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Mindfulness or mindfulness is a mental state that can be practiced through meditation and other techniques.

Image: Greg Rakozy in Unsplash

Mindfulness or mindfulness is a state of awareness that occurs when we intentionally place our attention in the present moment without judgment. This is one of the definitions of the word mindfulness , which is often translated into Portuguese as mindfulness, but whose translation is complicated, as the term in English is quite comprehensive and is used both for the general concept and for the mindfulness meditation technique.

The definition above is from Jon Kabat-Zinn, professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts who in 1979 recruited chronically ill patients who were not responding well to traditional treatments to participate in his newly formed eight-week stress-reduction program. as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Since then, substantial research has demonstrated how interventions based on mindfulness improve mental and physical health - compared to other psychological interventions.

This mindfulness state of mind can be practiced through mindfulness meditation, the practices of which include meditation, body scanning, and mindful breathing. The idea of ​​the practice is to achieve the ability present in every human being of concentration designed to focus attention exclusively on what one is doing.

But meditating is not the only way to achieve or practice mindfulness. Even a simple gesture like taking a deep breath and counting to five or ten can help a person refocus on the here and now. Distractions are natural to the human mind, but the exercise of focusing attention on the present is beneficial to the mind. Psychologist Cristina Monteiro, in an interview with Jornal da USP, explains that mindfulness is "an ancient spiritual practice that aligns the foundations of Eastern philosophy — Buddhism — with the knowledge of the strategies of Western objective science."

Mindfulness can lead to a decrease in stress and anxiety, as activity positively affects the brain patterns responsible for these symptoms. Cristina explains that there are similarities between the practice, which can be done in everyday life, and Cognitive Behavior Therapy. In mindfulness, however, the idea is not to change the content of thoughts. "The technique works towards experience, to understand the transience of mental states and not be led by them."

The benefits of mindfulness practice range from preventing depression and reducing the chances of relapse in people who have already suffered from the disease, to improving memory and creativity. "It generates less automatic reactions and less judgments, an increase in autonomy and is considered a central component of the so-called Dialectical Behavior Therapy, very effective in reducing suicidal behavior in Borderline Personality Disorder."

The psychologist explains that mindfulness is one more tool that can be used for self-care. “The better we can take care of ourselves, the better our results will be in our personal and professional lives. Taking care of yourself is taking care of the environments we inhabit and the relationships involved, generating resilience to the whole system”, says Cristina.

Kabat-Zinn also speaks of mindfulness as a good form of self-understanding and wisdom. In his talks, he says that we all take ourselves very seriously because we believe there is someone to take seriously. "We became the star of our own movie. The story of 'me' starring, of course, me! And everyone becomes a bit of an actor in the movie itself. And then we forget that this is a fabrication, that it's just a construction. And that [life] is not a movie and that there is no "you" that you can find if you want to go back."

The researcher explains that this "self narrative" can be identified in certain regions of the brain, which make this type of behavior a narrative pattern in our lives. With MBSR training, mindfulness-based therapy, they were able to notice changes in brain behavior patterns.

By examining people before and after mindfulness training in a brain scanner, the research group led by Professor Kabat-Zinn can observe a decrease in activity in the so-called Network of Narratives, the brain region that creates the self stories, and an increase in the activity of a region called the Experience Network, which focuses its activity in the present moment. As the two activities are incompatible, the increase in the Network of Experiences gives a rest to the Network of Narratives, which brings more calm to the individual.

Check out Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn's speech about mindfulness training: