Keeping Mindfulness Simple:
This Is A Pen
by Maya Frost
In the early eighties, I was teaching English in northern
rural Japan. Far from the neon frenzy of Tokyo, Mutsu
was a sleepy coastal town with spectacular scenery and
almost no foreigners.
I attracted a great deal of attention wherever
I went. People followed me in the grocery
store, curious about my every purchase. Children's
eyes would pop out of their heads and they'd launch
into their excited "Gaijin!" ("Foreigner!")
dance until their embarrassed mothers shushed them.
Students in Japan
start learning English in middle school,
so whenever a group of 12-year-olds (and they always
traveled in groups) spotted me, they would erupt in
giggles and shout the phrases they knew:
"Hello!"
"I love you!" "Thank you very much!"
Oh, and one more phrase: "This
is a pen." Not a standard greeting, to be sure,
but this is one of the very first English sentences
learned by Japanese students. It's right there, in
Chapter One of their textbooks.
Beginning English speakers
in Japan have a tendency to mispronounce their ending
consonants, so this phrase comes out sounding something
like: "THEE-su EE-su Uh PEN-nu."
No matter. I'd smile and wave,
happy that they were attempting to speak to me at
all. (I'd save the pronunciation lesson for class.)
I'm reminded of this when
I teach clients about mindfulness because one
of the most important ways to develop our attention
is to learn to name our thoughts. We recognize
a thought, name it, and move on to the next one that
inevitably arises.
Note it. Name it.
Next! Repeat. No need for embellishment.
When a thought or emotion
arises, we note it and name it as though we have only
the most basic language skills. We don't say, "I
am terribly angry right now" or "This is
that same stupid anger I feel every time I think about
my boss" or "I can't believe I am angry
again!" Instead, we say simply, "This is
anger" or even better: "Anger"
Those beginning students of
English in Japan started with the most basic phrase:
"This is a/an ____." What a perfect starting
place! They didn't have the skills to say "This
is a black plastic Spider-Man pen with blue ink that
my aunt gave me." They kept it simple and focused
on the noun only.
When you note your
thoughts or emotions, be a beginner. Name
them in the most basic way you can, and let them go.
You can always examine these later, if you like, but
when you are engaged in your "thought parade"
exercise, pretend you can barely speak English.
Learning a new language? Use
THAT one to name your thoughts as they come up.
Limit your language and expand
your mindfulness.
"Hello!" "I
love you!" "Thank you very much."
