Mindfulness and Sustainability
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast
Episode 101
Mindfulness and Sustainability
In our modern culture we are at the point to where we cannot focus on any one thing without being distracted. Constant emails, text messages, notifications, phone calls, instagram, Facebook, coworkers, family, and friends. We no longer know how to actually be present in our own lives. We have lost the ability to actually focus.
And few people slow down long enough to realize just how much this distracted state of mind affects their quality of life.
But if we would only take the time to practice mindfulness, it would not only improve our quality of life but also improve our focus on sustainability. If you want to know more, then stay tuned for E101 which is called Mindfulness and Sustainability.
Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. The is your host Patrick and this is E101 which is called Mindfulness and Sustainability.
If you have been following me then you know by now that I am a big fan of having a simple, uncomplicated life. I love spending time in the outdoors walking, hiking, camping, traveling, scuba diving, kayaking. Anything to be outside. In fact, the way I live by modern standards would be called a tiny home. Just recently I added another room onto the south facing side of my cabin which is called the sun room. There are two tall windows on each side, two sky lights, and a double French door as an entrance. It gives me a beautiful view of the surrounding forest, the aspen groove out front, and I can now enjoy this even with bad weather.
I bragged for years that I could sit at home for days at a time and never hear a man made sound. However, the two larger pieces of acreage that border my place have new owners that live there full time. So, I now hear vehicle noise and other things on an intermittent basis. But thankfully it is still very limited.
Several years ago I purchased a travel trailer that is consistently used for business. Whenever I take a job with a hospital that is a couple of hours from home, I take the travel trailer instead of commuting back and forth. It saves me time, money, gas, and of course limits my impact on the environment.
But whenever I do this the first thing I noticed is the non-stop noise. There is never a time of day that there is the total absence of noise. I suppose people become so accustomed to this way of living that they never notice.
However, when I am at the cabin I start every day with sitting quietly and enjoying some coffee. During the warmer time of year I am out on the deck. During the winter I am close to the wood stove. And this winter of course I will enjoy the sunroom. Either way, it is quiet, peaceful, relaxing, with no distractions, no pressure, and essentially nothing to pull my attention away from that present moment.
I often think that if everyone started or ended their day in a similar manner that people would slow down, there would be much less anger and frustration, road rage would disappear, and people would be much more kind and courteous. I often think of the times as a kid on the farm in Georgia, despite the seemingly never ending chores, there was still plenty of time for walks in the woods, fishing, picking berries and apples, or just taking a nap in the shade of that giant walnut tree. Life was just a whole lot simpler.
Whenever I am driving I often see entire families in a minivan and every single person is staring at their cell phone. Although I rarely sit in a restaurant anymore, whenever I do I often see groups of people at a table seemingly having a meal together and yet everyone is staring at their cell phone and not even paying attention to the friends or family that is right in front of them.
Furthermore, we are now convinced that we need to be instantly available for everyone. We are constantly attending to text messages, voicemail, emails, tweets, Instagram notifications, and we have a never ending list of meaningless obligations in our lives that produce absolutely no value. And this affects our ability to communicate. In fact, in one study it was found that 45% of family members communicate with each other with phone calls, text messages, tweets, and emails while in the same household as opposed to simply walking into another room to communicate face to face.
In today’s world we have become so accustomed to this type of life that most of us never stop to think about the constant noise stimulation, distraction, not to mention the non-stop in flow of information via the media.
So, let’s take a moment to look at some statistics because I truly want make a point of this.
-Obviously modern technology has changed our lives. In many ways for the better. We have instant access to hundreds of years of information in a matter of seconds. Internet connectivity has sped up communications, the sharing of information, businesses can operate more efficiently, global operations are much smoother.
-Roughly 63% of people around the world use the internet.
-86% of Americans get their news from some online source.
-82% of the population has at least one social media profile and uses social media to communicate and share information.
-Approximately 26% of people in the workforce now work remotely.
Now let’s look at some of the downsides:
-The average person’s mind wonders 47% of the time. So, 47% of the time we are working on one thing and thinking about another.
-The average person checks their cell phone every 12 minutes
-On average we spend almost 2 1/2 hours per day on social media.
-Almost 60% of news on social media outlets is false.
-Our constant distraction reduces our ability to concentrate and even reduces our IQ levels.
-Constant exposure to noise increases blood pressure, increases cardiovascular disease, decreases cognitive performance, and causes increased frustration, anxiety, and stress
-Approximately 425,000 people are injured and 3,100 people are killed annually in accidents caused by distracted driving.
-There is an obvious increase in mental health problems related to constant exposure to news and social media outlets.
-On average we see between 6,000 and 10,000 ads every single day.
-On average as humans we have approximately 60,000 thoughts per day. 95% of those are repetitive thoughts and 80% of our thoughts are negative.
Obviously there are advantages and disadvantages to our modern technology. But in my opinion, if we do not manage it appropriately it results in a significant negative impact on our lives. Not only that but just think about the impact this has on how we think and behave on a day-to-day basis.
As you have likely concluded, there is an obvious need for change. That is why I want to present to you a concept
that is the exact opposite of how the average person manages their daily life. It is called mindfulness. Not only can this technique improve your quality of life but it is also directly related to how we think about sustainability.
My first introduction to this concept was a couple of years ago and it was through my long-time partner Annette. She focuses a lot of her spare time on yoga, health, wellness, and meditation. She speaks frequently about how much better she feels and how much more relaxed she is because of her focus. But first I need to explain the exact nature of mindfulness in order for you to understand how this relates to sustainability.
Mindfulness is a type of meditation. Very simply put mindfulness is being fully present. It is being aware of where you are and what you are doing and not being overly reactive or judgemental to what is going on around you.
So, in other words, NOT looking at your cell phone every 12 minutes, NOT thinking negative thoughts, NOT allowing your mind to wander, and NOT being distracted. Mindfulness focuses on living fully in the moment.
When we spend too much time thinking, planning, problem solving, day dreaming, comparing ourselves to someone on social media, or just thinking random negative thoughts, it drains us of our energy, causes stress, anxiety, and even depression. Mindfulness can change that.
There are many simply ways to practice mindfulness and you can do this any way you wish of course. But I want to give you a few examples.
-Live in the moment. Try to bring open, accepting attention to everything you do.
-Pay attention. Try to slow down and experience everything about your environment. Use all of your senses: touch, sound, sight, smell, and taste. For example, if you are eating a piece of chocolate, slowly take the wrapper off and look at it. How is it shaped? How was it made? Does it have a emblem stamped on it. Then enjoy the smell. Finally put it in your mouth and slowly allow it to melt. Focus and savor every aspect of the taste.
-Focus on your breathing. Whenever you are having negative thoughts or experiencing some stress, sit down, take a long deep breath and close your eyes. Focus on your breath as it moves in and out of your body.
-Body scan meditation: Lie on your back in a comfortable position. Extend your legs and place your arms at your side. Focus your attention slowly and deliberately on each part of your body. You can go from head to toe or toe to head. Be acutely aware of any sensations, emotions or thoughts associated with each part of your body. While doing the body scan, breath in and out slowly and deliberately.
-Sitting meditation: Sit in a nice comfortable chair with your feet flat on the floor, hands in your lap, and with your back straight. Take slow deep breaths through your nose and out of your mouth. Focus on any sensations that come to you.
-Walking meditation: Find a nice quiet place at least 20 to 25 feet in length. Slowly walk while focusing on the sensation of standing and balancing. When you reach the end, turn and do the same thing.
Mindfulness can also be practiced by taking short breaks out of the normal routine of your day.
Any of the above exercises are good practice. Or you can devise your own like I do. I often walk out on my property somewhere and make sure I am surrounded by trees. I sit in a comfortable position, enjoy the nice mountain view and quietly focus on the sounds of nature. At other times, I will lay on the ground in a grassy area and mark out a 6 or 12 inch square area on the ground. For 15 minutes, I sit and find as many interesting and unique things I can in that small area.
The point here is focus without distraction which is the exact opposite of what most of us experience every single day. Now you may think that this is ridiculous but the health benefits of regular, meditation have long been documented.
It reduces stress, anxiety, pain, depression, insomnia, high blood pressure. It can also improve your attention span, make you sleep better, and even prevent burn out. And the best part is that these exercises can be practiced anywhere and at any time.
Mindfulness is not something obscure, or exotic. You don’t have to change who you are. It truly is evidence based and, much like sustainability, it is a way of life. In the beginning most people have trouble starting a mindfulness practice. But you just need to stay consistent. And honestly, for best results, plan on practicing mindfulness everyday for at least 6 months.
Mindfulness and Sustainability
Now back to the question I posed before. What does mindfulness have to do with sustainability?
Let me start by asking if you are aware of all the mindless activities that you perform each day? Are you aware of all the things you do automatically without even thinking? For example, do you even remember brushing your teeth this morning? Do you commonly drive to and from work and simply not remember parts of the drive? Can you tell me off the top of your head the brand of food you feed your dog? What did you watch on the TV last night? What is the name of the bank representative that you deal with commonly? Have you read a book recently?
I hope you get the point.
We are so busy with our internet based interconnected lives, we are constantly distracted. We have an endless list of meaningless obligations the sucks up our personal time. We are bombarded with fake news. We have 60,000 thoughts a day 50% of which are negative. We can’t even remember what color socks we are wearing. We constantly work to support an inflated budget of over consumption. Can you tell me when was the last time you stopped to take a deep breath and simply watch a bright green caterpillar inch its way across a beautiful flower or a blade of grass.
How most people tend to live and manage their lives is actually a perfect example of mindlessness and not mindfulness. This is because mindlessness is simply a function of automatic mental processing which leads to routine stereotyped behaviors. Consequently, many of us are just not mindful of most of our daily behaviors that are simply not sustainable. For example, not separating our trash, not recycling, food waste, taking long showers for no reason, constantly using plastic bags.
When you practice mindfulness, you disengage from automatic behaviors and even become more open to behavioral change. You now have the freedom to make different choices. Mindfulness meditation is a learned practice which is centered around intentional, compassionate, nonjudgemental focus on the present moment. This in turn leads to an openness to new information as well as an awareness of self and your surroundings.
Sustainability scholars have now put forth a new approach which focuses on ecological mindfulness as a means to promote social and environmental sustainability. Since mindfulness leads to openness then it can be an important step to sensitizing people, businesses and other organizations to the consequences of unquestioned relations, political infrastructure, and consumer behaviors. We already know that mindfulness fosters a closer connection to the natural world and increased awareness of our personal impact. That being the case, mindfulness goes beyond the basic concept of cognition.
The True Value of Mindfulness
I have often said that if you find yourself in agreement with the majority of the people around you, pack your bags and run the other way. Just because everyone else is doing something, everyone else is following a major trend, does not make it right. Yet we continue to run along in our lives engaging in mindless, automatic, engrained behaviors and never stop to think about what we are doing. The true value found in mindfulness is that is teaches us the exact opposite of our cultural trend. We then start questioning the norms of our culture.
We already know that mindless consumption and over consumption has a direct correlation to less happiness, reduced financial wealth, lower self esteem, increased anxiety, and even poorer social relationships. This is because material consumption stems from boredom and a feeling of impulsiveness as well as a psychological need for status. In our consumer society, advertisements play a key role in materialism because people are convinced that purchasing more leads to a better life.
On the other hand, mindfulness improves our well-being which leads to higher self esteem and greater personal satisfaction. We are content with ourselves without seeking or needing the approval of others. Consequently, we are less susceptible to marketing tactics and we do not feel the need to consume in order to find satisfaction. This in turn has a direct impact on our planet.
For example, when your life is consumed with stress, anger, depression, pain, high blood pressure, frustration, and constant distractions how can we possibly be concerned about societal issues, climate change, deforestation, poverty, social inequities, loss of biodiversity, fair trade, food waste, plastic pollution.
Unless our basic needs have been addressed and we are happy and content, all we do is focus on ourselves. We cannot possibly worry about the environment and simply consider it non-essential. Mindfulness brings us back to Earth, back to ourselves, and fosters a connection to the natural world as well as a positive and sustainable lifestyle. And once that connection is there, we begin to love and appreciate nature simply for what it is. We become increasingly focused about our personal impact. And one thing is obvious about human nature. People will protect what they love.
Summary
Now you must know that it can be difficult to start a mindfulness practice. Similar to starting any physical exercise, it takes time, patience and dedication. But it is a fantastic way to start down the road to better health and increase your sensitivity to sustainability practices.
Consider for a moment what we face in our present culture. Non-stop exposure to noise, media, advertising, we are distracted and our minds wander 50% of the time, 50% of us have some sort of mental illness, 70% of us are over weight, 805,000 of us have a heart attach every year, 75% of us carry more debt than we can handle, and one survey revealed that only 14% of adults said they were actually happy.
Now, without even bringing up the subject of sustainability, I think we can all agree that something needs to change.
The benefits of mindfulness have long been proven. It reduces stress, anxiety, pain, depression, insomnia, high blood pressure, as well as many other benefits. It can also improve your attention span, increase your awareness, make you sleep better, and make you more productive.
While mindfulness has become very popular in the wellness industry, as well as corporate circles, in order to improve productivity and reduce stress and anxiety, in Buddhist tradition mindfulness was a way to enhance your connectedness and interdependence with the natural world.
In our modern culture, it is common for most of us to spend more than 90% of our time indoors. Furthermore, 80% of us live in urban areas which further enhances our disconnection with the natural world. Mindfulness practice will help you to develop your curiosity, expand your senses, and reconnect with the natural world. Time spent in nature will help you to live more in harmony with the environment. When you spend time walking in a park or in the forest, it relaxes you and helps you to become more grounded in the present. Mindfulness helps us to act with awareness instead of mindless, engrained compulsion. It has clearly been shown that mindfulness directly correlates to sustainable behavior.
I have said on several occasions that we are at a point where we can no longer throw money and technology at our problems. We have to focus on changing the underlying behavior that got us into the predicament in the first place. Mindfulness may just be the way to change that. Because until sustainable decisions become our cultural default, acts of sustainability may depend on focused consideration of options and mindful behavior.
By focusing on mindfulness you will not only improve your personal well being, you will improve the well being of the planet.
It is amazing the difference it can make if you take the time to look at a flower, a tree, or a plant. Enjoy the beauty, the stillness, and the simplicity. Then you begin to appreciate the value in having these qualities in your own life. Take the time to make a list of the 4 or 5 most important things in your life, the things that make you happy, the things that bring you value. Then eliminate everything else.
Then you will know simplicity at its best. Then you will give up mindless consumption. Then you will experience the exact opposite of what most people do everyday. Then you will be free to focus on mindful sustainability.
Well that is it for this week folks. I hope you have enjoyed this episode. If you want to read more about mindfulness then check out the references I have listed at the end of the transcript of this episode.
And if you have been following me the don’t forget to take the time to leave me with a review. And of course subscribe to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast as well as my companion blog Off Grid Living News.
I hope you will join me again next week. For now, this is your host Patrick signing off. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.
Patrick
Link to MP3 for episode 101
Mindfulness and Sustainability
References
Mindfulness and Climate Change
Patrick
