has grown exponentially over the past decade. They show that mindfulness is more than a passing fad; there's early evidence it can help your health.
What are you thinking about right now?
Technology frequently fractures our attention. The boss can message us anywhere, at any time, and even the bathroom isn't safe. We are one distracted bunch.
Scientists have proved it, ironically, by using smartphones.
Researchers set up an experiment showing that human beings "spend a lot of time thinking about what is not going on around them."
In their 2010 study, they created a computer program that sent questions at random moments to people by iPhone. The program asked, "How are you feeling right now?" "What are you doing right now?" and "Are you thinking about something other than what you're currently doing?"
Of the 2,250 adults who answered the pings, 46.9% were not thinking about the task they were doing at the moment. This was the case for 30% of their activities, with one exception: during sex. That, apparently, had their full attention.
Otherwise, what they were doing had little impact on their depth of focus.
You may be thinking, what's wrong with autopilot? Multitasking may be your jam, but those in the study who reported regular mind-wandering were unhappier in that state than those with laser-like focus.
That may be one reason why the mindfulness movement -- or "revolution," as a Time magazine cover story named it -- is so popular.
Making mindfulness great again
To remain mindful, the Dalai Lama said, he sleeps a lot: about nine hours a night. He also gets up at 3 a.m. to meditate. He has another session in the afternoon and one more right before bed.
In total, His Holiness spends about five hours meditating each day.
"These meditations not just chanting or something," the Dalai Lama told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He engages in "analytical meditation: thinking, analyze, analyze."
The Dalai Lama says he meditates five hours a day.
He finds it "very, very helpful to maintain sharpness of mind."
That sharpness is real, science has found.
CNN
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