Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

There's a lot of words out there that originate in Metaphysics, the opposite of physics, which means they can mostly be ignored; one, however, "mindfulness," comes up repeatedly. The definition is a little hazy; it's either an entreaty to focus on what you're doing now and ignore the complexity of life around you so as not to be overwhelmed, or it means to prevent thoughts of the past from tainting your experience of the present; both descriptions seem appropriate & important to psychological well-being.

The term apparently originates in Buddhism, part of the Eightfold path to Enlightenment, an ingredient of meditation, putting all thoughts out of your head except for your immediate perceptions and feelings. Mindfulness is also used in the practice of medicine as a cure for mental & physical illness: patients with pain are instructed to ignore it by instead intensely focusing on other bodily sensations. People who experience intense anxiety, due to dwelling on embarrassing or traumatic events in their past, are taught to assiduously fixate on their life right now. And there’s the “don’t be judgmental” component of mindfulness that would obviously benefit society. It seems mindfulness, as a concept, has lots of uses.