Heather Bellamy heard mindfulness teacher Tim Stead's perspective on what mindfulness is and why he believes it's compatible with the Christian faith.

Tim Stead

The practice of mindfulness is growing in popularity, but what is it really? Can it help us manage our stress and what does it have to offer Christianity? Anglican vicar and accredited mindfulness teacher, Tim Stead, has published the book Mindfulness and Christian Spirituality answering these questions. Heather Bellamy spoke with him to find out more.

Heather: What is mindfulness?

Tim: Mindfulness is about awareness. It's something that comes through paying attention. That may sound very simple, but we're not very good at paying attention. Our minds tend to flit all over the place and that's often when the problems come. We need to learn to pay attention in the present moment, particularly to our own experience, in a kind, loving and gentle way. Out of that has come so many of the benefits that people are talking about nowadays.

Heather: How do you practice it?

Tim: You can practice it in all sorts of ways. What it's normally associated with is somebody sitting, or lying down, being led through half an hour either listening to a teacher in a group, or a CD that you can pop on your CD player at home. The person who is guiding you is simply inviting you to practice paying attention to different things. It might be sounds you're hearing, or sensations in your own body. It may be your own breathing, or your own thoughts, but always practising paying attention. You might do this for 15 minutes or half an hour. It's a bit like learning a musical instrument. If you do it every day you get better at being able to pay attention.

Heather: So is it supposed to be just in those 15 minutes, or is it something you should bring to the whole of your day?

Tim: Absolutely brilliant question, exactly the second. You can practice it in different ways and not just by sitting down formally. I wanted to add that you can practice it by walking round the garden and paying attention to the plants, or really paying attention when you're doing the washing up. The whole point is to be mindful throughout the day, so when you're in a conversation, you're paying attention to what you're hearing, rather than waiting to think what you're going to say next; or you're paying attention to the situation that's going on, so you sense what really is happening, or perhaps paying attention to your own inner feelings and emotions. The more you practice in these formal settings, the more aware or mindful you'll be throughout the day.

Heather: Why is that important? It can sound a bit airy-fairy.

Tim: So many reasons. Let me start with the medical world. People have experienced dramatic changes in the way they coped with either chronic pain, or chronic depression, or serious illness. It seems to do a couple of things. One is that it reduces stress and once you've reduced stress you can manage all sorts of difficulties in life so much better. Secondly, it can help you to deal with all those negative thoughts we have, the ones that pop in and say, "You're useless, you got that wrong". Those things can sink your mood so dramatically, which then reduces your ability to cope. Thirdly, I think it creates a sense of space, which is what I crave for in a very busy life. I want a feeling of space around which I can see what's going on. I want to feel less frantic. We haven't talked about the spiritual benefits, but in those simple ordinary life situations those are the things that people see the value of.

Heather: Where does this practice come from?

Tim: Mindfulness has a lot of overlap with all the religious traditions of meditation. In our own tradition, what I have practiced over the years is contemplative prayer. They are methods that help you to remain still. In the Christian tradition that would be in the presence of God. When I first discovered it, I thought wow that sounds just like what Teresa of Avila was teaching or people who know about the Jesus prayer and the way that's taught.

An important point to note, because I think this concerns a number of Christians, is that the first person to bring it into the mainstream and out of a religious context was Jon Kabat Zinn in the 70's in America. He learned the practice from Buddhist meditation teachers. He'd be the first to say that it was the pure practical practices that he saw therapeutic value in. He took those and set up a course in his own hospital. The first thing he applied it to was people trying to cope with chronic pain. He got dramatic results, with people managing life so much better.

I've received it from a psychological sphere, as good mental practice. I see a lot of connections with the way Christians have prayed down the centuries, but there are those connections with the way other religions practice that sort of meditation. That was the historical link, but I think it has nothing to do with the spiritual or religious aspects of Buddhism that was just incidental.

Heather: In terms of how it's compatible with a Christian faith, are you saying that's in relation to what you call contemplative prayer?