distracted, we have more attention for the coming and going of the ‘objects of the
mind’, such as thoughts, memories, worries, wishes, physical sensations. Thus, we
develop a refined, inclusive, non-selective, non-judging awareness in the moment, a
‘such-ness’ not related to anything else. This leads to more penetrating insights into
emotional and physical processes, into ‘self-awareness’ and reality and, thus, to the
development of empathy and commitment. Mindfulness helps us to recognize fear
and resistance and to mitigate unconscious and punitive self-criticism. The dynamics
of this criticism are aptly described by Kris (1990). Mindfulness also reduces the
tendency to act on impulse and habit. Mindfulness illuminates, accepts, and
transforms.
Epstein (1990) describes what happens in concentration and mindfulness
meditation in psychoanalytical terms. The traditional psychoanalytical explanation
of meditation as blending with an internalized image of a lost state of perfection, with
‘oceanic’ emotions, could be seen as the blending of the I and the I-ideal. In the
beginning, when doing the concentration exercise, a person may have such expansive
or pleasant feelings.
But ‘mindfulness’ meditation is an attention strategy which will lead to insights
and experiences that can be totally different. At first, ‘mindfulness’ meditation means,
just like free association and free-floating attention, a therapeutic splitting in the I,
where the I observes itself. This results in the reinforcement of the ability of the
observing I to notice changes from moment to moment. One could say that
‘mindfulness’ means the development of the synthetic ability of the I within the I:
synthesis at still more complex levels of differentiation and ‘objectification’ of reality.
Mindfulness can be seen as a developmental tool towards a mindful self and beyond.
What does mindfulness meditation mean to the therapist, to me?
The importance of Freud’s recommendations about ‘evenly hovering attention’
(1912) is widely recognized for verbal, expressive therapies. At the same time, it is
remarkable that so little attention was given to the pragmatic question, ‘How can it
be developed and cultivated?’ People have written mainly about what one had to
avoid in order to make this kind of attention possible (e.g. censure, expectations
beforehand, too much reflection); Bion (1970) commented upon the necessity for
an analyst to leave behind ‘memory, desire and understanding’.
Precisely here, Buddhist psychology has a lot to offer: a systematic training of
perception, attention, and awareness. Freud suggested what we should do; the
meditative tradition shows how non-selective and non-restrictive attention can be
learned. One can probably only appreciate the value of this once one has experienced
it. Concentration-meditation creates the conditions for listening with evenly hovering
attention, mindfulness meditation helps to implement, cultivate, and refine this. Why
not introduce the practice of mindfulness meditation in the training of psychoanalysts
and psychotherapists?
Helping clients develop an attitude of mindfulness can have very beneficial effects.
In the case of Ella this has meant that she has started to do formal mindfulness
meditation in a group. Her words: ‘What for me is so important is that I always have
it with me, it gives me a safe feeling. And it means that I have a choice, it gives some
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