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"Perspective shapes experience … it never feels good to feel victimized by … life." Dr. Lisa Rambaldo "We're not trying to get somewhere other than here." Brought into the medical fi eld in the 70s, stressed. Th ese thoughts shape our reali- ties, infl uencing our emotions and behav- iors often before we can stop them. Day after day of this, and our bodies and bubble up to the surface for some un- known reason. While we don't always know where they come from, our thoughts can follow patterns—and just like biting our nails or always putting our left sock on fi rst, habits can exist in our minds. "Habits are any entrenched pattern that can start to repeat itself without choiceful- ness," says Rambaldo, a psychologist with Dean Health and facilitator of the "Medi- tation at Monona Terrace" sessions. "In the mind … we [can] get locked into a certain frame and we don't have the opportunity to step back and see a new perspective, or we can always be looking at what needs to be done next, things like that." It's these mental habits that allow com- mon stresses or deeply rooted depressive thoughts to take over. For example, an in- dividual with depression may have a ten- dency to ruminate or dwell on particular ideas. Th eir habitual patterns of thought can then delve into a downward spiral of negativity that suddenly takes them from "I've had a bad day" to "I'm worthless, I don't deserve to live." When these thought patterns are practiced too often, they be- come unconscious. "So much of the time a thought arises in awareness and we're completely identi- fi ed with it," Moore explains. "We don't see [it's just a thought] that has an affect on us." Th e brain experiences a thought of frus- tration, so we are angry. When we have a physical response that signals stress to our brain, such as quick breathing, we are 64 BRAVA Magazine November 2011 brains are always switched "on." Our lives become made up of thoughts and reactions with no time to step back in between. "Perspective shapes experience," Ram- baldo adds. "I know for me, personally, it never feels good to feel victimized by my life. So If I can recognize these are the events in my mind, I have a choice about how I'm going to relate to them." Mindfulness, both doctors say, offers an exit strategy from the daily downward spiral. "In some ways I think of basic mindful- ness as just good, healthy mental hygiene," Moore adds. "A little bit like training wheels for life." Both Rambaldo and Moore offer similar defi nitions of what mindfulness is: Paying attention to the present moment, on pur- pose, with a certain attitude, they say. Th e goal is to intentionally choose to focus our attention on the sensations at a particular moment and let thoughts fl y by without judging ourselves for any of it. Sounds nice, doesn't it? Th ey're also quick to defi ne what mind- fulness is not. It's not spiritual or religious, and it's not about getting to some tran- scendental state—an important distinction when putting it into practice. "It's not some mystical, weird or al- tered state of consciousness," Moore adds. mindfulness meditation aims to give prac- titioners tools to live in the moment, rather than in their heads. "We give a lot of time away between our ears," Rambaldo says, tapping her fore- head. "Beauty wakes us up, novelty wakes us up. But most of our life is familiar, and when things are familiar, the mind has a tendency to dim. Th en we can wake up and be 10 years older." Whether we're caught up in our thoughts or fi nd ourselves mentally checking out during meetings, conversations or that everyday drive home, mindfulness aims to give techniques to keep us rooted in what's happening now. Your mind may still race and thoughts will still come, say Moore and Rambaldo— that's OK, it's not about emptying the mind. "I joke that if you have no thoughts for a long time, see your doctor," Rambaldo says with a laugh. "Because your brain should be alive!" Whether it's steering your train of thought away from negative, self-destruc- tive patterns or letting go of those vexing worries that keep you up at night, it's all about tuning your awareness to understand what you're thinking without letting those thoughts color your whole world. Th e formal practice involves seated med- itation with specifi c techniques to train yourself to stay focused on the present