What Mindfulness Isn\'t - Riverpath Counseling

A few years ago, I had the distinct please of working with an incredible team of professionals at Cancer Wellness at Piedmont Hospital. These awesome practitioners were responsible for<a class=\”ui-editor-link-external\” href=\”http://piedmont.org/medical-care/Cancer-Wellness.aspx\” target=\”_blank\”> providing comprehensive, complementary cancer services and programs to anyone affected by cancer at any phase in his or her journey</a>.
During my time there, I had the pleasure of attending several conferences with other professionals from the area; one of whom was Dr. Susan Bauer-Wu. She has written a fantastic book called <a class=\”ui-editor-link-external\” href=\”http://www.amazon.com/Leaves-Falling-Gently-Life-Limiting-Connectedness/dp/1572249994\” target=\”_blank\”>“Leaves Falling Gently: Living Fully With Serious & Life-Limiting Illness Through Mindfulness, Compassion & Connectedness”</a>
In it she gracefully details a way of living that can be helpful to not only those with an illness, but everyone in general. This brings me to a great section of her book that highlights a point that often confuses individuals who are new to the Mindfulness world. She touches on great points about Mindfulness and it almost serves as an F.A.Q. I wanted to bring you all that information so you can have it to and maybe some of your questions will be answered. This is taken from page 15 of her great book (Bauer-Wu, 2011).
 
<blockquote>What Mindfulness Is Not
To understand what mindfulness is, it may be helpful to clarify what mindfulness is not. Mindfulness is not:
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<blockquote>Trying to achieve a special state of mind. Mindfulness allows mind states to naturally surface and be noticed, but it doesn’t force them to change.
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<blockquote>Going into a trance. Rather, mindfulness is being alert and attentive to what is happening.
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<blockquote>Thinking positive thoughts. Positive, negative, and neutral thoughts may all come to mind and are regarded equally.
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<blockquote>Distracting yourself or imagining you are somewhere else. Mindfulness is the antithesis of distraction and imagery. Rather than take your mind off or away from actual circumstances, mindfulness involves attending to what is happening in the present moment, even if it’s unpleasant.
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<blockquote>“Doing” anything. In its simplest and purest sense, mindfulness is a way of being and is not about doing anything.
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<blockquote>Religious. The essence of mindfulness is accessible to everyone regardless of faith tradition.
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<blockquote>Complicated or far out. On the contrary, mindfulness is returning to a very simple way of being and relating to yourself, others, and your circumstances.
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<blockquote>Exclusively Eastern. While mindfulness is a foundation of Asian cultures and religions, especially Buddhism, there is nothing particularly exotic or Eastern about living attentively and with kindness. The principles of mindfulness are universal.
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This book has a lot of other great information, as well. If this was helpful to you, please buy her book. It’s a great resource for everyone trying to live differently. Additionally, you can bring this article in and talk about it with one of our <a href=\”/our-therapists/\” class=\”ui-editor-link-external\”>therapists in Denver.</a> - <a href=\”https://plus.google.com/105182342113293066704?rel=author\”>Alex Michaud</a>  
Source
Bauer-Wu, S. (2011). Leaves falling gently: Living fully with serious & life-limiting illness through mindfulness, compassion & connectedness. (pp. 15-16). Oakland, CA 94609: New Harbinger Publications, Inc.