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‘Mindfulness’
focus brings psychologist to
various forums
(December
2007 Issue)
Most of us, given the choice, would choose to be more awake, alive
and engaged in our lives, more mindful. A state of "mindfulness,"
that feeling of being present in the moment, has been shown to reduce
stress, help with depression and even increase physical health.
While the goal of complete mindfulness is not a new concept, in
fact it is a centuries-old Eastern practice, Ellen Langer, Ph.D.,
a professor in the psychology department at Harvard University,
has taken steps to bringing the practice closer to Western audiences.
Writing about her work on mindfulness in a series of studies, books
and articles, she has found an approach to mindfulness that is,
perhaps, more suited to our busy lives, a way to slow down and be
present that may work better for the way we live.
Langer has applied her mindful methods to everything from aging,
creativity, decision-making, learning and weight loss in more than
200 research articles and six academic books. She has also written
three books for mass audiences, including her most recent, "On Becoming
an Artist: Reinventing Yourself Through Mindful Creativity." She
is the subject of a movie starring Jennifer Aniston coming out in
2009 and plans to release her next book in the series, on the health
benefits of mindfulness, at the same time. She is the recipient
of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Award for Distinguished Contributions
to Psychology in the Public Interest of the American Psychological
Association, among other awards. She has been a guest lecturer on
the subject for audiences around the world.
New England Psychologist's Catherine Robertson Souter caught
up with Langer to discuss her work with mindfulness and how it can
be used in every aspect of life.
Q: First, what is your definition of "mindfulness?"
A: Mindfulness is the very simple process of actively noticing
new things. When you actively notice new things, it puts you in
the present, makes you sensitive to context and perspective and
your behavior goes from being rule-governed to rule- and routine-guided.
Q: How did you get started in this type of work?
A: Thirty years ago, I was taken aback by all the strange things
I saw very bright people doing. It was clear that it was not stupidity
that was operating so the question was: 'what was going on?' The
thing about mindlessness is that the behavior you are engaging in
made sense at one time but circumstances change and we are oblivious
to the changes.
Q: Are there other people out there doing this type of work?
A: When I first started, there was no one else doing it. Now
it seems that it is all over the place and in all different fields,
whether it's psychopathology or developmental psychology.
My early work was sort of a link between East and West. I'm often
asked about the difference between mindfulness as I worked on it
and Buddhist mindfulness. With meditation, you achieve post-meditative
mindfulness. Whether you come about it my way or through meditation,
you end up basically in the same place but the means of getting
there is different. I find that many people, and in the past including
myself, have difficulty sitting still for 10 to 20 minutes to meditate.
This was a way that seemed more congenial to Western mentality.
They are not at odds and certainly one can do both and each will
lead to a place of noticing new things.
What is behind meditation is not to be ruled by our mindsets, to
grant it no importance and watch it dispassionately, which is very
hard for people. My way is to take whatever you are thinking about
and by constantly noticing new things about it, it changes. You
become less evaluative. Evaluation is essentially mindless; you
are confusing what you are looking at with a particular view of
it. Nothing in and of itself is positive or negative. Those are
views that you attribute to it.
Q: It seems like a lot of work. It would be easier to "cruise"
through life.
A: People think of mindfulness as thinking and thinking has
gotten a bad name. Thinking isn't hard; what makes it seem hard
is the evaluation we attach to it: what if I don't get the answer,
what if I can't solve the problem? But when you are being mindful,
you are not being evaluative. Simply noticing new things is enlivening.
You see people who are fully engaged in what they are doing and
most people envy that. When you are fully engaged, you are not feeling
stressed or overwhelmed. You are just there.
Humor relies on mindfulness. What makes it funny is that when you
are told a joke you understand it one way but when you hear the
punch line, you realize that there was a whole different way of
understanding it. I doubt that people would think it was effortful
to be laughing all day long.
When people say they want to cruise, they are saying that they
want to avoid mindless stress. If you could fall in love right now
or empty your mind and not think of anything, what would you choose?
Fall in love.
Right and when you fall in love, you are not telling yourself terrible
things, you are thinking about this new person and trying to get
to know them better and it's all new to you, it's enlivening.
Q: With your most recent book, on becoming an artist, you talk
about mindful creativity.
A: What I've started to address is how to cure mindlessness
by beginning a new activity. For me, it was painting. Try something
new and throw yourself into it. That's the feeling of being mindful.
Now that you know what it feels like, the moment you don't feel
that way, you need to make a change.
Q: Your art has been received well and even shown at several
galleries.
A: I have been painting for six years. I just happened upon
painting while I was working on this book about mindfulness. But
I don't think people should do it to necessarily show it. I had
to put myself out there because I had to test the things that I'm
saying. If I'm telling people how to deal with negative evaluations
and I can't show my stuff because I'm afraid that people won't like
it, that's hypocritical. People can show if they want but the major
thing is just to let themselves have the passion that derives from
mindful creativity.
Q: I read that mindfulness has been touted as a new way to address
dieting. Is this the big answer?
A: Yes. I could have written 100 books once the ideas became
clear to me because no matter what you're doing, you can do it mindlessly
or mindfully and the ramifications of being in one state of mind
or the other are enormous. So, it could be mindful eating or mindful
sleeping. It could be mindful party going, mindful golf, mindful
interviewing.
Sure, if one eats mindfully one is not going to overeat. Overeating
stems from, among other things, being unhappy and the more mindful
you are, the happier you are. Most people take what they are going
to eat based on what they wanted in the past rather than what they
might want right now. In the past, I always wanted a full plate
of spaghetti but perhaps right now all I want is a half a plate
but it wouldn't occur to me to put less on my plate.
Q: Tell us about this movie with Jennifer Aniston as you. How
did this come about?
A: I got a call from a producer who was aware of my work and
wanted to make a movie and I said sure. It has been in progress
for a few years now. These things take a long time. Call me back
in 2009 and we can talk about how that's going!
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