Who Is Mindfulness For?
I love classical music and film scores (any Ennio Morricone fans reading?).
I listen to all kinds of music but classical is the one genre that I used to feel a bit odd about liking. It always had an air of exclusivity to it. I didn’t grow up in a classical music household although I do remember some opera CDs being played every now and then. There wasn’t a piano in the corner of our living room and it certainly wasn’t the kind of music my friends listened to. It took me until my early twenties to feel comfortable with being a classical music fan. So what changed?
I couldn’t tell you when exactly, but at some stage in my 20’s, I began to realise that if I’m interested in and enjoy listening to classical music then it’s for me. It doesn’t matter that I’m not the typical classical fan. It doesn’t matter if nobody else around me likes it. It doesn’t matter if I get odd looks when I talk about the similarities between heavy metal and classical. Like any form of music it’s part of our shared human cultural heritage and as a human it is something I have the same right enjoy to as anyone else.
My journey with mindfulness followed much the same path as my liking for classical music.
I’ve been meditating regularly for over ten years now.
I spent two years doing a master’s degree in Mindfulness-Based Wellbeing in University College Cork as my teacher training.
I run mindfulness courses and retreats, give talks and lectures on it, and spend a lot of time in this “world”.
And even with all this I sometimes look at how mindfulness and meditation are portrayed and think “That’s not for me!”. I often feel like I’m not the typical kind of person who meditates or that the depictions of mindfulness I see online don’t represent my own experience of it.
If that’s how I feel sometimes, even as a mindfulness teacher, then I wonder how it must be for people who are coming to mindfulness for the first time?
Mindfulness is For You
You don’t need to sit cross-legged.
You don’t need to wear beads.
You don’t need to be on a beach at sunrise.
You don’t even need to wear a robe (although they do look comfortable don’t they?)
If you are interested in mindfulness then it is for you (although there are some exceptions in certain situations listed below).
You might be like me and look at social media and feel the depictions of meditation don’t represent you. Don’t worry. You don’t need to get to a beach for sunrise to meditate. You don’t need to move to Bali. If phrases like “loving-kindness” or “self-care” make you uncomfortable then you don’t need to use them, feel free to find your own words for whatever ideas you come across. My own pet peeve is the term “corporate wellness”, it makes me cringe every time I come across it (apologies to colleagues who use it!)
You don’t need special equipment. Sometimes I use a meditation cushion. Sometimes I sit on a kitchen chair to meditate. Sometimes I lay down on a yoga mat to do a body scan, sometimes I just lay on the bed. Neither is better or worse. Whatever works, works.
If you are interested in mindfulness it is for you.
You might try it and not like it, but it is for you to experience and decide that for yourself. I mentioned in a previous post that mindfulness is not religion and you don’t need to be a specific kind of person to get into it. It is a natural human capacity so, presuming you are a human (and if you’re reading this I’m guessing you are) then mindfulness is for you - at least to try.
Mindfulness is part of our shared inheritance as human beings, something we all have a right to explore.
When NOT to Begin a Mindfulness Programme
There are some situations where we would advise people to not attend a mindfulness course or begin learning to meditate. Some examples include:
Having suffered a recent bereavement
Ongoing substance abuse issues
People currently in treatment for severe mental health issues
The way this was explained to me in my teacher training was that learning to meditate is like learning to drive - it’s easier and safer to learn to drive when the roads are quiet and there is less going on. Likewise, it’s usually best to learn to meditate when there is less going on in your life.
On a slight side note most meditation teachers will screen people before beginning a meditation course and give advice about whether to go ahead or perhaps wait until a more suitable time. This is why it is important to look for suitably trained teachers who will have training in helping people to make the best decision for themselves.
Getting Started With Mindfulness
So you’re interested in mindfulness.
But you’re not ready to sign up for a course?
No problem.
You can check out my last two posts here and here which both have short mindfulness exercises for you to try out.
You can also book in for a free consultation with me here and subscribe to this newsletter to learn more about mindfulness each week and stay up to date with upcoming courses and offers.
If you’re interested in meditation but really unsure of getting started with it then you can alway being by just connecting with your senses a bit more. Next time you sit down to eat take a minute or two to pay attention each of your senses in turn:
What does the food look like?
How does it smell?
Is there a sound to it (you might be surprised at this one)
How does it feel? What is the texture?
Finally, how does it taste? Can you pick out individual ingredients?
You don’t even have to call this a meditation, you’re just paying attention and being curious about something that you’re doing anyway. That’s a huge amount of what mindfulness is and you might just have started an ongoing mindfulness practice for yourself.
P.S. check out this winter sunset over Cork City from a few weeks back. Getting outside and watching something so simple can be a great way of slowing down a bit and being more present.