Mindfulness Meditation Stress Reduction program Part 2

Meditation Enlightenment

Presented by
Yogi Ramsuratkumar

Mindfullness VS Relaxation Meditation

She uses mindfulness as one of a range of approaches in her practice. "If, however, you ruminate over it - thinking, 'Why am I angry, I don't want to be angry, I must be a worthless person' - you get more stressed."

There is a difference between mindfulness and relaxation mediation, which involves concentrating on one thing - a mantra, for example, or one's own breathing. Mindfulness doesn't attempt to still the mind but to observe it, continuously monitoring one's mental processes and physical sensations.

Contrary to the stereotypes of meditation requiring sitting in the lotus position for hours, it can be performed any way at any time. "If you want to stand up or walk around and meditate, it's fine, because it's more about tuning into everyday experience," says clinical psychologist Dolores Foley. "It could be as simple as noticing the feelings of your feet on the floor when you jump in a lift, or the sounds around you, so the details of life become more acute."

The effects can be akin to an epiphany, according to Foley, who has meditated daily for more than a decade. "As a student I did an intensive retreat, meditating for 11 hours a day for 10 days. By the end, my mind was quite still, instead of the usual constant stream of background mental chatter," she says. "The big thing I noticed was the intensity of my emotions had decreased, so that if I got upset about something, I wouldn't stay annoyed for so long."

Foley describes the process as being more engaged but less reactive. "You realise there is a different way of looking at things, you can disengage and not get lost in your emotions," she says. "The reduction in reactivity is the key - allowing space to see your experience more accurately and respond more thoughtfully."

Foley, a research fellow at Royal Prince Alfred's Sydney Cancer Centre, is studying the effects of mindfulness training on cancer patients. She has also used it in treating drug and alcohol problems. "Cravings for drugs and alcohol come in waves, so it's helping individuals to notice those waves and ride them rather than using [drugs], and step outside those unhelpful patterns."

Meditation practice can take various forms, such as a body scan (moving the attention around the body from head to toes), aiming to bring the awareness into the present moment. This is important, according to its proponents, because many of us function on automatic pilot, our thoughts flitting between the past and the future. That makes it hard to pay attention to what we are doing now.

Another mindfulness exercise involves taking a single raisin, studying it, smelling it, feeling it, rolling it around the mouth and finally eating it. The process should take minutes to complete.

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Relax body and Mind OM Mantra