Minding awareness is not so much what the mind does, but what it is.

Neuroscientists have also found that practitioners of mindfulness meditation and mindful-awareness training tend to develop an attitudinal orientation referred to as “approach mindset” (R. Davidson- Univ. of Wisconsin). This state of mind is actually measured using an electroencephalogram (EEG), which records electrical activity (i.e. neurons firing) of the brain. The approach mindset or “left shift” of brain activity indicates a changing baseline “state”- or stance of approach by the subject. Typically, those who experience this “left shift” state of mind tend to be more balanced, flexible, integrated, and resilient. To “approach”, we move toward our challenges- our obstacles with openness and receptivity. We “soften” with acceptance to “what is”. As we soften with curiosity, we begin to penetrate and dissolve our resistance and friction, and we become more resilient.

“Response flexibility” is one of those left shift (mindful) traits we develop over time within our practice. It is the “pause” before we act or respond to a situation. In this space between impulse and action, we disconnect our response circuits from impulsive reactivity. We have spoken at length about this “space” or “emptiness” in previous articles. We simply wait to respond- and consider our options as to what may be most adaptive for the situation in the present moment. Response flexibility is a fundamental trait of mindful intelligence.

Another fundamental trait spawned from mindful-awareness training is “internal attunement”. In our practice, we cultivate internal attunement through the “observing self” that is actually “tuning in”- in an open, curious, and accepting way to the “experiencing self”– so the observing and experiencing self actually resonate with each other. The process of attunement is the seed for an integrated and inclusive state of consciousness- a state of awareness that is a stable, open (flexible), and adaptive. An integrated consciousness allows us to use our mindful awareness- our “clear seeing”– to balance and coordinate- to create change and choice-  and to possibly change the structure of our brains through new neural firings & synaptic connections.

New mental skills can be cultivated with sustained intentional effort- focused attention and concentration (i.e. “aim & sustain”). Minding awareness with observational distance- to be aware of our awareness (i.e. “meta-awareness”), we begin to discern it from all other mental activities like thinking or feeling. We recognize the impersonal nature of our mental activities as simply events of the mind. Inclusive and interconnected, our integrated consciousness (i.e. mind, brain, & awareness) reveals the nature of our awareness when minded purposefully and intentionally that we are all part of a larger whole- embodied and relational. We emerge with clear sanity– clear sight & coherence of the mind’s natural state- to be observant, stable, curious, open, and adaptive. Both our embodied and relational awareness hold the key to the mystery of our being, and to an intentional path aimed at sustaining happiness and fulfillment.

Our mindfulness meditation practice is a process by which we cultivate the capacity to freely attend intentionally over and over again with open and caring awareness. It provides us with the ability to strengthen our brains to know and to monitor this minding process of where our awareness is and is going. It is in this process that we are changing the way our brain functions responsively and adaptively. It is through our direct (1st person) immersion into our meditation practice that we develop an expansively new relationship with our minds.

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