Mindfulness

It has been suggested that "One of the biggest complaints in modern society is being over-scheduled, over-committed and over-extended."  If individuals are not "super busy" at their jobs, they are busy exercising, entertaining or taking their children to a variety of activities.  There is little time for self-reflective thought- and if there is every a moment- say while waiting on line to buy food, at the bank etc., - out comes the cell phone.  A study published a few months ago in the journal 'Science' shows how people will go to great lengths to avoid introspection.  A psychology professor from the University of Virginia and is the main author of the study said, "No one had done a simple study letting people go off on their own and think."  The results of this study show that a majority of the participants reported that they found it unpleasant to be alone in a room with their thoughts for just six to fifteen minutes.  It did not matter what people thought about they did not like being in 'their heads.'

More importantly, you cannot solve problems or let go of problems if you don't allow yourself time to think about them.  This is a concept ignored by our culture which overvalues doing more rather than thinking and believes answers are in in the palm of your hand rather than in your head. 

Suppressing negative feelings only gives the feelings more power which can lead to intrusive thoughts which makes people try to stay busier to keep the thoughts away.  The cognitive strain of evading emotions underlies a range of psychological difficulties including, depression, anxiety, panic disorder and addictions/addictive behaviors and can be associated with a number of physical ailments like skin problems, arthma, stomach and headaches to name a few. 

Other scientific studies suggest that not having time to reflect impairs you ability to empathize with others and yourself.  Additionally, researchers have found an idle mind is critical to creativity.  The company 'Google' offers it's employees courses called "Search inside Yourself" and "Neural Self-Hacking".  These courses include mindfulness, meditation with the goal to recognize and accept inner thoughts and feelings rather then ignore or repress them. 

Hard as they may seem negative feelings are a part of everyone's life. Emotions are important communications to yourself about yourself.  While busy-ness may help in the short term to evade sadness, it also limits one's ability to experience  joy!

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