Benefits of Long-term Mindfulness:

Changing the Emotional Set-Point

Last week we learned about emotional set-point and how our untrained minds function most of the time facilitating such a set point of emotion in the long run. We also identified the 'default mode' of our mind is mind-wandering and it leads the untrained minds to be carried away by anger, stress, restlessness, frustration and unhappiness.

Moreover, mind-wandering is known, according to Neurology, to correlate with neural activity in a network of brain areas known as the default-mode network that support self-referential processing. This brain network has been associated with processes ranging from the usual attentional lapses to anxiety, ADHD and Alzheimer's disease.

Given the interrelationship between the default-mode network, mind-wandering and unhappiness, a worthy question to be asked is, is it possible to change this and be happier? Yes, it is possible through long term regular practice of Mindfulness.

Mindfulness includes two complementary components: (1) maintaining attention and awareness on the immediate experience, and (2) maintaining an attitude of non-reactive acceptance towards that experience.

Let's take the example of the young mother we discussed last week.

The alarm goes off at 4.30 a.m. 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.......

...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.

The same young mother will act differently after long term training in Mindfulness. Her thought process may be as follows;

She wakes up naturally at 4.30 a.m. without the aid of an alarm clock. She knows that she has woken up before opening her eyes. She becomes aware of the touch of the bed, sounds within and outside of the room and her breathing. She gently gets up from the bed, aware of her bodily movements and the bodily sounds. The day's work comes to her mind and she acknowledges and notes those thoughts - without getting carried away by them. She walks to the washroom very consciously, feeling the touch of her feet on the flow and the sensation of her hand touching the door of the wash room. She does the daily tasks at the washroom very consciously with awareness.

Conscious field of awareness

The long-term practitioners gradually learn to apply mindfulness in all aspects of experience, whether during formal meditation or everyday life. They directly attend to whatever that arises in one's conscious field of awareness at any moment. During such training they learn to clearly identify when self-related thoughts and emotions are occurring (self-referential processing) and to differentiate identification of those from identifying with them. As an example, the awareness that anger is present Vs 'I am angry'.

Mindfulness meditators practice 'noticing' or 'noting' when they are identifying with an object and to 'let go' and bring back the attention to the present moment. The aim of this is to reverse the habit of mind-wandering, which has been defined as 'thinking about something other than what one is currently doing'.

This information processing task is a training of attention away from self-reference processing and mind-wandering, which in the long term leads to the weakening of the activity of the default mode brain network. This has been associated with positive changes such as improved attentional focus, improved intellectual flexibility, improved and early recovery from sad events experienced in one's life, reduced emotional reactivity while enhancing emotional regulation and general contentment and happiness with one's life.

Over time, such changes lead to the re-setting of the emotional set point of long term Mindfulness practitioners. In fact, it is a dynamic change as the benefits of Mindfulness practice increase along with the length and the depth of the practice.

The long term and regular practice of Mindfulness can certainly change the emotional set-point.

As in the sea, they learn that they can't stop the waves but can certainly learn to ride and surf the waves.

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]