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MINDING MINDFULNESS

11/05/2023 11:27:00 Chris Morgan

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This writer hopes, mindfully of course, that the title does not give the impression that the article is devoted to playing around with tongue-twister words.

To be held responsible for the reader throwing the newspaper aside in dismay would be a shameful experience, especially putting at risk the reputation of more respectable writers on the team. On the contrary, I intend to provide some assistance to the mental well-being of the reader; at no charge whatsoever (lol). But I came to it through a side door, so to speak. My thoughts on the matter started with a journey back many years to the autocratic English teacher at our high school. I’m constantly reminded of how he forbade the use of ‘due to …’ in any context other than where an amount is payable from one person to another. ‘Owing to …’ was mandatory at all other times; no exceptions; on pain of death. Well, I do exaggerate a little.

Despite his stentorian behaviour, I did feel a surge of sympathy for this man in his final resting place, when there appeared what seemed like a present-day assault on the English language. It was ‘birding’; a word that I thought the birdwatchers had produced for their own convenience in recent years to more fondly describe the pursuit of their much-loved leisure activity. But, oops, ‘a-birding’ appears in the ‘Merry Wives of Windsor’, written 500 years ago by a gentleman considerably better qualified than myself – Mr William Shakespeare; remember him? Which, of course, also eliminated my acute discomfort at the appearance of ‘birder’ – he or she who does the birding. Thank goodness I found out about Shakespeare’s use of the word; because, having a very amateurish interest in poetry, my sympathy for the anguish, felt by my English teacher, had caused ‘birder’ to morph subconsciously into ‘murder’. I meant that in a phonetic sense only, of course, and not least because birding is a marvellous pursuit, with birders comfortably among my list of good friends.

Connection

So, you are fully entitled to ask – where’s the connection between birding and mindfulness? Well, mindfulness is a form of meditation – a lighter, easier variety – in which you are intensely focused on something without interruption, interpretation or judgement. There are breathing and other techniques used to relax the body and mind that help reduce stress. But more than a few reputable scientists claim that birding can help the human brain, through reaping the benefits of what they describe as a meditative state of mind. Because, while you’re bird-watching, there’s no worrying about the to-do list, money challenges and recent mistakes; just the little yellow bird hanging from his nest, screaming his shrill call. You are experiencing mindfulness, paying exclusive attention to this highly pleasurable, chosen activity.

Meditation is the method by which most people tend to try and attain this body-and-mind-improving state. The approach mentioned so far is not claimed to be an improvement over meditation. It’s a lightweight alternative. One well-known American reporter, some years ago, wrote in the ‘Chicago magazine’ that bird-watching had improved his observation skills as a reporter. He argued that it caused him to look more carefully, noticing details previously missed. An American physician, currently at the Polyclinic in Seattle, says bird-watching for 20 years has made her a better doctor. “You must be quiet and focused; and not interrupt,” she says, “enabling patients to go deeper into their problems, so you are better able to empathise with them and understand their health issues.”

An associate professor of psychology, at Carnegie Mellon University in the USA, says that even though it’s not meditation, watching birds like this does count as mindfulness. When watching birds, “You’re really having an explicit goal to attend to sounds. To really be attentive; and that certainly counts as mindfulness,” he says. Practicing mindfulness, specifically through bird-watching, can also help your health: In a study published last year in the journal ‘BioScience’, scientists from the University of Exeter in England found that bird-watching improved mental health, reducing depression, anxiety, and stress. Previous research had found that listening to birds singing contributed to perceived attention restoration and stress recovery. That’s impressive.

Response

And this can also apply, to a degree, to eating, reading, working, driving a vehicle and basically most, if not all, forms of human activity. Being mindfully focused in that manner causes greater satisfaction, making you more efficient and changing your body’s response to stress, reducing the release of the stress hormone, cortisol. And how about applying the American physician’s technique to ordinary conversation, listening quietly and patiently, concentrating on content and mannerisms, hearing more and talking less; then living more calmly than if you’ve rabbitted on for 30 minutes. Remember that charming ditty: “The wise old owl sat on an oak; the more he heard, the less he spoke; the less he spoke the more he heard; why aren’t we like that wise old bird?” So a large number of people out there are giving very special attention to bird-watching – all right, then, to birding. So, I don’t know about you, but I’m off outside to join up right now. And, apparently, I won’t even need binoculars.