Mindfulness Attitudes

Attitude Number One: Non-Judging

Last time I mentioned that having expectations when practicing mindfulness meditations can lead to frustration. This can lead to giving up the practice all together. We know from Jon Kabat Zinn’s research and experience in the Stress Clinic that participants who come to the MBSR classes with an empty slate but are willing to give it their best shot are the ones who experience the most benefits.

Instead of expectations, having certain attitudes about the practice will help one’s experience. The attitudes that Jon Kabat Zinn identifies as necessary are non-judging, patience, a beginner’s mind, trust, non-striving, acceptance, and letting go. Let’s start with the first one: non-judging.

Simply put, non-judging relates to observing what comes up for us during a meditation and suspending judgment. We, as humans, constantly label our experiences in three main ways: good, bad, and neutral. In the MBSR workshops, we encourage participants to practice just observing what comes up—and that means observing the judgments too! So, when you notice a thought such as “I am so antsy!” just observe—don’t try to stop, but just notice.

Why is this important? Many people sign up for the 8-week MBSR workshop because they want to manage the stress they are experiencing in their lives. One of the ways of doing this is for us to be aware of all our judgments and the related narratives, fears, and automatic thinking that goes along with them. It’s the first step in being able to be with these thoughts and our automatic reactions—reactions that increase our stress.

Next time, I’ll talk about the second attitude: patience.

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