Week Two

In the second week of this program you will learn about mind wandering. Your practices this week will focus on identifying when your mind has wandered, then refocusing your attention to breathing and body sensations.

Mind Wandering

Mind wandering: The tendency to drift your thoughts away from the task and hand and think about something unrelated to what you are doing.

How does mind wandering affect well-being?

Killingsworth and Gilbert (2010) ran a study which examined the prevalence of mind wandering in our day-to-day lives. This study collected data by texting participants three questions at random times throughout the day: “How happy are you right now?”, “What are you doing right now?”, and “Are you thinking about something other than what you are currently doing right now?”

Data analysis of the responses first showed that people’s minds wander a lot. Mind wandering occurred in 46.9% of the samples taken, and was present in at least 30% of samples for all activities other than love making. In other words, mind wandering was prevalent in daily life, regardless of what participants were doing. Second, the researchers found that mind wandering was a stronger predictor of unhappiness than the nature of the current activity. Even doing something unenjoyable (such as driving through traffic) predicted higher ratings of happiness than mind wandering. Finally, across all samples taken there was strong evidence that mind wandering led to unhappiness, but a lack of evidence that unhappiness led to mind wandering. That is to say that mind wandering preceded unhappiness, but unhappiness did not precede mind wandering.

Mindfulness meditation and mind wandering

In your first week of mindfulness meditation, you might have observed your thoughts drifting away from your breath and body. Research indicates that our minds especially tend to wander when we are engaged in an idle task. When we are doing something of value that would be disrupted by mind wandering, such as working or driving a car, it is much less prevalent. But when the cost of thinking about something unrelated to the task at hand is low, it is very common to do so (Smallwood 2013). So when you are just sitting still and paying attention to your breath and body, your mind often tends to drift away.

You likely have spent a good amount of time mind wandering in your first few mindfulness meditation practices. This is a completely normal experience as you first begin, as learning to keep your attention focused on the present moment takes time and practice. A common misconception about meditation is that you must completely clear your mind to do it effectively. Rather, meditation is about identifying distractions which make your mind wander, then refocusing your attention to your breath and body. To requote Taft, “The goal is not to empty your mind of thoughts; the goal is to pay attention to some aspect of your sensory experience” (21). When you notice your mind wandering during mindfulness practices, complete the following two steps: 1. Acknowledge that your mind has drifted away from the present moment. 2. Refocus your attention back to your breath and body. As you continue to complete mindfulness practices, it will gradually become easier and easier to recognize when your thoughts have gone awry, then refocus your attention to the present moment.

Thought Patterns Awareness Practice

In this practice you will aim to be aware of your thought patterns. The first goal for this practice is to be mindful of when your thoughts escape the present moment. The second goal is to refocus your attention to your body when it has wandered.