Training the Brain, One Moment at a Time
By Anna Enright, DNP, PCNS-BC
It’s not unusual to have people say to me, mindfulness is not for me. I can’t shut my brain off. When I try to meditate my thoughts are all over the place. I totally understand this phenomenon. Years ago, I decided I was going to commit to meditating every day - it wasn’t easy.
It’s not unusual to have people say to me, mindfulness is not for me. I can’t shut my brain off. When I try to meditate my thoughts are all over the place. I totally understand this phenomenon. Years ago, I decided I was going to commit to meditating every day - it wasn’t easy.
The first thing I noticed when I began to sit in meditation was how busy my mind was. My brain never stopped thinking! I was caught time traveling to the past to work out something that had already happened or into the future predicting things that hadn’t happened yet!! It was exhausting!
The other issue I ran into was justifying taking the time to sit still. I’m a doer and taking the time to sit and do nothing seemed wasteful. In the beginning, it was the science that kept me coming back. My mindfulness journey began partly as an experiment. As I read many scientific papers on the subject, I concluded that if meditation helped attention, memory, stress, depression, chronic pain, self-regulation and more, why weren’t we all meditating? I had to find out for myself what the hype was all about!
Most of the studies recommended meditating for at least 8 weeks of 20 minutes a day for meaningful impact on stress. I decided it was worth my time. I was very curious to see if benefits related to attention, memory, and stress management would improve the quality of my life! So, I sat. I picked a focus, directed my attention to it and when I got distracted, I made a note of it and brought my attention back to that focus. My mind was often busy, but I just noticed that too and brought my attention back. That was basically the practice. Most days, it was nice to take some quiet time out of my busy life. Other days I felt bored, restless, or frustrated that I wasn’t yet good at it! I learned to give myself some slack. It took about three months of quietly sitting for 10 to 20 minutes each day before I began to see the quality of my attention shifting. More importantly, I felt less stressed and more present!
Since its introduction to the mainstream in the 1970’s by Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness has received considerable attention. Today it’s being taught in schools, it’s made its way into the board room of Fortune 500 companies, the therapy room, and athletics. The LA Lakers, the Seattle Seahawks, Misty May-Trainor and the late Kobe Bryant are just a few of the notable sports stars who use mindfulness meditation to quietly gain an edge.
If doing these quieting practices doesn’t resonate with you, no worries. The good news is there are ways to sharpen your attention and awareness on the go. We can train our brain one micro moment at a time.
Here are three micro practices anyone can include in everyday moments:
Look for the glimmers in your day:
What are glimmer moments? Deb Dana, who wrote the book Anchored, describes sharpening our ability to notice those little moments in our day that are either neutral, calming, or bring us some level of joy. We anchor by first noticing them then pausing to savor them for 10-30 seconds.
Some examples of daily glimmers might be:
Petting your dog
Watching your cat play
Looking out the window at a pretty sky
The warm smile of your friend as they greet you
Hearing your favorite song
The relaxing feeling of hot water hitting your body in the shower… and so on.
We have many of these experiences in our day, but they often happen with us hardly noticing!
Noting glimmer moments by savoring them for 10-30 seconds allows the brain to register them. Our nervous system is wired for survival - we are therefore good at registering the danger or stressful events of our day, but ignoring the neutral or positive ones. Noting the glimmers over time has the power to balance the nervous system and minimize our perception of stress. If you truly want to anchor these moments and remember them, share them with someone or write them down in a journal!
Walking or movement meditation:
In this practice you simply tune in to the body in motion. Next time you are walking or stretching, harness your attention on the movements you are engaging in. What does it feel like to lift one foot then the other as you walk? Do you feel your feet as they hit the ground with each step? What does your body feel like as you move? Are you aware you are moving? Take a minute and get curious on what it feels like to be in motion. You can do this several times a day by simply directing your focus.
Sound meditation:
This is a favorite of mine. I practice this throughout the day. Shifting my focus to what I hear, I tune into the sounds around me. I’m often surprised to find that there are more sounds in my environment than I had previously been aware of. Soft sounds, far away sounds, sounds in the room, outside... I especially love doing this practice when I’m walking in nature.
Tuning into the micro moments of noting glimmers, body sensations in movement and sounds are a great way to become more mindful in your day. These on-the-go practices will balance the nervous system by breaking the patterns of thinking (even for a few seconds) and shifting the focus to the present moment, training the brain, one moment at a time.
Fifteen years have gone by, and I continue to sit in meditation most days. My mind still wanders, and I have days when I’m more restless and less focused, but I have learned to appreciate all those moments. I no longer judge them as good or bad. They just are what they are and how I feel informs me of what I need. Through this practice I have learned to recognize the patterns of my mind and that awareness alone has been invaluable. Some days I know I need to be more patient. Some days I need to connect with people while on others, I need my alone time. As a young athlete once told me, “Practicing mindfulness just makes my day better”.
