Mindfulness

A commonly used term in today’s era, mindfulness seems to be the most prominent destination of the current generation to reach. However, the precise meaning of this common term seems to differ from person to person, used interchangeably in multiple contexts. Through this article, we want to guide you towards the true meaning of ‘mindfulness’ and its significance.

Let’s begin with what mindfulness actually stands for. Mindfulness can be simply defined as the practice of being attentive to the present moment – observing what is happening within and around you. This requires a constant conscious effort and the practice or observation of the experiences one is having.

Before we move further, let us introduce you to another common concept well known to most of us, namely ‘Hypnosis’. Another commonly used term with multiple different implications and contexts. However, in simple terms Hypnosis simple refers to a state of hyper suggestibility. When a person is in a hypnotic state, their mind is more receptive to suggestions. This enables the person to achieve changes in their emotional states and automatic behaviours more easily. These suggestions are based on what was agreed upon by the client during the interview. However, the person can also use self-hypnosis to make suggestions to one’s own self.

At this point, it’s natural to wonder why have we introduced the concept of hypnosis or what is the relationship between mindfulness and hypnosis. That’s precisely what we want to bring out through this article. Without further ado, let’s dive into this integration.

Consider the human mind and the humongous amount of information it receives. Among the various mediums of receiving information, suggestions seem to be quite dominant as we keep receiving them from external sources all the time. Whenever any suggestions are given to the unconscious mind, the mind commences adapting to the suggestions, which later becomes a habit or a pattern. And thus, any automatic behaviour can be changed using suggestions in a hypnotic state. These suggestions can also be made so as to help a person become more mindful or aware of their surroundings or more observant of the actions they are demonstrating. This, of course, won’t be a day’s task! However, with constant practice, one can definitely achieve it. But, the question of why one needs to develop mindfulness is yet to be answered, right?

The first application of Mindfulness is a Discovery Tool

You may have noticed the occurrence of an emotional hindrance or two while you’re in process of achieving certain goals. Where are they stemming from? Where is it rooted? If we aren’t aware of the source of these blockages, it might be difficult to overcome them. In this scenario, one must work with a mental health professional, which is the first step towards bringing the mental or emotional block to the individual’s awareness. The next step will be to identify the source in a collaborative effort with the person. Being mindful could have helped the person identify the block and the source by themselves. Now, does this mean that mindfulness would allow you to be independent or not visit a mental health professional for help? Not always. One may need help to overcome or resolve the mental or emotional hindrance even after identifying its source.

The second application of Mindfulness is to develop sensory acuity

'Sensory Acuity' – one of the most important success principles and an important concept in “Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)”. Sensory Acuity helps an individual to calibrate more with the observable changes in one’s self or others. For example, if you visit a doctor and say that you’re suffering from a stomach ache, the doctor cannot just prescribe medicine on what they think could be the cause of the stomach ache. The doctor would actually try to observe noticeable changes in the body and question the patient to arrive at a diagnosis. Similarly for an individual, observing noticeable changes in oneself can actually facilitate desirable change. Observing changes within or around oneself is being mindful, isn’t it? That means mindfulness can help you develop sensory acuity and vice-versa.

Now that we have looked at the key applications of mindfulness, let us shift our focus to how we can get started with mindfulness.

Mindfulness as a destination is more about the journey and process. Let’s introduce a simple yet effective strategy. Beginning tomorrow, try to observe or notice 3 things, which you see on your way to work, school, supermarket, etc. In the process, you may notice a completely new structure built along the way that may have skipped your attention before, or you may find a new billboard somewhere. Maybe you’ll other things that were always there but somehow did not come to your attention. Why does that happen? Well, it is because of a lack of mindfulness on your part that these things did not come to your attention earlier. However, when you consciously start to practice it in small ways, like the exercise mentioned above, you’ll become aware of many new things, which you weren’t aware of earlier. This itself could mark the beginning of a new change, leading to other changes that you have always desired even in your personal life.

Application of Mindfulness in Coaching and Therapy.

To conclude, it can be safely said that there are many advanced processes and techniques that can help you develop the skills to become mindful in the real sense and experience the positive changes it brings along. If you are a therapist or a coach, you can also use these techniques with your clients to help them develop mindfulness, and get started on a journey that can literally help them experience a ‘trance-formation’ in their lives.

At ICHARS , we have integrated mindfulness into the eclectic approach to coaching and psychotherapy. So if you are a coach, therapist or looking forward to becoming one, you can definitely check out our Cognitive Hypnotic Coaching or Cognitive Hypnotic Psychotherapy Diploma and take the first step for yourself.