I actually discussed 'Mindfulness' today with a psychotherapist, someone very well qualified and experienced in all aspects. I brought the subject up as I had ''seen it mentioned on the internet''. He told me it was little different to what most counsellors/therapists practice, ie it entails focusing in detail on actions that we often take for granted. He put some M&Ms in a dish and asked me to pick one, which I did. The he asked me to describe it - I said it was not quite round, more baseball or rugby ball shaped, shiny with a reflection from the sun through the window, when the M was above the shiny-reflective bit, it looked cheerful. He asked me why I had chosen a brown one and I said, truthfully, that I picked the first one that came to hand. He suggested I eat it - well I don't like peanuts, which I said, but I put it in my mouth and described it as smooth, tasted sweet and that I imagined it would be crunchy, and I like ''Crunchy''. I did bite into it and was correct. My friend said 'Mindfulness' was examining in detail things we take for granted. Picking up a sweet and eating it is something we often take for granted but obviously there are more, deeper or serious, things we take for granted without examining.
When I came home I went to the loo and wondered if I should examine that in detail but I didn't
, however I can imagine there are things we do routinely that we just take for granted and they may be things that we really dislike, eg we may go to work every day to a job which makes us feel devalued, unhappy; we may put a brave face on a relationship that could really do with some honestly.
I didn't discuss people going potty or committing suicide because of 'Mindfulness', but it is a technique used in dealing with clinical depression and the fact is that many depressives will find it difficult to face up to things and some are suicidal already. So I do not see 'Mindfulness' as a dangerous technique in itself. I am speaking as someone who has had a diagnosis of Clinical Depression.
