Benefits of Long-term Mindfulness:

Emotional Set-Point

Beginning this week, we will analyze some very interesting findings obtained by scientists regarding the long term practice of Mindfulness. These findings were noted among Mindfulness practitioners who practiced daily for more than eight weeks. In this first article we investigate the term emotional set-point and the way our untrained minds work, facilitating that emotional set-point.

First let's learn what is meant by the term 'Emotional Set-Point'. The Theory of Emotional Set-Point suggests that our level of personal well-being is determined primarily by our heredity and by personality traits ingrained in us during the early years of our lives. As a result, it remains relatively constant throughout our lives.

Our level of happiness may change briefly in response to life events, but then almost always returns to its baseline level as we become familiar with those events and their consequences over time. A growing body of evidence now tells us that this familiarisation occurs even to good events like career advancement, money, and marriage. Similarly, adjustment to bad events like death of a child or spouse, unemployment can occur over time for most people. So in general, our emotions revolve around a set point and it is more or less fixed according to the theory.

However, some new studies have found that we can fix our happiness set- point more permanently higher due to long term and regular practice of Mindfulness.

Long Term Practice of Mindfulness

Long term practitioners of Mindfulness are taught to be Mindful throughout their day in all four primary postures. These are sitting, standing, walking and lying down postures. Practitioners learn to do about 30 minutes of daily formal Mindfulness meditation practice at the beginning and gradually extend and compliment it with the development of Mindfulness in daily activities, encounters with people, and with their own emotions and thoughts.

Getting into details

Let's look at being not Mindful about one's emotions and thoughts in a little more detailed manner. A typical young working mother's day may usually start as follows;

'The alarm goes off at 4.30 am. The young mother wakes up to the sound of the alarm and soon thoughts about what needs to be done come rushing to her mind. She has to prepare breakfast and lunch for her family of two children and husband. Get the children dressed up and ready for the school. At the same time, she recalls the report she has to finish at office for her Boss. Once again she thinks what a bad Boss she has to tolerate. She thinks; 'Oh, when will I be able to get a better position or another job with better pay, a nicer Boss and more leave to be with my family......?'

While all that goes on her mind she walks to the wash room automatically. She is oblivious to the tasks she performs at the wash room, as her mind is elsewhere, mind-wandering.

She is entering another typical stressful day of her life. Usually she could feel exhausted by the end of her day especially due to the mind-wandering which opens the door to emotional stress, restlessness, anger, frustration and unhappiness.'

How we spend our typical days accumulate and add up to how we spend our valuable lives. The emotional set-point of such a young mother may not change much even due to promotions, more money, house maids or holidays.

The latest research in Neuroscience indicates the default mode of human mind is mind-wandering, which correlates with unhappiness and with the activation of a brain network area associated with self-referential processing. (Ref: http://www.pnas.org/content/108/50/20254).

Long term and regular Mindfulness practice helps people to get an accurate feedback as if they are looking at a mirror, thus eliminating and reducing the self-referential processing and mind-wandering. Mindfulness develops the skill of 'living in the moment' among the long term practitioners and they reduce their tendency to escape into the future, the past, fantasizing and worrying.

Next week we will examine how this helps to shift the emotional set-point of long term Mindfulness practitioners.

(Aruna Manathunge has practiced Mindfulness for over 42 years. During the past 7 years he has closely followed the development of Mind Science in the Western world. He has had a long career as the Country Head of Sri Lanka and the Head of the Indian Sub-Continent of an American Pharmaceutical Multinational company. Presently Aruna conducts Coaching in Mindfulness to Schools and Companies. Aruna can be contacted at [email protected])