Is Mindfulness the Ultimate Medicine? The Key to Wellness & Happiness?
- Abigail Balkus - MSc. in Health and Social Psychology
- Jan 16
- 8 min read
Updated: Jan 17
Wow, these are STRONG claims. And I can sincerely back up these thoughts with facts. Let's dive in.
Get your thinking cap on. Welcome the unthinkable. Get comfy while I blow your mind. (stop dirty thinking, we are a kid-friendly site🙄)
Your are now Cinderella, take a twirl in your dress. No matter what you identify as, you are now slaying.
Welcome to the ball of the year, in this beautiful setting.. all the top internet celebrities are here.
It is just like VidCon from the 2010's...the good old days am I right 🙄
Your prince is none other then Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the original Buddha has awoken from the dead just to see you in your 2010-style ruffle dress (incredible sarcasm here).
You and The Buddha are now embarking on the craziest conversations over cocktails & hors d'oeuvres of your life, which you can't help believe every word of because he sounds like the wisest person you have ever met.
“Irrigators regulate the waters; arrow-makers straighten the arrow shaft; carpenters shape the wood; the wise control themselves.” All quotes here & upcoming, are known to be spoken by The Buddha located in his teachings, 'The Dhammapada'.
“Let go of the past, let go of the future, let go of the present, and cross over to the farther shore of existence. With mind wholly liberated, you shall come no more to birth and decay.”
Nothing could make me think Siddhartha Gautama was not an enlightened person because he was able to advise a king towards better ways after he had previously murdered his own father via starvation. Hard core. Recommendation: Secular Buddhism by Stephan Batchelor.
The scene is set, the prince is handsome, you look amazing, the food is delicious. And, as promised, the mind-blowing is commencing.
As you speak to The Buddha, his wise words and heart-warming lines are so incredible... you are wondering how he came to be so wise and stress-free.
“From lust springs grief, from lust springs fear. For one who is wholly free from lust there is no grief, whence then fear?”
“Easily seen are the faults of others, but one’s own are difficult to see. Like chaff one winnows another’s faults but hides one’s own, even as a crafty fowler hides behind sham branches.”
The Buddha practiced vipassana (mindfulness) meditation. He practiced other forms of meditation, but this was the most transformative type that he utilized towards reaching enlightenment (as I was taught at a Buddhist monastery).
Enlightenment preaches an "end to suffering" which is obtained throughout this form of meditation by slowly inching through your brain, clearing out all forms of conditioning. In a comparison, psychotherapy works by pulling out & picking apart (in discussion) your conditionings, such as traumas, making you aware as you re-live each episode. However, vipassana meditation works in an opposite method by, top-to-bottom, clearing out the gunk until, as the monks say, you are back to how you were as a little child: before any societal or parental traumas occurred. Conditioning and traumas can be very minor, such as getting sun-burnt on the beach and now... you do not prefer the beach. To larger, triggering traumas, such as - being neglected and now carrying current trust & relationship issues.
Now, imagine a brain, a human being, acting and living without any fears, doubts, or preferences.
You are living incredibly presently because you have no craving for something different than what you are currently experiencing.
When you are warm, you don't wish to feel cooler, and vice-versa.
When you miss the bus, or the car breaks down, you accept the present situation, able to solve it with a clear mind and no harsh feelings and differing hateful desires (and cuss words) arising.
Furthermore, any body pains have dissipated because you have no stress in your body, as you are always satisfied with the current situation... and prior traumas that cause chronic pains such as; tight hips and back issues, have completely been removed from your body, your mind.
Now the possible "down side" is that, compared to psychotherapy, you do not know exactly what you are getting rid of at a certain step in your meditation process. However, a master teacher usually guides these retreat processes, helping you work through confusing emotions and memories that arise.
So, I welcome you to this idea of how mindfulness is the ultimate medicine, the master cure.
Scientists have found the incredible connection between our body and mind, with stress being a large cause of disease and pain 1. Not only does true mindfulness alleviate our conditioned suffering-causing habits and negative-thinking, it also allows the individual to act more wisely. All religious aspects aside, it is witnessed by all serious meditators: the wisdom found in silence, the true intuition within us all.
Living a life mindfully means that you are aware of everything occurring as it comes, requiring complete present-ness and no thinking (which leads to leaving the present moment for future & past reflections and desires). If thoughts do not guide you? What does?
None other than your inner wisdom.
Alright hold on, relax, I know you are scared of the woo-woo side of the internet, of instagram.
I have explained this process towards being led by your intuition very simply, it should make sense.
I thought your thinking cap was on....
Thus, making decisions, carrying yourself with a deep inner knowledge, you automatically make better decisions. You choose the apple🍏over the cake🎂 ... or if you need to save money and only have cake..you eat the damn cake and don't worry that you will gain weight over one piece...and end up going on a silly diet or restricting yourself the next day. (no judgement here)
So you see... with mindfulness, no expensive health products are needed. No weight-loss drugs, or fat-removal surgeries needed to have a high level of wellbeing.
You effortlessly become extremely happy & healthy, and you keep your wallet closed.
Sounds AMAZINGGGG.
So, how can we all achieve this incredibly high standard. I mean enlightenment, come on...
Well, lucky for you, I am going to help you become a mindful, wise, thriving human... sans enlightenment. In no particular order... the tips and hacks to inch you into being more mindful. As you come into being more present, you will allow yourself to drift away from past & future thinking and creating those empty desires which leave you endlessly unhappy and hoping for the next dopamine-hit that disrupts your health.
A. Head to my Resources page to find some ego-dissolving free resources and donation-based retreats that I have personally experienced and vouch for.
B. Begin practicing mindful eating.
Start with one meal a week, inching towards one meal a day, then every meal.
Eating your food slowly, chewing everything completely before swallowing.
Place your utensil down while you chew: not poised and ready, anticipating the next bite.
No screens in front of you.
Even working not to chat during meals.
Enjoy a moment of peace as you focus on the flavors of the food.
Notice how your stomach feels. You should slowly begin to stop anticipating future meals or
foods, as you feel more satisfied with the current meal. The food will taste better than ever before as
you embrace each minor flavor... causing you to enjoy even the healthiest of meals, and add less thick
sauces and cheeses to your foods.
C. Don't do two things at once. I learned very early in my psychology career that multi-tasking is not real,
and it actually incredibly tires-out your brain as it switches quickly from one task to the next 2 3.
When you watch a movie, don't snack at the same time, focus on what you are seeing - not trying to chew and watch simultaneously.
When you bike or drive, don't listen to music at the same time.
When you do that chore that you hate, don't listen to a podcast whilst you do it... you get the idea. Completely one thing at a time.
Honestly this can be incredibly difficult because this is such a normal part of society that is wrecking
our energy levels, when our brains could be working much more efficiently.
Start slow here... maybe doing your class or career-work without listening to music.
You will better be able to listen to your intuition, and process new information. Overtime, as the
mindfulness sinks in, you will even stop hating that one particular chore because you have diminished your sense of craving things out of the present moment.
D. Practice mindfulness meditation on your own. A nice way to improve your ability to be present and do one thing at a time effortlessly, is to improve your mindfulness through meditation. Vipassana (mindfulness) meditation can seem quite complicated, especially in a retreat style, because there are many techniques utilized to more seamlessly pick-through these conditioned habits and thinking practices that arise as you meditate. However, although I would highly recommend a retreat to begin the process in a quiet, guided space... this is not always accessible or available in our job or school schedules.
Try meditation with a focus on observing your thoughts as they arise and fall away.
The key is a non-judgmental awareness. Judgmental thoughts and doubts only cause more thoughts and greater conditionings.
Sit in complete silence, still, focusing on the rise & fall of your breath in your stomach, with a keen awareness of thoughts and bodily-feelings that arise.
If your sitting position hurts, it is wise to stay still, noticing how these pains ultimately fall away, leading us to the awareness of the changing characteristic of everything in the world. Allowing the dissolving of attachments & desires that arise as we fight against natural changes, the rising & falling of phenomena in our daily lives.
Slowly increase your sitting time.
Still, utilize my Resources page for sites with sitting-meditation tips.
Give it a hard try. After all, Western medicine usually comes with possibly life-threatening side-effects and costly bills. In addition, there are the pesky, claim-denying insurances to wade through.
Mindfulness has no additives, it is simply...a simpler way of living. A less noisy, over-stimulating form of life.
Humans have only recently lost their ability to be mindful, to be in the moment and listen to their body's messages... with modern technologies, less time in nature and quiet moments of sitting.
In these practices, invite yourself to notice more. Your automatic actions will begin rising to the surface level, allowing you to clean out pesky, conditioned habits. Bringing the bottom, sinking side of the iceberg to float.
Alright, at this point in the conversation, the wise Buddha might actually be pissed that I have taken your attention for so long. Go dance🕺💃🏻, have fun, try not to get sloppy drunk ;)
“There is no meditative concentration for one who lacks wisdom, and no wisdom for one who lacks meditative concentration.”
If you would like a post on the dirty details (jk) of 20 days spent meditating 8-10 hours at the Buddhist monastery, comment below or send me an email.
Next week's spicy holistic health article... exploring and dissecting the under-representation of women's health in health research.
Works Cited
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