There are many ways to practice mindfulness, and when it involves paying attention to thoughts, it is important to notice all thoughts, including those that are distressing and those that are not. Distressing thoughts can lead to uncomfortable emotions (or they might come from uncomfortable emotions), and they are unpleasant to think about. We could become anxious, worried, or concerned if we believe, and give meaning to, distressing thoughts. Practising mindfulness can help us to distance ourselves from these thoughts, reducing the discomfort that they can cause.
During mindfulness practice, we can also ‘distance’ ourselves from positive thoughts whatever they may be including ‘I feel really proud of myself today’ or ‘I’m really getting a lot from this mindfulness exercise’. But why would we want to?
One reason is because if we don’t, we can run the risk of preferring positive thoughts over distressing thoughts during mindfulness practice. The existence of distressing or positive thoughts during mindfulness may be perceived as a major factor determining our well-being or how effective our mindfulness practice is. This can lead to a situation where, if you don’t feel subjectively ‘good’ after a mindfulness session, you may feel that mindfulness may not have met your needs.
For example, during a “leaves on a stream” exercise, where you visualise your thoughts as leaves floating down a stream. You observe each thought, whether positive or negative and imagine placing it on a leaf, letting it drift away. This practice helps you detach from your thoughts and view them without judgment, promoting a state of calm and awareness. However, if you only place negative thoughts on the leaves and let them drift away, while clinging to positive thoughts because you view them as ‘different,’ you disrupt the balance. By allowing all thoughts to float away, you can maintain a balanced perspective, reducing the tendency to cling to positive thoughts or reject negative ones, ensuring a more effective and fulfilling mindfulness practice.
During mindfulness, noticing and being aware of whatever thoughts may arise, involves being aware of our reactions to it. We can gain a greater understanding of how our thoughts impact our body and whether they trigger additional thoughts. We can observe a thought occurring at the same time as other sensations that were previously closed off to us, such as the sensation of the chair we’re sitting in, or the sound of the birds outside. Over time, through repeated mindfulness, we can start to notice that a thought only has a meaning, if we give it one.
This type of mindfulness is useful, whereby mindful attention is paid equally to all thoughts that can arise during practice, can be useful because it helps us to recognise that positive thoughts (and positive life experiences) don’t always lead to meaningful or adaptive outcomes. For example, you may love a leather jacket so much that you overspend or you might be so pleased with some donuts that you eat the entire box. Similarly, social media scrolling might be so enticing that you sleep much later than you would like or you might fall in love and compulsively reach for your phone 217 times a day to check if your beloved has texted you. By practising mindfulness and treating all thoughts equally, we can gain a clearer perspective and make more balanced, adaptive decisions.
An outcome of this type of ongoing mindfulness practice is the subjective sense of having more ‘time and space’ to respond to any thoughts that we have in day-to-day life, allowing us to make the best decisions for ourselves. It’s almost as if we are more able to make an informed decision despite the constant flow of thoughts and emotions appearing. For instance, being more mindful may mean that you may quickly realise that you don’t need that leather jacket despite the dopamine burst. You might stop at 2 donuts instead of ten because you notice the thought ‘I need another donut!’ and the salivation that follows. You might notice an unhelpful, instantaneous jolt of excitement more readily, when a reel captures your attention at 2:30am while ‘trying to sleep’. Similarly, you may notice that compulsively reaching for the phone when in love impedes upon your work or study. By creating this mental space, mindfulness helps us observe our impulses and make more balanced, thoughtful decisions.
Try this simple mindfulness exercise for yourself: the next time you take part in something you really enjoy, try to do it at a snail’s pace and really take your time to be present with, and calmly acknowledge, all of your five senses. Notice the numerous sensations in your body as they occur, and notice the emotional tones that appear throughout, and almost pretend that it’s the first time you’ve ever taken part in this particular activity. Notice the thoughts that arise as well, as opposed to being ‘whisked away’ by them as may have occurred many times before. There is a high likelihood that you may discover a lot about your subjective experience of this activity that you were not aware of before.
This type of mindfulness does not rob you of enjoyment or joy in daily life. Instead, it enhances your ability to experience joy, happiness, and euphoria, when the time is right. It also helps to lessen or ease the distress associated with sadness, anxiety, or anger, when those emotions arise. By integrating mindfulness into your daily routine, you can cultivate a more balanced and fulfilling life.
