Aware

Aware is a comprehensive overview of the far-reaching benefits of meditation, rooted in both science and practice, enriched with actionable advice on how to practice mindfulness.

Mindfulness became such a tossed-around concept that we hardly ever question its meaning. What do we think of when we speak of mindfulness?

Siegel deconstructs mindfulness in a plain, comprehensible way. First of all, he refers to it as a modus operandi which is profoundly different from the ordinary functioning of the mind. Further, he explains that mindfulness builds on three major mental faculties, or the “three pillars” of mindfulness:

Attention, or the ability to focus on one task or object. It works like a laser, concentrating on one point while ignoring the rest. You may have experienced focused attention last time you were totally immersed in your work or read an awesome book. Open awareness is the second pillar of mindfulness. This is the ability that allows you to be receptive to your surroundings and read the context. The faculty of open awareness allows a football player to maintain a sense of how the rest of his team is spread on a pitch, as he’s dribbling the ball. Intention, which, if used correctly, allows you to maintain a positive and compassionate attitude towards yourself and the world.

Mindfulness arises when these three elements interact with one another in an optimal way. This allows you to perceive the events of life as they unfold, without judgment or excessive rumination. But once you get a grasp of what mindfulness means, a question may pop into your head – why should you cultivate it? Is this actually important?

In her flagship book about the benefits of mindfulness for health Counterclockwise, Ellen Langer claims that “virtually all the world’s ills boil down to mindlessness.” If this is an exaggeration, it’s only a minor one. Siegel also gives many examples of how the lack of mindfulness harms your physical and mental well-being. Mindlessness is common when you go through your daily chores – for example, brushing your teeth, taking shower, making breakfast and eating it while thinking of something else. You may even say that the autopilot is useful in those instances. It allows you not to waste your conscious mental power on repetitive, mundane activities. And that’s true – our brains evolved an “automatic mode” to economize on energy. The problem begins when you take the same attitude to less predictable situations, which demand you to engage with them. Such situations are your relationships, challenges at work and even driving through the city traffic. Then, it is obviously in your best interest to make decisions based on what is right in front of your eyes – rather…