What is mindfulness ultimately all about? Is it to enhance attention, relieve stress, act ethically or achieve enlightenment? From a greater perspective it may reflect our basic human desire for harmony and homeostasis. What often happens in any moment is that we are triggered and enter a state of dysregulation. Every moment is viewed from a basic biologic drive for survival and we react subconsciously with a fight, flight or freeze response. We create our reality moment to moment.
Experience is seen through the lens of our personal unique conditioned belief system in order to compensate for the perception that we are flawed and incomplete. How can we react to make us feel safe, loved or worthy? We are forced to then deal with our anger, fear, sadness, shame, guilt etc.
Mindfulness is a counterbalancing force to help self-regulate our out of control system. Through awareness, insight into the true nature of self and reality and self-compassion mindfulness can help to bring us back to our baseline level.
There is this wonderful interplay between what one subconsciously creates and how one responds to it. Mindfulness is about an inner balance. Harmony between the activated conditioned nature of mind and the rebalancing, re-centering and grounding of mindfulness that brings mind back from its agitated state. Unfortunately, our resting state may not be one of balance. Many of us exist in a chronically dysregulated state of agitation, stress and anxiety. It is possible that as we cultivate mindfulness, not only are we able to return to our resting state but allow for it to be reset to a more grounded stable level.
by Dr. Phil Blustein
Feb 8, 2023