Thought's on Brown and Ryan's "Mindfulness and its Role in Psychological Well-being.

Post Author: Kim Nolting 

As with many psychological and social constructs, the construct of mindfulness is often described differently once it becomes operationalized into a specific context, in our case during the first five minutes of class into the learning and teaching process. Brown and Ryan provide an overview of mindfulness in their introduction which is detailed enough to understand and apply to teaching and learning. Their research design, on the other hand, was detailed with five different studies. If interested, spend a little time and read each one.

Brown, Warren K., and Ryan, Richard M. (2003). The benefits of being present:  Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84 4 (822-848).


Nature of Mindfulness
 
The most common definition of Mindfulness is “the state of being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present" (Brown and Ryan, 2003).  Awareness is the background “radar” that continually manages the inner and outer environments.  We can be aware, however, without focusing intently on a single aspect of the environment. Attention is focusing on a specific aspect or piece of the present environment. Brown and Ryan describe it as follows, “attention continually pulls ‘figures’ out of the ‘ground’ of awareness, holding them focally for varying lengths of time” (Brown & Ryan, 2003). Mindfulness is enhanced attention during which a person is capable of disallowing other distractors to interfere with focus.

Brown and Ryan discuss several distractors which can turn mindfulness into mindlessness. First, rumination of past experiences and their emotions/thoughts can distract a person from focusing, attending to in a mindful manner.  Second, anxieties or fantasies about the future also distract meaningful focus. Third, a person can have so many activities and tasks going on at one time that can detract from focus. Fourth, focus can be detracted when a person acts compulsively or automatically without thinking about the behavior. Fifth, sometimes a person refuses to attend and focus on the present environment because she wants to avoid any of the negative thoughts or emotions the present situation might evoke.

Brown and Ryan clarify Mindfulness by relating it to another construct: emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence includes “the perceptual clarity about one’s emotional states,” (Brown and Ryan, 2003).  Part of learning how to keep the above detractors from interrupting mindfulness is the willingness to be aware of them. Mindfulness involves perceiving the stimuli in the environment as they are, without detractors misinterpreting them.  A person who uses mindfulness is able to identify when emotions or thoughts begin to detract focus on the present and then interact with the emotions or thoughts in a way to remove them from the present environment. Brown and Ryan also discussed how this component of mindfulness is important for another vital skill for success, self-regulation, which relies on a person’s ability to be insightful regarding their own emotions and thoughts in order to evaluate the benefits of a behavior and then adjust if necessary.

Among the many findings, Brown and Ryan were able to state that mindfulness, both trait and state, contribute to autonomy, defined here as “behavior that is fully endorsed by the self,” (2003).  A person who is maturing in the art of mindfulness knows her values and interests and lives day-to-day based on these values; subsequently a person with identified values and interests can self-regulate behavior that meets personal goals.

Brown and Ryan refer to other mindfulness literature which emphasizes the important of a person being non-judgmental of his emotions or thoughts when interacting with them with the purpose of putting them aside in order to focus in the presence as it is.

Finally, Brown and Ryan state how mindfulness can be developed with practice, increasing the value of it.
                             
Kim Nolting’s Response
While studying Brown and Ryan, I thought of past college students who constantly struggled. Their minds were their own worst enemies. For instance, rumination about negative experiences with math instructors, family criticism, self-criticism, embarrassment in front of peers, tunnel their way into their thoughts.  These ruminations and worries about the future do not take place solely in the classroom or during tests.  Students can ruminate and experience anxiety when they purchase their math books. The cashier can even evoke anxious thoughts when she tells math students not to write their names in the books in case they return them the next week. Students can get anxious when they receive an email from the instructor asking them to review the first chapter before classes begin because they should already know the information. During the first class, they can think destructively when they see that chapter one was just a review for most of the students but not for them. For some students, math anxiety creeps in by just opening the book to study.

These ruminations and worries about the future can also trigger another detractor Brown and Ryan mentioned--avoidance behavior like procrastination.  Who likes feeling anxious? 

Once a college counselor referred a seriously anxious student to me in order to help her with some assignments.  She shook the entire time and struggled focusing because her anxiety was more than just an emotion.  She had allowed it to become her state of being.  We made some progress but not much since her anxiety was stealing energy from her working memory. Fortunately for her, our college had at least seven counselors and only about 700 students.  A counselor was able to work with her throughout the semester. 

What about students who do not have the option of counselors on campus?

What can we do as instructors who are not trained as counselors?

1. Learn about anxiety, the causes, behaviors both internally and externally, and management, so we can be more sympathetic.
2. Learn how not to be the person who evokes anxiety in students needlessly through our words, instructional strategies, and other actions which we do not regard as anxiety evoking.  We can do this without hand-holding students or lowering our standards.
3. Learn how to create a safe learning environment in the classroom and support services.
4. Integrate quick relaxation interventions during the first five minutes of class to help students relax and focus. Model what they can do right before they settle in to study. 
5. Integrate a study strategy (not math strategy) during the first five minutes of class. Allow students to practice it in class.  Yes, it takes time from content, but it will empower students with anxiety, actually all students, if they leave class with something they can do while studying.  I used to observe instructors in the classroom when I worked side by side with the teaching excellence coordinator. I include myself in the next statement, “we waste time without knowing it in classes.” There is time to use study strategies as instructional strategies.
6. Design short interactive learning into the lecture to help students remain focused.  Make sure they interact with at least one other student.  This technique has been tried and true with research as early as the Sixties (at least).  Research shows that students learn and remember with active learning.  Why?  One reason is it requires focus.

If you have questions or comments, email us at beconfidentmath@gmail.com.  You can ask any question.  Please do not mention students nor instructors by name. In the future, we will also have links to articles or suggestions for books.
​