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Can mindfulness meditation make you happy?

I have a friend that calls herself spiritual who attends an evangelical Christian church every Sunday. She also does lots of voluntary work in a Christian organization that distributes food to homeless people.

Despite her spiritual practice and her good works, she is not happy.   I also have some Buddhist friends who are miserable.

If you consider yourself to be a spiritual person then ask yourself the following questions:

• Does your spirituality make you happy?
• Do you struggle to make sense of life and how you fit into the larger scheme of things?
• Are you content with where you are, or are you reaching for some spiritual or mystical state that always seems just out of reach?
• Have you found your purpose in life?

If you answered no to any of the above questions, then your spirituality could be, instead or a source of comfort, a cause of conflict in you.

All this has got me think about spirituality and how genuine spirituality should, at the minimum, make you happy. What do I mean by the word spirituality? The best definition that I came across said:

‘Having coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of the universe; knowing where one fits within the larger scheme; having beliefs about the meaning of life that shape conduct and provide comfort’

I would add to this definition – ‘and makes you happy, at ease, and with a sense of well-being.’

What spiritual practice can provide this? Whatever religion you follow or do not follow, mindfulness is a great way to start. Although mindfulness is a component of Buddhism, it is practised today by people of all faiths, or even no faith.

Mindfulness allows you to witness yourself – your thoughts, feelings, the sights, sounds and other sensory information. In this witnessing state there is a tendency to remain calm and at peace. Mindfulness practitioners report that they feel a sense of stillness and connection to the whole universe.

How do you practice mindfulness?

Here is an extract from my book How to Manage Stress:

Mindfulness is a process of paying attention to the ‘now’. So much time is spent remembering the
past or looking forward to some future event.

One of the easiest ways of practising mindfulness is through walking. If possible do this in the
countryside or in a park if you live in the city. As you walk pay attention to your breathing. Then
look at the sky or the trees that you pass. Notice any physical sensations – the wind on your face,
the temperature, the intensity of the colours that you see.

The idea of this is to pull yourself away from the internal dialogue – the constant chatter of the mind
that mulls over events in your life, passes judgements on those around you, creates expectations
of future events. The internal dialogue stops you noticing what is going on around you. You are
not trying to stop the dialogue by force of will but by simply and gently taking your attention away
from it.

The benefits of Mindfulness are explained by Andrew Weiss in his book Beginning Mindfulness
are:
‘Mindfulness allows us to experience the delight of touching life deeply and authentically. It gives
us a way through suffering to joy. It encourages us to do all of this at every moment in our daily
lives.’

Mindfulness also means becoming a witness of our own lives. If you are feeling stressful or
anxious, step back and observe the stress or anxiety as if it was a program that you are watching
on television. By becoming the observer or the witness, you will find that the stress and anxiety will
start to diminish. It may also help to then place your attention on your breathing to make sure that
your are breathing deeply and at a slow place.

Now is the only time that is important. How often do we find ourselves worrying about the future?
Anxiety about the future takes up a significant portion of our thoughts. Worrying about the future
doesn’t help in any way. If you always live in the past or future you will never be able to relax. To
be in a state of relaxation means living in the present moment.

Download a free copy of the book How to Manage Stress

See also:

Meditation

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