Please don’t ‘do’ Mindfulness

Hi there and welcome back,

My heart sinks when someone tells me they’re going to spend some time ‘doing’ Mindfulness, or that they’re set aside time to ‘practice’ Mindfulness.

Why? Isn’t the theme of our blog this month ‘Mindful May’? Aren’t you going to explain this approach?

Yes, this is Mindful May. But please don’t ‘do’ Mindfulness! It’s not an exercise, not something more to slot into your already busy days so you can tick it off your to-do list. Understanding Mindfulness means understanding a different way of being—nothing about doing.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, in his book Wherever You Go, There You Are, defines Mindfulness perfectly: ‘Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally’. 

Until my next blog, I want you to start becoming more Mindful. Don’t worry about how often or for how long. Simply do what you normally do, but with full awareness, as if you’d never observed the particular surroundings you’re in before.

I’ll leave you with a brilliant example of the power of a Mindful outlook. It’s taken from a conversation between James Watson and the master of observation, Sherlock Holmes. When in A Scandal in Bohemia, Holmes demystifies the crime he’s been asked to investigate, Watson replies, ‘When I hear you give your reasons the thing always appears to me so ridiculously simple…Yet I’m baffled until you explain your process.’ 

Here’s Holmes’ reply and the conversation that follows: 

’Quite so…You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.’

‘Frequently.’

‘How often?’

‘Well, some hundreds of times.’

‘Then how many are there?’

‘How many” I don’t know.’

‘Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point.’

Start today. Remember not just to see, but to observe.

See you soon!

Linda