Yesterday, the New York Times ran a front page article on how technology can serve as a distraction, and potentially decrease our ability to pay attention at other times.  Check out the article here:  NY Times on Techno-Distraction.

Its a very interesting article, and particularly ironic to be published on the same day that Apple announces a multitasking feature for the next iPhone.  However, like most devices or technology, the problem lies not in its existence, but rather how we use it.  Despite popular belief to the contrary, we can use our gadgets mindfully.  In fact, there are even phone applications for the practice of meditation and mindfulness.  Personally, I try to do one thing at a time, which isn’t always easy.  If I’m writing an article (or blog post), then I strive to finish it before I start checking e-mail, returning phone calls, etc.  Often, I can feel the urge to abandon what I’m doing in order to refresh my inbox or do some research on a seemingly vital topic that I just invented.  Like the thoughts and feelings that arise during meditation, distractions come frequently during everyday life.  If we’re not careful, we can end up mindlessly flowing from one activity to the next.  In order to realize (and correct) this process, you might want to keep a record of what you’re doing hourly during the day.  You’ll likely be surprised with the results.

Urban Mindfulness is growing!  Due to our success and growing popularity over the past 18 months, we’re seeking the help of a dedicated volunteer in the area of social networking.  Do you “tweet”?  Do you know the difference between a Facebook Fan Page and a Group Page?  Do you like reading blogs like ours?  Do you practice mindfulness and meditation?  If so, you could be a perfect match!

Please check out the description of our volunteer position at Idealist.org:  Social Networking Specialist.

Then, please send your cover letter and CV/resume to me at kaplan [at] urbanmindfulness.org.  If you have any questions, please just send me an e-mail, too.  Thanks for your support and interest.

Rush hour, changing trains
Like salmon migrating home –
No spawning on stairs

Recently, the NYC subway system has gone from bad to worse. Trains are coming less often, and moving less quickly. With your mindfulness practice, perhaps you’ve noticed these changes, too?

As a result, crowds of passengers are getting more plentiful and overwhelming platforms and stairwells. During rush hour at Broadway-Nassau, people use every inch of the narrow staircase to descend from the Downtown 4/5 to the Brooklyn-bound A/C. When I saw one passenger trying valiantly to climb the stairs and change trains in the opposite direction, I was inspired to write this small poem.

My introduction to mindfulness came from reading Walden by Henry David Thoreau when I was in high school. His musings on leading a simple life in the present moment really resonated with me. Recently, I was re-reading Thoreau’s classic book, and I came across a passage that reminded me of how we have become addicted to our cell phones, PDA’s, Blackberries, and iPhones. Whether walking down the street, riding the elevator, or sitting in a waiting room, we’re often seen face-down, immersed in checking our messages. While communicating with others is desirable, it often distracts us unnecessarily from being present. Who hasn’t had the experience of “having nothing to do”, then starting to fiddle with the phone as opposed to simply breathing or noticing what’s happening in the moment? What’s so uncomfortable about spending a few moments just “being”? Anyway, here’s the quote (sorry if it’s a little judgmental):

“In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the poor fellow who walks away with the greatest number of letters, proud of his extensive correspondence, has not heard form himself this long while.”

Henry David Thoreau, Walden (p. 366), New York: Bantam Books

Replace “post office” with “inbox” and “letters” with “e-mail”, and you have apt observation on current urban society!

So, next time, when you feel the urge to check your messages or e-mail–even though you checked a few moments ago–just take a breath and ask yourself, “How am I feeling right now?”

Here is a re-post of one of the most popular entries from my blog on Psychology Today. (Yes, Urban Mindfulness has a blog on PT (with different content)! Click here to check it out: PT blog.) Hope you enjoy the re-post!

Recently, an article in Miller-McCune caught my attention. It mentioned several research studies related to the positive impact of nature on the human condition. Having plants, going for a walk in the park, or even looking at a landscape poster could produce psychological benefits, reduce stress, and improve concentration. Click here for the Miller-McCune article: Nature is Good.

So, I decided to take a closer look at the research and see what might be helpful relative to our often stressful experience of living and working in the city. Though it is not related to mindfulness, this topic seemed interesting and particularly timely as we start moving from the lazy days of summer into more serious work mode.

Plants in Your Space
Based on several experimental studies, the presence of potted plants has been found to be helpful in many different settings including work, school, and hospitals. In particular, plants have been shown to…

• lower blood pressure (systolic)
• improve reaction times
• improve attentiveness
• improve attendance (at work and school)
• improve productivity (at work)
• improve well-being
• improve perceptions of the space
• lower levels of anxiety during recovery from surgery
• better job satisfaction

Not bad, huh?! Feeling good around plants is probably not surprising. After all, we surround ourselves with plants during celebrations and tragedies (i.e., weddings and funerals, respectively). We also set aside “sacred” green space for parks and community gardens in our cities and communities.

Limitations of the Research
Before we get ahead of ourselves and start replacing the carpet with trays of wheat grass, it’s important to know one major limitation of the research. Most of the studies on the effects of houseplants have compared the presence of plants to their absence. While this is the epitome of a well-designed experiment, there might be other factors associated with the presence of plants–but not the plants themselves–that account for the more favorable results. For example, the improvement could be due to distraction, novelty, caring for something, perceived control, or improved air quality. Thus, we might get similar results under different circumstances, such as replacing the plants with a dartboard, photos, Sea Monkeys, or an air purifier. So, it’s important to keep in mind that other additions to your space might also be helpful.

What house plants were used in these studies?
Several different species of plants have been included in these studies. Based on my examination of the research, a few plants seem to be used more consistently, including:

• Golden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)
• Arrowhead Vine (Syngonium podophyllum)
• Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema sp.)

Other plants have included the following:

• Dracaena (various)
• Philodendron
• Snake plants (Sansevieria trifasciata)
• Peace Lilly (spathiphyllum starlight)
• Vinca Vines

(Personally, I was happy to find that some plants didn’t make the list, like ferns and those ficus trees. It’s not that they can’t be helpful: I just can’t seem to grow them!)

Take-home Message
Relative to a barren environment, the research suggests that having plants around you is a good thing for your health and productivity. So, if you’re feeling stressed or inefficient at work, get a plant. You might just feel better.

Gratitude
I’d like to give a “Tip of the Hat” to Drs. Seong-Hyun Park and Richard Mattson from the Department of Horticulture, Forestry, and Recreation Resources at Kansas State University. They’ve been quite helpful in providing reprints and answering my naive questions in preparation for writing this post. Also, I’d like to thank the website, Plants for People (it’s not as cheezy as it sounds). With offices in 3 European countries, Plants for People is an “international initiative, spreading knowledge about the benefits of plants in a working environment.” The site provides abstracts and full-length research articles, which I reviewed for this post. Click here for the site: Plants for People.

“There are many ways to discuss ego, but in essence… … it is the experience of never being present. There is a deep seated tendency, it’s almost a compulsion, to distract ourselves, even when we’re not feeling uncomfortable. Everybody feels a little bit of an itch all the time. There’s a background hum of edginess, boredom, restlessness.”

From Taking The Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears by Pema Chodron. 2009. Shambhala. p.17

How well I know these feelings! I am in the middle of something and then my monkey mind takes me somewhere else, making shopping lists or going over all the things I haven’t done or I just zone out. Remembering that where you are is exactly where you need to be – such an easy thought, so difficult to live.

I live in Jackson Heights, Queens. Across the street from my apartment, there is a small public park. Most of the time, you can find neighborhood kids playing handball or shooting baskets or just hanging out. Toddlers are in the sandbox or screaming with glee as they go down the slides. Parents are busy chasing after their children. There is always a long line for access to the swings. The benches are filled with local workers eating their lunches, elderly people with walkers, and some homeless men or women who have somehow managed to find themselves in this rather out of the way street in a rather unknown part of Gotham.

Unknown to most, this little enclave also serves as a place for contemplation and mindfulness. I leave for work very early in the morning. As I walk by the park en route to the bus stop, I am privileged to be a witness to a glorious vision of two groups of men and women doing tai chi. The participants have been doing this for many years. They are a neighborhood fixture.

Most members of these groups are well over fifty and appear to be in excellent shape. As they do their daily exercises, they radiate an energy that is centered and focused on the present moment. They are in the ‘now.’ Their meditational movements go on for about a half hour. As mysteriously as they come together, they disperse.

Most of us have a hard time imagining that an urban public space can function as a place of mindfulness. We associate public venues with frenetic energy that serves to distract us from ourselves. But these ‘tai chi’ mornings challenge such assumptions. Mindful awareness is available to us anywhere and at anytime.

When I was much younger, I thought that the only place that I could meditate ‘in the right way,’ was within the confines of a room, facility, zendo, that took me far away from my everyday life. I have learned that, for me, the real challenge is to be mindful within the context of ordinary life.

Every time I see these aging ‘tai chiers’ doing their thing, I am filled with joy. They remind me that there is room and time for everyone no matter the setting. The little park isn’t state of the art, the benches are dirty and the garbage cans are filled to the brim, yet it is a place brimming with life and lots of opportunities for mindful living.

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For information about Tai Chi opportunities in your local park, check out 2 resources offered by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

1. Visit the NYC Parks Website and search for “tai chi”

2. Visit the BeFitNYC Website and search for “martial arts”

Is it me or has the subway become slower and more congested over just the past week? I think that I’m waiting longer for trains to arrive. And when they finally come, they’re packed with people. Suspiciously, I’ve started to wonder if the MTA has started reducing its train service already in order to address its budget shortfall next year.

I’m sure that my thoughts about the subway have been fueled by the wide press coverage of the MTA’s financial problems and its proposal to cut service, fire employees, and raise fares. Of course, I can’t tell if things have really changed now or if I’m just imagining it.

My consideration of the subway demonstrates an interesting quality of the mind: once we start to pay attention to something, it changes our experience of it. Typically, the simple act of noticing can trigger a flood of thoughts, emotions, and judgments. It happens naturally when we bring something that has been taken for granted in the background, and move it to the foreground for our focused attention. Don’t believe me? Then try this little exercise:

Look at your hand for about a minute.

What do you see?

What comes to mind as you continue to gaze at your hand?

Most likely, you’ll notice a few visual qualities of your hand, such as wrinkles, fingernails, etc. Then, your mind will start commenting on them. You might ask yourself, “Has that mole always been there?” or note, “I really need a manicure.” Such is the nature of the mind: if we don’t remind ourselves simply to be present and attentive, then we’ll jump to having a whole host of thoughts and reactions to what we were noticing. If you can have such discursive thoughts relative to looking at your hand, imagine what comes up for us as we pay attention to the diverse elements of city life, like walking down the street or commuting to work.

Instead of getting lost in the content of these reactions, we can become mindful of the process as it unfolds within us. For example, as I wait (and wait) for the subway, I can notice the thoughts that bubble up regarding mismanagement at the MTA. Usually, such rumination makes me feel irritated, stressed, and powerless. I also know that I don’t particularly like feeling this way.

The issue is not whether my “bubbling-up” thoughts or true or not in this particular moment, but rather whether or not they are helpful.

Okay, so now what? Well, with the wisdom that this particular train of thought is harmful, I can decide to get off and stop riding it. I can transfer to a different train by thinking about something else, like mentally writing a letter to MTA officials. Or, I can “exit the station” entirely by doing something different like meditating on my breath or reading a few more pages of my book.

It is through our consistent practice of mindfulness in this way that we can achieve peace in the middle of it all.

BTW, if you would like to voice your own opinions about subway service, then be sure to fill our a survey for the 2nd Annual Rider Report Card. The survey starts next week! Check out www.mta.info for details.

Best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving from UM.