Latest Issue of the MindBrainEd Think Tank + (ISSN 2434-1002) 6 MindBrained Bulletin Think Tank V4i6 Mindfulness | Page 9

A Harry Bliss cartoon
A Buddhist monk is meditating.
The thought balloon above his
head is empty. Except for small
letters in the corner saying, “Ice
cream.”
Click here or search for: harry
bliss monk meditating ice
cream
People often think your mind becomes totally
empty. It doesn’t. In meditation, you think about
whatever you are supposed to think about (your
breathing, a “mantra,” sometimes something else).
And you will have other thoughts. When you do,
just go back to your focus. You are not “doing it
wrong.” You are doing it right.
Actually, this happens to everyone all the time.
Sometimes it is called the “monkey mind” – your
thoughts jumping around as if from tree to tree.
But the difference is that now, you notice it. And that’s the start of mindfulness.
Just in case you are now interested, the Davidson/Goleman video (the one I like and
Curtis didn’t…at first*) that asks, “Does Mindfulness Really Work?” is at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBg2i7ZsXgk&t=2s
Goleman, D., & Davidson, R. (2017). Altered traits: Science reveals how meditation changes
your mind, brain and body. New York: Avery.
Harris, D. (2014). 10% happier. London: Yellow Kite.
Saltzman, A. Mindfulness: A guide for teachers. Retrieved from:
http://www.contemplativemind.org/Mindfulness-A_Teachers_Guide.pdf
*Editor’s comment: Now I do! I’ve watched it multiple times.
Marc Helgesen, Miyagi Gakuin Women's University, Sendai is the author of over 180 ELT books, textbooks and
articles including Pearson’s English Firsthand series. He’s been an invited speaker at conferences on 5
continents. He teaches “Positive Psychology in ELT” in Nagoya University of Foreign Studies MA TESOL
Program.
When you deal with something like
compassion for physical pain, which
we know is very, very old in evolution
- we can find evidence for it in
nonhuman species - the brain
processes it at a faster speed.
Compassion for mental pain took
many seconds longer.
- Antonio Damasio