A A recent study at Harvard found that, on average, people spend 46.9% of their time ‘mind-wandering’ – thinking about something other than what they are doing, and the research suggests that being lost in thought like that tends to make us unhappy. In contrast, happiness usually comes from being present in the moment, and mindfulness meditation practice can help us to be more present more of the time.
B I was introduced to the idea that we spend much of our time lost in thought and talking to ourselves in our heads by Sam Harris, neuroscientist and long-time meditator. In his book Waking Up, Harris explains that when we are lost in thought and thinking without realising we are thinking, we become so connected to our thoughts that they change our whole experience. Thoughts appear in our minds, but instead of realising that they’re just thoughts, we feel like we are the thoughts, and they drive our emotions, behaviour, and the thoughts that come next.
C When we’re in these mind-wandering states, we are often dwelling on the past or trying to control the future; we are not present in this moment. In addition to this, we have what is known as a negativity bias, which means that we are likely to be focused on bad things that happened or might happen in the future. Psychologist and meditation teacher Tara Brach explains that evolution designed us worry about the future in this way. It helped us survive in the past when there may have been a lion around the next corner, but it’s less necessary now, and it detracts from our happiness, she says.
D Another type of thinking that comes with mind-wandering is what Brach calls if-only mind – thoughts like, ‘If I have that, then I’ll be happy’, or ‘When I get this finished, then I’ll feel okay’. In these states, we are hoping that the next moment will contain what this one does not, she says; but what we are actually hoping for is to get to a point in the future in which we can feel okay and be fully present in that moment. Meditation teachers argue that there’s no need to spend our lives hoping for something that gets us to that point of feeling okay, as that feeling is available to us right here in this moment.
E Mindfulness is simply observing your thoughts, feelings, and the sounds around you – paying attention to what is real in the moment. And mindfulness meditation practice is a form of mental training which, as Brach puts it, carves new pathways in your mind, meaning that you’ll spend less time mind-wandering or distracted by thoughts in daily life. As you become more able to notice when thoughts are appearing, and more aware that you are not your thoughts, you’ll become more able to choose which thoughts to let go of and come back to being present in the moment more easily.
F Being mindful in this way means that you can be more present with the people you care about, enjoy the moments more, and take more pleasure from what’s around you. It also means that when you’re having a hard time, you’ll be less likely to get lost in thought and carried away by difficult emotions. Being able to notice your thoughts and emotions as they arise can help you to manage them better and gives you more of a choice about how you react. This is something Harris describes as ‘the doorway to a profound degree of psychological freedom’.
G So, would you like to give meditation a try? All you really need is somewhere quiet to sit, but a good way to get started is by listening to guided meditations. You will get lost in thought, but the guided meditation will help to bring you back; part of the practice of meditation is getting lost and coming back, as that is what strengthens the pathways so that you can come back to being present more easily in other parts of your life.
Give it a go. As Harris says, the quality of your day will be determined by the quality of your mind.
IELTS Reading Questions for Mindfulness Meditation:
Matching Headings & Sentence Completion.
Sources and links from Mindfulness Meditation
– Harvard Gazette article about mind wandering.
– Sam Harris’ website. Much of the information in this article came from his book Waking Up. Sam also has a podcast and a meditation app (see below).
– Tara Brach’s talk about the negativity bias.
– YouTube clip of Tara Brach talking about if only mind.
– Image by Ralf Kunze from Pixabay.
Guided meditations
– Guided meditations for beginners from Tara Brach. She also has talks for beginners on this page (all free).
– Sam Harris’ Waking Up app with daily guided meditations and lessons (subscription service, but a free trial is available).
– Insight Timer app. Free app with many guided meditations. You can search by category.
– Breathly is a nice, free app with breathing exercises.
This Post Has 4 Comments
Hi ! Nick. How are you?
Useful article~ I usually lost in thought in daily life. I just cannot concentrate for long even watching TV series, not to mention studying, unless there is a ddl… I’ll try guided meditation to consciously practice coming back from lost. And whether is it helpful I’ll let you know.
Btw, today is my birthday~ It’s so nice to find a day belong to me. I feel free and appreciative today and I like September. Hope you have a nice Sep~
Hi Suky.
Nice to hear from you, and thanks for your comment.
I wrote about this topic as I’ve been meditating every morning for the last few years, and I find it helpful. It can seem a bit difficult at first, but it’s like training. I’d be really interested to hear how you get on with it, and if you want some more specific recommendations for guided meditations, let me know.
Hope you have a wonderful birthday!
Hi Nick, how can the answer of question 2 be viii instead of vi? Would you please to me?
Because it is written in the second paragraph that we spend much of our time lost in thought.
Hi Masroor.
So …
Another thing to think about for reading and writing (as well as my reply to your comment on the Tribes article – synonyms and main ideas) is how we connect ideas.
Paragraph A tells us that we spend a lot of time lost in thought – 46.9%.
The first sentence of paragraph B (‘I was first introduced to the idea…’) is referring back to the information in paragraph A as a way to connect the ideas. Connecting the ideas like this helps the writing to flow and make sense to the reader.
Paragraph B then goes on to talk about how don’t realise that we are lost in thought and then gives more details about it.
When you are doing matching headings exercises, you are often looking for the main idea of the paragraph. The main idea is sometimes in the frist sentence, and that is a good tip for your writing, but it isn’t always the first sentence. In this paragraph, it’s the second sentence. There are three sentences, and they connect something like this:
1. reference back to previous paragraph (to connect ideas) and introduction of Sam Harris.
2. main idea of paragraph: Sam’s idea that we don’t realise we are thinking and our thoughts change experience.
3. more information to support the main idea: information about HOW those thoughts (that we don’t realise) change our experience.
Hope that helps.