5 Common Myths About Mindfulness
Mindfulness can be a really useful practice for helping reduce worry and stress, but there are some common misconceptions about it.
Mindfulness has become increasingly popular and for good reason, it has been shown to have many benefits. Nonetheless, there are still some myths about mindfulness that continue to linger. The aim of this post is to debunk some of these common myths that might be affecting your practice, or putting you off trying mindfulness altogether.
But first, lets look at what exactly mindfulness is and the benefits of a mindfulness practice.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness has been practiced for thousands of years and is often described as a “way of being”. It involves non-judgemental, moment-to-moment awareness.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), defines mindfulness as:
“ awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally. ”
Learning to notice our experience with acceptance and curiosity is a key part of mindfulness, with the intention of being aware of thoughts and feelings without becoming caught up in them. Mindfulness can be seen as the opposite of “auto-pilot”.
Numerous scientific studies have shown mindfulness to be beneficial in a number of ways. Some of these benefits include:
Reduced anxiety with regular mindfulness practise
More fulfilling relationships
Reduced stress and the key indicators of chronic stress, such as hypertension
Improved symptoms of insomnia and sleep quality
Improvement in chronic pain management
Increased cooperative behaviour and compassionate helping behaviour towards others
Improved wellbeing and job satisfaction, and reduced burnout and mental distress in workplaces
Mindfulness Myths
MYTH 1: Mindfulness requires emptying the mind
This is a super common misconception. It is likely you have a busy mind if you are struggling with worry and stress. You may have taken up a mindfulness practice in the hope it will clear your mind, but this is not quite how it works.
It is completely normal not to be able to empty your mind. And this is actually a good thing.
In their book Deeper Mindfulness, Mark Williams and Danny Penman use the analogy of the mind being a “mental gym” and mind-wandering is the “gym equipment”. You wouldn’t want to walk into a gym and see that there is no equipment for you to practice on.
When you meditate, your mind generates your own gym equipment in the form of thoughts, sensations, emotions, to-do lists, memories, worries etc. This is needed for you to practice the skill of learning to intentionally pay attention, moment by moment, observing your experience.
Every time you notice your mind has wandered and compassionately redirect your attention is an opportunity for learning in the brain.
Mindfulness also helps you become more observant of your thoughts and feelings, and be more intentional about which one’s you choose to engage with.
With regular practice these skills can start generalising to daily life. For example, you may notice yourself starting to worry and be able to bring your attention back to the task at hand rather than the worry spiralling.
So remember, you haven’t “failed” at mindfulness if you get distracted or your mind wanders.
MYTH 2: Mindfulness is a type of relaxation
Although relaxation can be a nice by-product of mindfulness, this is not the aim of the practice.
If we go back to the definition of mindfulness, some of the key words are awareness, acceptance and curiosity towards one’s experience. So you may notice that you don’t feel relaxed and that is totally ok.
Now you might be thinking why would I want to accept that I feel stressed? By practicing acceptance, we reduce the resistance we have to the unpleasant experience that would normally only exacerbate it. Learning to distance yourself from your thoughts can hep you get less caught up in them and be able to make more intentional choices too. It can also help increase clarity and tolerance of discomfort.
This can be challenging when you first start practising mindfulness, especially if you have been avoiding feeling certain emotions, such as anxiety. Make sure to give yourself self-compassion and seek professional support if you need it.
You might feel relaxed as a consequence of practising mindfulness, but it is ok if you don’t. The emphasis is on acceptance and engaging with your experience, rather than changing the experience.
MYTH 3: Mindfulness is a quick-fix
Mindfulness is not a quick-fix to feeling happier, but I would argue it is more valuable than this.
We are all human and will experience a range of emotions and experiences throughout our life. Mindfulness is about learning to allow our thoughts and emotions to be there without becoming swept up in them, in the knowledge that they will come and go.
This takes practice and consistency is important. There isn’t a point where you reach the finish line.
Mindfulness is a “way of being” rather than a happiness hack.
MYTH 4: Mindfulness only involves practising seated meditations
Mindfulness can be practised in a variety of ways both formally and informally.
A seated meditation is an example of a formal mindfulness practice, whereby you take time out of the day to notice a chosen object of awareness. This object might be the breath, bodily sensations, a visual point or external sounds. Exercises such as body scans and movement-based meditations or yoga can also be considered formal practices. Taking designated time to practise mindfulness meditation in this way can help cultivate the skills needed to then integrate mindfulness into your daily life. Over time this helps you to develop the ability to be present and aware throughout the day.
Mindfulness can also be integrated into your daily life with informal practices. Informal practices can include any activities where you attempt to be fully engaged in the present moment, non-judgementally. For example, you can practise mindfulness while walking, eating or cleaning the house. The aim of both types of practice is attempting to maintain focussed, open attention on the object of awareness, gently redirecting attention back to the activity when the mind wanders.
Mindfulness can be practised anywhere in many different ways and doesn’t have to just involve seated meditations.
MYTH 5: Mindfulness is time-consuming
Mindfulness doesn’t have to involve spending hours meditating. As I mentioned above, it can be practised both formally and informally.
Formal practices involve taking time out of the day to practise noticing a chosen object of awareness mindfully. These types of practices can vary in length from 5 minutes to an hour.
You may think that the longer you practise the more beneficial it is, but the evidence around this is mixed. For example, a recent study found that shorter 5 minute practices, compared to longer 20 minute ones, had a significantly greater effect on stress (Strohmaier et al., 2021).
It is best to start small as shorter sessions are likely to be more achievable. This will help motivate you and make it easier to create a mindfulness habit.
You can also practise mindfulness informally, integrating it into daily activities and life. This is useful if you are short on time. For example, you could practise being mindful when you brush your teeth, really noticing and engaging with the feel of the bristles, the taste of the toothpaste and the sound of the running water.
A mindfulness practice can be as long or short as you choose and there is no perfect amount of time to spend practising. Try to be realistic about how much time you have available and practise consistently, for example daily.
I hope this has given you a greater understanding of mindfulness and debunked some of the most common myths. Please remember that mindfulness and these blog posts are not a substitute for therapy. If you feel you need more help I encourage you to seek professional support or contact your GP.
Mindfulness is one of the tools I use to support my clients with reducing worry and stress. If you are interested in working together, do get in touch. I offer a free, no obligations 15-minute chat for you to ask any questions about therapy and make sure I am the right therapist for you.
You can also find me on Instagram @therapywithamy_ , where I share more tips and insights about worry and stress.
References
Luberto, C. M., Hall, D. L., Park, E. R., Haramanti, A., and Cotton, S. (2020) A Perspective on the Similarities and Differences Between Mindfulness and Relaxation. Global Advances in Health and Medicine. 9, p.1-13. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7003166/
Strohmaier, S., Jones, F. W., Cane, J. E. (2021) Effects of Length of Mindfulness Practice on Mindfulness, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress: a Randomized Controlled Experiment. Mindfulness. 12(7), p.198-214. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344508640_Effects_of_Length_of_Mindfulness_Practice_on_Mindfulness_Depression_Anxiety_and_Stress_a_Randomized_Controlled_Experiment
Williams, M. and Penman, D. (2011) Mindfulness: a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world. Piatkus: London.
Zhang, D., Lee, E. K. P., Mak, E. C. W., Ho, C. Y., Wong, S. Y. S. (2021) Mindfulness-based interventions: an overall review. British Medical Bulletin. 138(1), p.41-57. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8083197/