Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the recognition that everything is constantly changing. Humans must learn to adapt to these changes within the environment and themselves.
Self-regulation: practicing control over your body and noticing bodily changes
Neuroscience
Tang et al. (2015) describe how mindfulness has been shown to alter brain structure. The alterations occurred in the cerebral cortex, subcortical gray and white matter, the brain stem, and the cerebellum. Meditation was found to alter the frontopolar cortex to enhance meta-awareness; the sensory cortices and insula to promote body awareness; the hippocampus to increase memory; the anterior cingulate cortex, mid-cingulate cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex to increase emotion and self-regulation; and the superior longitudinal fasciculus and corpus callosum for hemispherical communication.
Perceived Control and Stability
It is important for individuals to understand that a situation can change, but their perception of the situation can also change (Pagnini et al., 2016). Nothing in itself is good or bad, rather it is our perception that labels it good or bad. Individuals must learn to take a step back and re-evaluate a situation.
Neuroscience
Christianson et al. (2009) confirmed previous findings in literature that having control over a situation activates ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) regions in the brain. They also confirmed that control over stress regulates activity of the dorsal raphe nucleus through a circuit including the vmPFC.
Perception of Stability:
The perception of stability suggests that what we are taught is unchanging. This leads to mindlessness in which we believe we know what must or will happen, and this limits our ability to adapt to changes (Carson and Langer, 2006). This mindlessness will induce learned helplessness because we are not considering the other factors that influence how a situation turns out (Pagnini et al., 2016). It is important to view situations with an open mind so that you can freely choose how to respond.
Adaptive Behavior: behaviors that allow an individual to function in daily life and adapt to any changes that occur
- Ask the teacher or peers for help when you need it
- Designate time to studying with no distractions
- Take notes in class and review them afterwards
- Take time to relax and take care of yourself
Maladaptive Behavior: behaviors that negatively impact daily functioning or the ability to adapt to the environment
- Staring at a problem that does not make sense
- Avoiding/skipping class(work) because it is not interesting
- Ignoring your mental health
By paying attention to both adaptive and maladaptive behaviors and symptoms, individuals can enhance control over how they choose to respond in different situations (Pagnini et al., 2016). We must learn to accept uncertainty in order to be mindful and have increased perceived control.
Conditional Language and Labels
It is important to use conditional language that promotes possibility over certainty (Pagnini et al., 2016). This allows for the individual to be creative and develop new solutions to situations they face.
- Say ” could be” or “may be” instead of “should be”
- “I could do better on the tests for this class and I will work to make this happen” NOT “I should do better on the tests, I am not a good student”
Mindlessness stems from learning to think in terms of absolute or certain ways (Langer et al., 2000). When students are taught in absolute language, they believe there is only a single perspective to which they must commit (Carson and Langer, 2006).
- Humor allows a person to think outside of the absolute mindset. It helps the student to consider future possibilities or reasons for situations that happen (Pagnini et al., 2016).
Labels, such as diagnoses or feedback from others, restricts one’s perspective and perceived futures (Pagnini et al., 2016). Pagnini et al. (2016) describe how the multiple self is more resilient than the unidimensional one. This means that people must view themselves as more than a grade or a student. People must know that they have multiple identities in different environments. They are a student who interacts one way with professors and peers. They are also a friend and someone’s child, and their personality changes in each of these cases. It is important that they know they are not just what a few people view them as, because this shows that they are mindful and can adapt to different situations.
References
Advanced conditional statements: English language (2017) English Language. Retrieved from https://eslblogs.waketech.edu/esl-english/2017/05/28/advanced-conditional-statements/
Carson SH, Langer EJ (2006) Mindfulness and self-acceptance. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 24(1):29–43.
Christianson JP, Thompson BM, Watkins LR, Maier SF (2009) Medial prefrontal cortical activation modulates the impact of controllable and uncontrollable stressor exposure on a social exploration test of anxiety in the rat. Stress, 12(5):445–450.
Eikenberry K (2020) What can you control? Kevin Eikenberry on Leadership & Learning. Retrieved from https://blog.kevineikenberry.com/leadership-supervisory-skills/what-can-you-control/
Langer EJ (2000) Mindful learning. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9(6):220–223.
Pagnini F, Bercovitz K, Langer EJ (2016) Perceived control and mindfulness: Implications for clinical practice. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 26(2):91–102.
Tang YY, Hölzel BK, Posner MI (2015) The Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16(4):213–225.
Upham B, Migala J, Bedosky L (2022) What is mindfulness? EverydayHealth.com. Retrieved from https://www.everydayhealth.com/mindfulness/