Mindful Reflection combines the clarity of mindful awareness with the stability of reflective thinking. Refining conceptual and non-conceptual awareness together in this way enhances both empathy and insight.
Mindfulness is known for its documented potential to reduce stress. Adapted with little change from classical Buddhist techniques, this form of meditation is widely practiced throughout the Western world, and increasingly in clinical settings. The premise is simple: as a mental response to life’s challenges, stress is best addressed by understanding and training the mind.
One begins by paying close attention to the breath. This has two effects: to promote short-term calm and to improve concentration. Gradually, the effort expands into a subjective exploration of a) bodily processes, b) thought patterns, c) feelings and d) outer circumstances. The unified purpose of these four targets of mindfulness is to increase real-time awareness, especially of routine mental events and how they guide the stress-response. This is the formal practice of mindfulness, but it doesn’t end there.
To extend these brief moments of calm, and to establish long-term solutions to stress, mindful clarity and focus are brought to bear on everyday interactions. This takes patience, restraint and subtlety. The popular conception of meditation as ‘emptying the mind’ is inconsistent with traditional approaches to mindfulness. In fact, it’s inconceivable (no pun intended): consciousness is by necessity conscious, though not necessarily attentive. There’s no escape from the inner dialogue, nor is it possible to take a stern parental hand to it. However, with a balanced approach, change is possible.
The basic mental function addressed by mindfulness is automaticity. This powerful characteristic of the human brain guides both learning and habit. It’s sometimes advantageous and sometimes not, sometimes conceptual and discursive, sometimes emotional and inarticulate.
Mental habits are approached in two stages: first by observation (mindfulness); second, by understanding (reflection). Reflection is not a theoretical construct; habitual rationalization and ideation are counterproductive. Rather, by rethinking priorities and paying more attention to motivations, it promotes a new, more engaged attitude. The point is to shed expectations of how life should be and disempower the denial reflex. The result is to take life on its own terms and become profoundly grounded; with that comes natural adaptability, and compassion.
In training something as fluid and preconditioned as the human mind, there are no short cuts. Mindful Reflection is a whole-life approach that blends focus with clarity, and non-conceptual states with the discursive mind. It improves one’s ability to function in every part of life, at home and at work, intra-personally and inter-personally.
