This morning I made myself a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. I heated water in my electric kettle, listening to the hum of the machine and slow build of gurgling water as I measured oats into a bowl. Steam emerged from the spout as the kettle automatically clicked off and the bubbling water quieted inside. I gripped the handle of the kettle, carefully submerging the oats in a scorching puddle before clinking a plate over the bowl. While I let the oats soak, my mind drifted to the work I wanted to accomplish today. As I thought, I cut up a banana and grabbed my jar of honey and container of cinnamon. I removed the plate and added my toppings to the oats as I worried about the state of the freelance project I was working on. I sat down to eat and my thoughts shifted from my freelance work as I imagined intelligent ways of writing this blog post to receive exceptional marks. Before I knew it, my oatmeal was gone.
Researchers Brown and Ryan (2003) note that, “rumination, absorption in the past, or fantasies and anxieties about the future can pull one away from what is taking place in the present.” This unique human ability to move beyond one’s present position in time to reflect, plan, and imagine gives us audacious temporal flexibility. While mindwandering certainly has its benefits, in the realms of positive psychology research shows that mindfulness and being present may ultimately have the upper hand in enhancing our wellbeing.
First, let’s look a bit more at mindwandering. It certainly isn’t something confined to my morning breakfast routine as researchers have found that we mindwander nearly 50% of the time (Killingsworth & Gilbert, 2010).
In their research, Killingsworth and Gilbert (2010) found that participants mindwandered while involved in any number of activities like commuting, reading, taking care of children, and running errands. In fact, making love was the only activity during which mindwandering wasn’t regularly reported.
The frequency and breadth of mindwandering is certainly interesting, but it becomes even more intriguing when we see its emotional consequences. Regardless of the pleasantness of what they were thinking while their minds wandered, participants reported being less happy when mindwandering than when engaged in their present activity (Killingsworth & Gilbert, 2010).
Hobbiss, Fairnie, Jafari, and Lavie (2019) have gone on to replicate these findings, also looking at the role of external distractions in affecting mood. They found that things like cell phone use and environmental noises (such as construction) joined mindwandering in decreasing reported happiness. They noted that the role of attention, or disrupted attention, was a significant part of the conversation.
Indeed, as we shift our conversation away from mindwandering to focus on mindfulness, attention certainly requires some airtime.
Brown and Ryan, the creators of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, define mindfulness as, “an enhanced attention to and awareness of current experience or present reality” (2003, p. 822). This increased level of attention on the present allows an individual to more fully engage with their present moments, which allows them to become more aware of information that may otherwise have remained out of the individual’s awareness (Bishop et al., 2004).
So we have attention and awareness, but Brown and Ryan’s (2003) research also shows that enhanced mindfulness can alleviate physical symptoms in patients with breast and prostate cancers, and can also decrease things like stress and mood concerns, which are related to psychological wellbeing.
In essence, where mindwandering allows us to shift our attention away from our present reality, mindfulness encourages us to tap into our present moments with focused attention. Where mindwandering has been shown to decrease happiness, mindfulness is associated with enhanced wellbeing.
As a coach there are a few other points that stand out in the research as I think about how my clients (and myself, for that matter) can benefit from improved mindfulness.
- Mindfulness is a state, not a trait (Bishop et al., 2004). Mindfulness is not a characteristic that we either have or don’t have, meaning that anyone can choose to hone their mindfulness skills. Brown and Ryan (2003) found that participants with an ongoing and long-term mindfulness meditation practice saw long-term benefits, especially when they applied their mindfulness learning in their everyday lives. For those approaching mindfulness for the first time, it is not a one-time buy but rather an ongoing subscription that you continuously buy into; and a product that requires maintenance and attention each time you use it.
- Mindfulness allows us to be more receptive to our inner experiences. Those who score higher on Brown and Ryan’s Mindful Attention Awareness Scale “are more ‘in tune’ with their emotional states and able to alter them and they are more likely to fulfil basic psychological needs” (2003, p.832). Mindfulness, then, offers us a deeper connection to and awareness of our emotions and more control over how they influence our behavior and decisions.
- Mindfulness enables us to act in alignment with our values and interests (Brown & Ryan, 2003). This relates to self-determination theory, which distinguishes between choices we make for our own needs and values compared to habits and behavioral patterns that we turn to as default (Deci & Ryan, 1980). If, through the practice of mindfulness, we broaden our experience of our present realities with deeper attention and awareness, we may find insight into not only our emotional states as mentioned above, but into our values and our ways of making decisions.
Okay, so maybe there’s something to be said about improving our mindfulness, right? Especially if we mindwander as often as Killingsworth and Gilbert’s (2010) study suggest (remember, nearly 50% of the time), we could do with a bit less wandering and a bit more focus. If for nothing else, this will improve our moment to moment happiness, and if we keep at it, we can see sustained benefits to our wellbeing.Whether it’s making breakfast in the morning, trying out a mindfulness meditation, working on a project for work/school, spending quality time with friends and family, or anything in between, a little extra attention and awareness in our present moments can go a long way.
References
Bishop, S.R., Lau, M., Shapiro, S., Carlson, L., Anderson, N.D., Carmody, J. … Devins, G.. (2004). Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11, 230-241.
Brown, K.W. & Ryan, R.M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 822-848.
Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (1980). Self-determination theory: When mind mediates behavior. The Journal of Mind and Behavior, 1, 33-43.
Figueredo, N. (2017). Woman sitting near open window [Online image]. Retrieved October 4, 2019 from https://unsplash.com/photos/f1O4eekgz44
Hobbiss, M.H., Fairnie, J., Jafari, K., & Lavie, N. (2019). Attention, mindwandering, and mood. Consciousness and Cognition, 72, 1-18.
Killingsworth, M.A., & Gilbert, D. (2010). A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science, 330(6006), 932.
Zawila, D. (2017). Shallow focus photography of dandelion [Online image]. Retrieved October 2, 2019 from https://unsplash.com/photos/i2eYyFeTfwc