A benefit of mindfulness

Is the mind the same as the body? What is consciousness? Can machines have it?

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Flannel Jesus
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A benefit of mindfulness

Post by Flannel Jesus »

I searched but could not find a prior conversation on here about mindfulness. Someone was asking what the point of mindfulness is, and I had a few words to say but ended it with something like "I can't personally vouch for the positive effects of mindfulness, but I'm not dismissive of them".

I came across these words recently in another online discussion of mindfulness, I thought they were really interesting:
Mindfulness can help for sure. For me what helped the most was changing my framing of it.

For years I wanted my social anxiety to stop. It was my big problem, my obsession. The thing that was getting in the way of living the life I felt I was capable of. And it could get pretty intense.

But as you probably know- the more you try to stop it, to push it away, to change it- the more you obsess over it- the more intense it becomes, and the more suffering it brings you.

Thanks to mindfulness, I've learned to simply become *aware* of the experience of being anxious, without making a *problem* out of it. It's not "bad". It's just what is appearing in that moment, in the same place that a thought appears, and the same place that the sound of the passing car appears. It comes, it goes. It's not a problem. It's what is.

Since framing it in this way, I no longer obsess about it. I no longer see it as something I "shouldn't" be feeling. And as a result, the experience of anxiety is much less intense. Or as Sam would say, it has a half life that can disappear the moment you see it for what it is.

This took a lot of time (although really it takes no time at all, it's instantaneous the moment you see it for what it is), so be patient with yourself. My advice would be don't *try* to stop being anxious (that leads to anxiety about being anxious). Accept that anxiety is arising. That doesn't mean you can't also take proactive action that could help with the underlying causes, whether that's working on your self-esteem, putting yourself in more of the situations that make you feel uncomfortable - facing your fears or whatever. You can do that while at the same time accepting that right now, in this moment, anxiety is arising. And that's ok. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you. If anything, it's there to teach you.

If it wasn't for practicing mindfulness, I probably never would have come to this realisation that anxiety isn't a problem of mine that needs fixing. And ironically it was this realisation that "fixed" the "problem" for me.
Just thought some of you might be interested in that.
Flannel Jesus
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Re: A benefit of mindfulness

Post by Flannel Jesus »

I feel, after reading all that, that there's parallels to a certain kind of stoicism there. But I'm not confident in my understanding of stoic thought to say that currently. Does anybody else see a parallel there?
mickthinks
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Re: A benefit of mindfulness

Post by mickthinks »

Yes, I would say so. Like you, I know Stoicism more by reputation than by acquaintance, but I'd say its benefits arise from consciously adopting an awareness that all experience is neither good nor bad, just of the moment. There is a big overlap with mindfulness, or so it seems to me.
Last edited by mickthinks on Mon Mar 06, 2023 6:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Flannel Jesus
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Re: A benefit of mindfulness

Post by Flannel Jesus »

mickthinks wrote: Mon Mar 06, 2023 2:18 pm Yes, I would say so. Like you, I know Stoicism more by reputation than by acquaintance, but I'd say its benefits arise from consciously adopting a awareness that all experience is neither good nor bad, just of the moment. There is a big overlap with mindfulness, or so it seems to me.
Thanks for this insight. I should do some reading to understand more of that overlap, I'm sure we aren't the first to see the relationship there.
Age
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Re: A benefit of mindfulness

Post by Age »

The word 'mindfulness' just relates to or just refers to being AWARE.

Once 'one' is AWARE of the 'thoughts' and 'emotions' within a body, then that 'one' then REALIZES that 'they' have MORE CONTROL OVER 'things', which 'they' never REALLY previously had.
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Agent Smith
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Re: A benefit of mindfulness

Post by Agent Smith »

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking. I'm pleased to announce that we'll be landing in Suvarnabhumi airport in 15 minutes. All passengers, please be seated and fasten your seatbelts. We're beginning our descent now. It was a pleasure to have you aboard. Good luck!"
Nickolasgaspar
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Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2023 9:32 am

Re: A benefit of mindfulness

Post by Nickolasgaspar »

Flannel Jesus wrote: Mon Mar 06, 2023 11:22 am I searched but could not find a prior conversation on here about mindfulness. Someone was asking what the point of mindfulness is, and I had a few words to say but ended it with something like "I can't personally vouch for the positive effects of mindfulness, but I'm not dismissive of them".

I came across these words recently in another online discussion of mindfulness, I thought they were really interesting:
Mindfulness can help for sure. For me what helped the most was changing my framing of it.

For years I wanted my social anxiety to stop. It was my big problem, my obsession. The thing that was getting in the way of living the life I felt I was capable of. And it could get pretty intense.

But as you probably know- the more you try to stop it, to push it away, to change it- the more you obsess over it- the more intense it becomes, and the more suffering it brings you.

Thanks to mindfulness, I've learned to simply become *aware* of the experience of being anxious, without making a *problem* out of it. It's not "bad". It's just what is appearing in that moment, in the same place that a thought appears, and the same place that the sound of the passing car appears. It comes, it goes. It's not a problem. It's what is.

Since framing it in this way, I no longer obsess about it. I no longer see it as something I "shouldn't" be feeling. And as a result, the experience of anxiety is much less intense. Or as Sam would say, it has a half life that can disappear the moment you see it for what it is.

This took a lot of time (although really it takes no time at all, it's instantaneous the moment you see it for what it is), so be patient with yourself. My advice would be don't *try* to stop being anxious (that leads to anxiety about being anxious). Accept that anxiety is arising. That doesn't mean you can't also take proactive action that could help with the underlying causes, whether that's working on your self-esteem, putting yourself in more of the situations that make you feel uncomfortable - facing your fears or whatever. You can do that while at the same time accepting that right now, in this moment, anxiety is arising. And that's ok. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you. If anything, it's there to teach you.

If it wasn't for practicing mindfulness, I probably never would have come to this realisation that anxiety isn't a problem of mine that needs fixing. And ironically it was this realisation that "fixed" the "problem" for me.
Just thought some of you might be interested in that.
The problem with this concept is that it has never been defined properly and most of the existing definitions point to tautologies or everyday realizations that many have achieved without the need of the term. It appears to qualify as an "Empty Deepity" (Daniel Dennett) than an actual method by which one can expend his understanding and awareness of things.
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