Page 22 - My Indigo Sun November - December 2025

to be overly judgmental. We explore our
environment – including other people, the
world, and ourselves – and perceive it as
good or bad. Due to our negativity bias, we
are more likely to view these elements as
negative. In many cases (including my
own), we are most harshly judgmental of
ourselves. This contributes to depression
and anxiety, two of the most prevalent
mood disorders in our society.
The good news is that our brains have the
remarkable quality of _neuroplasticity_. We
can rewire our brains through focused
practice. Our brains are capable of
reorganizing themselves by forming new
neural connections throughout life. They
can adapt to environmental changes,
learn, and recover from injury to a
considerable extent. Neuroplasticity
enables us to recover from a stroke by
rerouting functions to undamaged areas. It
allows us to learn a new language or how
to play a new musical instrument, even
later in life. Brain cells (neurons) actually
change their structure and function in
response to internal and external stimuli,
including our thoughts themselves.
The more we embrace positive thoughts,
the more positive our thoughts become.
We can learn to be more positive and less
judgmental.
Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, a founder of the
practice in the US, coined one definition of
mindfulness. He defined mindfulness as
“awareness that arises through paying
attention, on purpose, in the present
moment, non-judgmentally.”[1] It seems
intuitively obvious that paying attention to
the present moment is essential, so why
do we have such difficulty doing so?
22 - My Indigo Sun
22 - My Indigo Sun
Our minds seem programmed to wander – to
rapidly go from one thought to another,
sometimes seemingly at random. We are
easily distracted. We may even value “multi-
tasking,” or thinking about and doing several
things at once. In reality, we can only have
one thought at a time, and jumping from one
idea to another is an inefficient process.
When we are multitasking, we often fail to
accomplish what we intend to achieve to our
full capability. When we are not truly focused
on one task at a time, we are actually “task-
switching.” We end up wasting time rather
than saving time. We make more errors. We
are less creative. Therefore, we really do need
to “pay attention on purpose” to one thing at
a time to be as productive as possible.
How can we train our minds to focus on one
thought or task at a time, given that we
seem to be programmed otherwise? We can
embrace a _practice_ to rewire our brains to
be more _present_ rather than racing ahead
or ruminating over the past. In other words,
we benefit from a regular exercise of
abiding in the present moment. This
requires _intention_ – hence the
importance of the “on purpose” part of Dr.
Kabat-Zinn’s definition of mindfulness.
One version of mindfulness exercise is
called the “GAIN” practice.[2] GAIN is an
acronym for what the author believes are
the four essential domains of happiness:
Gratitude, Acceptance, Intention, and
Nonjudgment. Slow, deep, deliberate
breathing is a core element of mindfulness
practice. When we are stressed, we may go
for many hours without taking a deep
breath. Our diaphragm and other muscles
involved in breathing are tense and
contracted, preventing complete expansion
of our lungs.