[excerpted from, 9 Keys to Meaning-Making: Transpersonal Psychology ©2023]

Thirty years ago, a significant mentor remarked to me, “Be careful not to have too many ‘fake’ things around you; a small amount is okay, but go beyond that, and you’ll begin to doubt everything.”

This was when cyberspace was still in its infancy, and he was referring instead to physical objects – ‘reproduction’ and veneer, or prepared food items, for example – and social relationships. I’ve taken those words to heart, and often wondered what he would have made of today’s world, with its deceptive websites and courses in ‘media literacy’, virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and the entire metaverse construct.

I embrace technology as much as the next person. Yet, as a psychologist I sometimes fear that we may be going too far – only to find ourselves doubting the authenticity of everything.

In our quest for meaning-making, of striving for a life of deep meaning and purpose, authenticity is and must be its most fundamental underpinning. So how do we embrace it, in this technological age?

First, we go back to the words of my long-ago mentor: embrace real, authentic objects and relationships in our personal lives.

There’s some movement in this direction, as whole foods and slow food movements become popular not only for their health benefits but for authentic lifestyle. We want to know the source of our food – and our knowledge. (Hence, this book is well cited.)

And we want to be known by others. One advantage of the online platform is that it gives voice to the voiceless, and while this isn’t without complication, it nevertheless provides us with a myriad of ways to let ourselves be known. Even as in-person social interaction is decreasing, online connectedness and interaction is ever on the rise – and in this disembodied format, while it’s far too easy to be thoughtless or even cruel toward others, it also lends itself to frank interaction and expression.

What are the advantages to authenticity in terms of meaning construction, and how does transpersonal psychology contribute?

The former is clear: we can’t have a life that’s meaningful without embracing our authentic selves, even if we allow for a certain inauthenticity around us. And the latter? Transpersonal psychology, in its inclusion of the transcendent realm so very important to a majority of humans, whether in the form of religion or other spiritual or metaphysical pursuit or in states of consciousness and the mystical experience, seeks to support humanity in its full expression – to its most authentic state. In exploring our varied states of consciousness, we begin to know the full capacity of our mind and our selfhood; in transcendent experience, we expand beyond selfhood and begin to know ourselves more deeply as part of humanity, of nature, of the cosmos.

Authenticity of oneself, then, is twofold: knowing the self through exercises of self-awareness and exploration, and by embracing self-development or personal growth (Osin et al., 2023); and, in transcending the self in order to step into our full authenticity that is so much greater than our individuality (Spännäri & Laceulle, 2021; Wilt et al., 2021).

Authenticity is not only connected to presence of meaning but also to life satisfaction (Lutz et al., 2023), and wellbeing as well as engagement (Sutton, 2020). But what, in fact, is authenticity? According to Newman (2019), we judge the veracity – of objects, people, events, ourselves – in 3 broad areas: whether it appropriately fits an historical period, matches the beliefs and expectations of a particular category, or aligns with specific motivations and values. Sutton puts it more succinctly, when considering the authenticity of personhood, as an expression of one’s true nature, and as a matter of carefully making choices in life and being responsible for them.

Even more, it’s the sense of being one’s true self, expressing one’s emotions and needs, and achieving the balance of true vs ideal self, additionally influenced by culture (Sedikides et al., 2019). A narrative analysis conducted by Wilt et al. (2019) identified 5 themes of authenticity: in relationships, in an ability to resist outside influence, as an expression of true self, in contentment, and in taking responsibility for one’s actions; 4 themes of inauthenticity were further defined, as conformity, suppression, undermining oneself, and a deceitful or insincere trait.

Kaftanski and Hanson (2022), scholars in the Human Flourishing program at Harvard University, identify human suffering as a critical component to both meaning and authenticity; if we don’t know, explore, or understand our pain, the general suffering of any human if only on the basis of our existential isolation and awareness of mortality, then we can’t achieve authenticity and meaning or a fully integrated sense of wellbeing. This is well supported in Buddhism and its core construct of mindfulness, in a principle of nonattachment which we’ll later explore.

In the recent work of Ekşi et al. (2022), presence of meaning is seen to serve as a bridge between will and authenticity. While we can conceive of authenticity as an aspect of our personal meaning, then, we can also see meaning as a source of authenticity; that is, it isn’t enough to will ourselves into a more authentic self and experience of life, but we must also embrace a sense of meaning along the way. Meaning and authenticity, then, can be conceived as bidirectional, each feeding the other.

And in the area of psychedelic research, previously mentioned as a direct overlay of transpersonal psychology concepts, the reorganization of the self that has been identified as an outcome of psychedelic-assisted therapy includes a revised presence of meaning and an emphasis on authenticity – which Fischman (2022) describes as ‘knowing and being known’.

So, aside from taking psychedelics, how can we focus on and strengthen our sense of authenticity, in our search for meaning?

By making it our keenly felt priority, for one thing, and not just in the realm of personal development and interpersonal relationships but also in everything with which we surround ourselves. We want to regularly immerse ourselves in nature, live mindfully, fill our lives with as many true and authentic aspects as possible, surround ourselves with authentic people, and place a high value on authenticity for its own sake. We begin with self-assessment: just how authentic am I currently?

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Exercises:

Conduct a conceptual brainstorming session on the topic of authenticity. Write the word ‘authenticity’ in the center of a blank sheet of paper, and quickly fill the sheet with as many words as come to mind, in order to access your deep thinking on this matter. Follow this with a second brainstorming activity – only this time, write ‘my authenticity’ at the center, and use a mind-mapping technique in which you draw relationships between the words that fill the page. Reflect on this outcome in journal-writing, discussion with a friend, or by whatever method you prefer.

Similarly, make 2 columns on a sheet of paper, labelled ‘authentic’ and ‘inauthentic’. Write in each those areas of your life and personhood as they relate to one term or the other. Defend the position of each with 2-3 key points – or consider moving it to the opposite column. Finally, add areas that you wish were there but aren’t yet – and develop 2-3 steps by which you can make it so.

Create a sociogram, adapted for your personal sense of authenticity. Draw a small circle in the center of a page and write your name within; add those areas of your life or selfhood which you feel are the most solidly authentic. Draw a ring around this circle, and write within it those areas that you feel are ‘secondarily’ authentic, and do the same for 1-2 more outer rings. You now have a visual image of your own authenticity. Consider whether there are any items in the outer rings that you’d like to move more toward center – make more authentic – and how you can do so.

Meditate on the concept of authenticity, and on your personal experience of same. In a comfortable position, eyes closed and distractions minimized, quiet your mind and bring the concept of authenticity to the forefront. Maintain steady, slow breathing, returning to the breath when you notice your mind has wandered, and allow thoughts and feelings concerning your authenticity to arise. As they do, don’t follow them but allow them to drift on by again – and at the end of your meditation, reflect on the experience by whatever means you prefer.

Immerse yourself in nature on a weekly basis, whether walking or placing yourself there as you’re able. The natural environment is perhaps the most purely authentic, and our immersion in same serves to reinforce our own authentic nature at a deeply felt and largely unconscious level. Ideally, spend a couple of hours or more there, solitary and in silence; if you must go with someone for safety or other reasons, agree beforehand to remain silent. Afterward, reflect.

Similarly, you can elect to spend time regularly with an animal or a very young child, both of whom are also very close to their authentic natures. Observe, resonate, reflect.

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References:

Ekşi H, Şahin Y, Akça Koca D et al. (2022). A bridge from will to authenticity: The role of meaning. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02744-5

Fischman LG (2022). Knowing and being known: Psychedelic–assisted psychotherapy and the sense of authenticity. Frontiers in Psychiatry 13:933495. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.933495

Kaftanski W and Hanson J (2022). Suffering, authenticity, and meaning in life: Toward an integrated conceptualization of well-being. Frontiers in Psychology 13:1079032. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1079032

Lutz PK, Newman DB, Schlegel RJ et al. (2023). Authenticity, meaning in life, and life satisfaction: A multicomponent investigation of relationships at the trait and state levels. Journal of Personality 91:3, 541-555. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12753

Newman GE (2019). The psychology of authenticity. Review of General Psychology 23:1, 8-18. https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000158

Osin EN, Voevodina EY, and Kostenko VY (2023). A growing concern for meaning: Exploring the links between ego development and eudaimonia. Frontiers in Psychology 14:958721. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.958721

Sedikides C, Lenton AP, Slabu L et al. (2019). Sketching the contours of state authenticity. Review of General Psychology 23:1, 73-88. https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000156

Spännäri J and Laceulle H (2021). Meaning Making in a Retirement Migrant Community: Religion, Spirituality, and Social Practices of Daily Lives. Frontiers in Psychology 12:707060. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.707060

Sutton A (2020). Living the good life: A meta-analysis of authenticity, well-being and engagement. Personality and Individual Differences 153:109645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109645

Wilt JA, Grubbs JB, Exline JJ et al. (2021). Authenticity, presence of meaning, and struggle with ultimate meaning: Nuanced between-and within-person associations. Journal of Research in Personality 93:104104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2021.104104

Wilt JA, Thomas S, and McAdams DP (2019). Authenticity and inauthenticity in narrative identity. Heliyon 5:7, e02178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02178

[excerpted from, 9 Keys to Transcendent Aging: Transpersonal Psychology ©2023]

On the first page of each new journal, an engagement with my psyche that I began at age 20, I write: “…remember who I am…”. Now a 40-year ritual, I continue to explore my inner life and perceptions of the outer world, and beyond, on that premise: not discovering or developing so much as remembering my authentic selfhood, my core. This, to me, is one salient aspect of meaning.

Our first key to transcendent aging, then, is this: discovering and developing, but even more, revealing the meaning of our lives. In psychology, we call this ‘presence’; self-awareness, along with self-efficacy or a sense of one’s capability, closely relate.

In a sense, humans are not so different from ants in a colony, or bees in a hive, are we? We function within our species and our social structure, humming along day by day, and perhaps overfocused on things like meaning and purpose, our own significance, the very idea of ‘self’.

I’m a product of ‘western’ and thus individualist culture, within which I spent the first 40 years of my life, albeit while studying Eastern psychology, philosophy, and traditional medicine for balance. These past 2 decades, however, I’ve lived in a series of collectivist cultures and have come to understand more deeply that the concept of ‘self’ may well be illusion – or that, at the very least, it may be better sublimated for the greater good. Indeed, this is the transpersonal construct.

So why contemplate meaning? And authenticity, and purpose? Are we stardust, or are we merely specks of dust?

This primary task can in fact be viewed as a sacred process, a critical aspect of wisdom, and a reason for existence. Whether from a more individualist or collectivist culture, more independent or interdependent by nature, we do well to engage in a process not of rumination or even of reminiscence, though the latter has health benefits, but in one of coalescence.

We may have had a sense of meaning and its cousin, purpose, from an early age. If a religious adherent, this may have been specified in detail and preordained. A key task of our thriving in elder years is this process of making sense of our lives, not only in life review or assessment but in a deeply felt sense that we have done our part to contribute to the greater good. It’s also a step toward transcendence, as we must first establish our clear sense of self, life meaning and purpose, in order to then expand outward, beyond the self. We must know the self in order to lose the self into the collective, to connect with ourselves in order to experience interconnectedness.

But more on that soon.

Meaning-making is a task first of coherence, determining how the pieces of our life fit together into one ongoing story. This is coupled with the task of purpose: our goals, aims, and overarching mission, and with significance, or inherent value.

What gives your life meaning – and what do you contribute toward purpose?

This may well be found in one’s religious or spiritual tradition. It may be in humanism, with its love for all humanity including the beauty we create: in art, innovation, ideas, morals. It may be a valuation of life itself – one’s own and that of others, a love for all species, the natural world, our planet and our universe, the Grand Story. We may find meaning in raising children, in teaching others, in altruistic works, in activism and advocacy for a better world.

There are times, in the face of chaos, violence, debilitating illness, loss of a loved one, war, or impending climate collapse, that we find it difficult to access meaning in life. When faced with profound loss or hopelessness, everything may seem meaningless. But the sense of meaning is both situational and global, and while the current situation may have robbed us of our connection to meaning, we can maintain a global view – that the overall story of existence retains its own sense of coherence, separate from daily events however profound.

Having a sense of meaning and purpose in life brings a wealth of benefits to health, wellbeing, and aging. It’s associated with both subjective and psychological wellbeing in terms of higher life satisfaction, happiness, optimism, and positive affect (Basher, 2022; Crego et al., 2020; Kim et al., 2022), lower risk of loneliness (Kim et al., 2022; Weziak-Bialowolska & Bialowolski, 2022), and maintaining one’s sense of identity (Polacsek et al., 2022). Mental health benefits are seen in reduced risk of depression (Basher; Crego et al.; Kim et al.; Polacsek et al.; Weziak-Bialowolska & Bialowolski), aging anxiety (Bergman & Bodner, 2022), and death anxiety (Zhang et al., 2019). Benefits to physical health are seen in decreased insomnia or sleep disturbance, increased health behaviors – and even increase in life expectancy, mortality itself (Kim et al.).

The field of psychology places great emphasis, therefore, on developing and maintaining a sense of meaning and purpose in one’s life. Transpersonal psychology perhaps emphasizes this even more, in its focus on the spiritual and religious, mystical and metaphysical, the very definition of meaning for many.

So, we assess. We assess our own lives for present and past sources of meaning, as this is a fluid, not fixed, construct. And we seek new areas of meaning: perhaps we become engaged for the first time in climate activism, or begin reading to children in an orphanage. Maybe we join a religious or spiritual tradition, not an uncommon occurrence as we reach a stage of life in which a focus on afterlife and the metaphysical becomes increasingly relevant. Perhaps in our desire to leave a legacy, we seek to share all that we’ve learned and experienced, and we begin to mentor others — or to write books.

Our relationship with meaning and purpose is lifelong. It changes over time, right through our elder years, and we must be on guard against allowing it to become too entrenched. Until that final breath, keep opening your eyes, and your heart: meaning, and purpose, are everywhere.

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Exercises:

First: create a timeline of your life to date, on which you place all major events; review and add as often as others come to mind, as this is an ongoing exercise. This creates a visual for meaning in your life; highlight all those events, achievements, and transitions which you feel were significant and/or reflected your purpose.

Once the previous activity is well underway (for it is never completed, as even more meaningful events can be recalled at any time), add a timeline of your future. Once we’re in our elderhood, this can be a somewhat daunting task as it brings to the surface our very human fears concerning our mortality and time running out. For that reason, it’s also useful, in that we can recognize and greet those fears rather than allowing them to continue lurking in the unconscious – at the same time, not giving them too much oxygen. The timeline of the future includes aspects of meaning already in your life now that you wish to maintain, and any aspects you’d like to include that aren’t already there; for example, perhaps you always wanted to do some volunteer work in another country, but were prohibited due to career and family obligations – and for which now may be the time. This timeline, while surely none of us can predict the future, allows us to set achievable goals and plot a course, thus enhancing our sense of purpose. We are not finished, and life isn’t over nor simply one of pleasure and passing the time, just because we’ve reached retirement; in transcendent aging, our ongoing engagement in a sense of meaning and purpose is essential.

Create a sociogram. Draw a small circle in the center of a blank sheet of paper, into which you write your own name and the names of those in your innermost circle. Around this, draw a ring, and add those names of your close but secondary circle; draw at least two more and do the same. This is a visual of your social support system; it relates to meaning in that, through your connectedness, you affect and are affected by others, who in turn affect others, and on. This represents deep meaning – and also your infinite continuation.

Engage in a 20- to 30-minute contemplative session on the idea of meaning in life, exploring as many facets as come to mind, thinking deeply and broadly. Similarly, you can engage in a meditative session with an introspective focus on sources of meaning in your own life. As a third related exercise, you can engage in a brainstorming session of the mind-mapping style, filling a sheet of paper with everything you can think of regarding this topic and drawing connections among them to better understand their interrelatedness.

Storytelling. Storytelling. And, storytelling. We humans are storytellers – our key form of transmission, especially intergenerational. Now is the perfect time of life to become an engaging storyteller; rather than, “when I was a child,” or even, “there was this time,” learn how to better craft a story and make it engaging – and apply this to as many of your own memories, positive and negative alike, as you can. How can you tell it so your audience, of one or one hundred, is completely absorbed? (How can you compete with all those entertaining devices?) Also consider outlets for your life stories. There are plenty of storytelling websites; you could start a blog or video channel, tell micro-stories via social media, or write books. In the preparation and then sharing of our stories, we ourselves better understand the meaning in our lives.

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References:

Basher E (2022). Relationship between Meaning in life, Psychological Wellbeing, and Depression in Elderly. British Journal of Psychology Research 10:2, 23-30. https://tudr.org/id/eprint/1255/

Bergman YS and Bodner E (2022). Aging anxiety in older adults: The role of self-esteem and meaning in life. GeroPsych: The Journal of Gerontopsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry 35:4, 196-201. https://doi.org/10.1024/1662-9647/a000295

Crego A, Yela JR, Gómez-Martínez M, et al. (2020). The Contribution of Meaningfulness and Mindfulness to Psychological Well-Being and Mental Health: A Structural Equation Model. Journal of Happiness Studies 21, 2827-2850. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00201-y

Kim ES, Chen Y, Nakamura JS et al. (2022). Sense of Purpose in Life and Subsequent Physical, Behavioral, and Psychosocial Health: An Outcome-Wide Approach. American Journal of Health Promotion 36:1, 137-147. https://doi.org/10.1177/08901171211038545

Polacsek M, Boardman GH, and McCann TV (2022). Self-Identity and Meaning in Life as Enablers for Older Adults to Self-Manage Depression. Issues in Mental Health Nursing 43:5, 409-417. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2021.1998263

Weziak-Bialowolska D and Bialowolski P (2022). Bidirectional associations between meaning in life and the health, emotional ill-being and daily life functioning outcomes among older adults. Psychology & Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2022.2105842

Zhang J, Peng J, Gao P, et al. (2019). Relationship between meaning in life and death anxiety in the elderly: self-esteem as a mediator. BMC Geriatrics 19:308. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-019-1316-7

[excerpted from, 9 Keys to Building Resilience: Health Psychology ©2023]

We begin at the core: a life of meaning.

Humans desire meaning. Some of us are seekers, continually looking for sources of meaning, while for others religion provides this in a complete package, and still others find relationships to provide sufficient meaning, and/or perhaps the experience of life itself. Some may despair, in existential crisis over the futility of life and insignificance of the individual – and while depression is an all too common outcome, there are those for whom a meaningless life is not worth living, opting for suicide instead.

The global climate crisis that we currently face, with its ticking clock and impending climate collapse, hangs heavy; some have become resigned to hopelessness, others fight for global-scale action – and many keep their heads firmly in the sand.

Resilience is required.

Identifying and maintaining a presence of meaning in one’s personal life is key to resilience; it’s impossible to be truly resilient if we feel that life is meaningless. Why would we bother? And so, it’s inherent in the very idea of resilience. We try, and we keep trying, and we face adversity with as much courage and fortitude as possible, each time, doing all that we can to recover and to thrive, precisely because life is meaningful and holds value for us.

In psychology, personal meaning construction is divided into ‘presence of meaning’ and ‘search for meaning’. Part of the trauma of major adversity, such as natural disaster, comes in the form of a sudden loss of meaning: the life we had yesterday has been shattered, everything is upside-down, and we have lost faith – in our deity, in an essentially benevolent universe, in humanity, in the very idea of meaning. A renewed search for meaning is an integral part of resilience, then; when all is lost, we first make efforts to stabilize our circumstances and to restore safety, then we reassemble our lives, and as we’re doing so, we must also reestablish a sense of meaning. This may well have changed, or we may eventually revert to our original sources; meaning can also be gleaned from the crisis itself.

A primary source of meaning in my own life is that of the natural world; for me, this is ecopsychology, ecospirituality, deep ecology – and fundamental. Weekly, I immerse myself in nature on a tiny island near my urban home; my day begins with an hour of traversing the sea, followed by solo trekking on the island for a couple of hours, often without encountering another human – but plenty of other species. During this time I engage in moving meditation, then deep trance at the island’s peak, and provide food offerings to the various creatures I encounter. Later, sitting at sea level, I engage in journal-writing to reflect on the earlier experience. Nature is my respite and solace, a source of wellbeing, my therapy – and has been a deep and abiding sense of meaning through my 6 decades of life thus far.

We often hear ‘meaning’ and ‘purpose’ together, and some equate the two. The latter is goal-driven, however, in that we have goals – or an overarching primary goal – in life toward which we are taking measures to achieve, and which is also required for psychological health. Meaning, however, is values-based, and while it can change at various stages of life or in the face of a change in circumstance, it’s more static than dynamic – not stable and fixed per se, but we aren’t working toward it as we do in regard to purpose. Meaning is present in one’s life – or, one is searching for meaning.

In a broad review of the research, King and Hicks (2021) determined that presence of meaning in one’s personal life provides coherence, and significance; we comprehend why we live, and life makes sense to us. We also often find purpose alongside, as mentioned, while our sense of meaning is consistent with that of our self-identity, and may enhance our self-awareness in turn. As well, we have a sense that we matter to others, that our life, even if we aren’t personally facilitating global-scale change, does in fact have some impact. Such meaning is gleaned from ordinary life experiences – social relationships, routines, and the pursuit of our goals or purpose, and a majority of people do consider their lives meaningful.

The presence of meaning in one’s life contributes to wellness as we age, correlating with increased resilience, optimism, and overall life satisfaction (Gellis et al., 2020). Life meaning, when accompanied by social support, has been demonstrated to facilitate resilience and posttraumatic growth – thriving – in young adults who were terror victims (Aliche et al., 2019). It has also been found to decrease distress and repetitive negative thinking in the wake of natural disaster (Ostafin & Proulx, 2020). And in a review of 57 prior studies regarding women survivors of sexual abuse in childhood, van der Westhuizen et al. (2023) identified 4 mechanisms of meaning-making which contributed to resilience: a restoration and empowerment of one’s inner self, engagement of external and social resources, a personal characteristic and value of benevolence, and integration of the trauma narrative itself.

Presence of meaning also contributes to resilience as a protective factor against suicide, including ideation and attempts (Costanza et al., 2019), while ‘zest for life’, a term alternately described as ‘a life worth living’ and as such a construct of personal meaning, has shown strong significance in suicide prevention among young adults, in a review of 37 studies (Shahram et al., 2021). Among military veterans, a group considered high-risk for mental health issues including suicide, the presence of meaning and/or purpose in life has been identified as a protective psychosocial factor and contributor to resilience (Fogle et al., 2020).

Meaning is often equated to religion or spirituality, a key source of meaning for many; in the positive psychology framework, in fact, these are identified as the same character strength, while a relationship between resilience and spirituality or religiosity was demonstrated in a recent review of 34 studies (Schwalm et al., 2022). In a study of 529 adults across 11 nations, who had been in state care as children, an association between resilience, wellbeing, and spirituality was established; poor outcomes in adulthood are all too common for those raised in institutional care, while spirituality was significant for higher outcomes in physical and mental health, resilience, and life satisfaction (Howard et al., 2023). In another study, 39 women from diverse religious traditions, who had experienced trauma, identified their strong belief system and religious or spiritual practices alongside psychological strategies as essential to their resilience (Jerome et al., 2023).

And so, it seems clear: presence of meaning in one’s life promotes resilience, and while humans tend toward a personal sense of meaning, we do well to identify and enhance our own – in order to build our resilience capital.

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Exercises:

We begin with clarity. Engage in various modalities to identify as many areas of meaning in your life as possible. You can include deep contemplation, in which you prepare as if for meditation: quiet mind, comfortable position, minimized distraction, slow and steady breathing; then, begin to look within, seeking out all that you value, all that gives meaning to your life – within you, around you, in your life trajectory, in your family history, in beliefs, social connections, nature, and much more.

Other exercises to gain clarity may include the mind-mapping form of brainstorming, in which you write the word ‘meaning’ in the center of a blank sheet of paper, then as quickly as possible (the ‘storm’ part, to circumvent the inner censor that we all have) fill the page with words, drawing lines between them as you go to denote connections – and when it feels complete, sit for a while and reflect on it. Or, you can engage in journal-writing, perhaps even a dedicated journal for ‘meaning-making’, in which you not only identify but explore the roots and background of potential areas for meaning.

Though we could all answer readily if asked what gives our personal life meaning, this type of exercise is very helpful in discovering nuances, and in strengthening our overall sense that we and our life matter.

Undoubtedly, once you’ve undertaken such activities, you’ll be even more aware that your life is imbued with meaning – but perhaps there’s room for more, or meaning could be strengthened. Identifying and working toward goals, step by step, is one way; self-discovery, learning more about ourselves, is another. Increasing our sense of community represents still another, or perhaps engaging in or strengthening our religious or spiritual belief system.

Nature provides an especially deep source of meaning, one from which many of us may feel disconnected. Commit to a regular immersion in the natural world, not only for the refreshment and renewal that it brings but to create relationship, to understand more fully your place as a creature of the natural world. Meditate on nature. Include nature documentaries and videos; though virtual representation does not equal to time actually spent in nature, it can reinforce those experiences. Cultivate a garden.

Finally, volunteering or engaging in any way that contributes to the life of another person, or group of people, or other creatures for that matter, or to the earth itself, is a direct source of sustained meaning – as we enhance the worth of our own life through our contributions toward the greater good.

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References:

Aliche JC, Ifeagwazi CM, Onyishi IE et al. (2019). Presence of Meaning in Life Mediates the Relations Between Social Support, Posttraumatic Growth, and Resilience in Young Adult Survivors of a Terror Attack. Journal of Loss and Trauma 24:8, 736-749. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2019.1624416

Costanza A, Prelati M, and Pompili M (2019). The Meaning in Life in Suicidal Patients: The Presence and the Search for Constructs, A Systematic Review. Medicina 55:8:465. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina55080465

Fogle BM, Tsai J, Mota N et al. (2020). The National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study: A Narrative Review and Future Directions. Frontiers in Psychiatry 11:538218. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.538218

Gellis Z, McClive-Reed K et al. (2020). Meaning of Life and Well-Being: Preliminary Results of the Successful Aging Study. Innovations in Aging 4:S1, 112. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igaa057.369 

Howard AH, Roberts M, Mitchell T et al. (2023). The Relationship Between Spirituality and Resilience and Well-being: a Study of 529 Care Leavers from 11 Nations. Adversity and Resilience Science 4, 177-190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42844-023-00088-y

Jerome A, Allen Heath M, Williams M et al. (2023). Traversing trauma: Resilient women’s religious and spiritual stories of hope and strength. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 54:2, 177-187. https://doi.org/10.1037/pro0000491

King LA and Hicks JA (2021). The Science of Meaning in Life. Annual Review of Psychology 72:1, 561-584. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-072420-122921

Ostafin BD and Proulx T (2020). Meaning in life and resilience to stressors. Anxiety, Stress & Coping 33:6, 603-622. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2020.1800655

Schwalm FD, Zandavalli RB, de Castro Filho ED et al. (2022). Is there a relationship between spirituality/religiosity and resilience? A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Journal of Health Psychology 27:5:1218-1232. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105320984537

Shahram SZ, Smith, ML, Ben-David S et al. (2021). Promoting “Zest for Life”: A Systematic Literature Review of Resiliency Factors to Prevent Youth Suicide. Journal of Research on Adolescence 31, 4-24. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12588

van der Westhuizen M, Walker-Williams HJ, and Fouché A (2023). Meaning Making Mechanisms in Women Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Scoping Review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse 24:3, 1363-1386. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380211066100

[excerpted from, 9 Keys to Mindfulness for Health: Health Psychology, ©2023]

Focus, and notice.

Surely we must begin with attention, the foremost quality of mindfulness whether trait, state, or practice: paying attention to one’s life, and to the surrounding world.

We tend to pride ourselves on multitasking, and in today’s exceptionally busy world, this seems on the surface a good idea. In reality, however, while it may be good for productivity, it’s not healthy for our brains; the brain is capable of multi-tasking, of course, but monotasking and its accompanying keen focus is what keeps our attention sharp, rather than scattered.

The multiple distractions of our technological era have contributed to a decrease in attention span and increase in attention deficits, as we’ve all become accustomed to using multiple programs, apps, or windows at once and having a near-continuous stream of stimuli.

Arguably, the human brain may be evolving rather than devolving, and we may find that the brain of the future is far more prone to and happy with multitasking than it is now. But we aren’t there yet.

More importantly, attention is a skill. When we refine our attention, we’re actually far more productive than when we use the scattershot approach of multitasking, even though the latter may feel highly productive.

When was the last time you did just one thing, with a singular focus? Unless you’re already engaged in regular meditation or a practitioner of mindfulness, this may have been a while. Our brains are continually bombarded with stimuli not only of our own making – which in itself is not inconsequential today – but also of the input morass which surrounds us.

Imagine, if you will, sitting quietly for just 10 minutes with a sole focus on your breathing, bringing your attention back to your breath whenever it wanders. As you imagine this, does 10 minutes feel like an eternity? Do you find yourself feeling anxious about this? Can you imagine doing so? Daily?

This is precisely what’s recommended as a daily mindfulness practice, and all those mental and physical health benefits earlier mentioned are possible with just this quiet 10 minutes a day. The practice of experienced meditators is typically only 20 minutes daily, but benefits between 10 and 20 minutes of daily practice aren’t known to differ.

Now imagine sitting for those 10 minutes a day with no outer stimulus. Perhaps you’re wearing noise-cancelling earphones, for example, or silicone earplugs, or are just fortunate enough to have a very silent room in your home; you have an eyeshade on, to shut out all light, and you’ve been practicing meditation long enough to be able to maintain a focus solely on your breathing.

Can you envision that complete attention? And can you sense, in your own body, the profound peacefulness and deep rest to your mind that it would bring?

This is our goal.

Parallel to such deep and singular focus is the practice of noticing everything, which may seem paradoxical. Yet ultimately, we’re working toward being able to shut out distractions. When we focus entirely on inner process such as above, we’re shutting out external stimulus; as we notice the details of our lives, we’re not allowing ourselves to be internally distracted.

For example: if you’ve regularly driven a car, you undoubtedly know the experience of having driven for some time only to realize that you weren’t particularly aware of the past 20 minutes of the journey. Sure, you were safely driving, on ‘auto-pilot’ and responding appropriately. But you were lost in your own thoughts, and didn’t notice anything in particular around you.

When we live mindfully, we do so because we don’t want to miss any part of our journey.

The age-old, ‘where has the time gone?’ begins to have a richly nuanced response. When someone says to me, ‘can you believe that it’s already–?’ I smile to myself; yes, on the surface the time seems to fly by and the calendar turns. But, yes, I know precisely where that time has gone, or more importantly, how I experienced it: each and every day filled with countless moments, mostly of joy or simple pleasures, sometimes of pain or discomfort, but full and rich in detail nonetheless.

Paying attention.

Ultimately, we want our mental function of attention to be highly refined and working well at all times – not overworked, but without external or internal distractions to the degree possible. Such razor-sharp focus may seem as if it would be exhausting, but far from it: as I notice the beam of sunshine that delights me as it dances along the pathway in front of my feet while I walk, or the butterfly flitting from one flower to the next when I’m trekking, or the fresh and cool quality of the morning air, or the sound of a dove cooing outside my window – my day, my life, and my world are filled with joy.

In mindfulness, we live life with all of our senses wide open, without distraction.

Čopelj (2022) addresses the two approaches to mindfulness, particularly in its meditation, as that of the ‘quietists’ – to shut out all stimulus and quiet the mind for a while – and the ‘cognitivists’ – those paying close attention to life around them, taking it all in. I’ve addressed both here, as I don’t conceive of them as contradictory; both require attention and focus, while one is on ‘everything’ and the other, on ‘nothing’ (or, on one’s internal landscape). Both approaches are exceptionally healthy for our brains and the richness of our lives, and it seems to me, varying between the two – a 10-minute daily ‘quietist’ practice and a life of ‘cognitivist’ attention – is the most comprehensive approach to mindfulness. This is in line with the teachings of that great master of mindfulness, Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, and with my personal experience of 40 years’ practice. Čopelj argues, in fact, that neither approach is accurate and that mindfulness is not attention at all but a state of being, a sort of floating in a state of nonattention – and I would support this as well. However, I also see attention and present-moment focus as two separate phenomena, as you’ll see in our upcoming key, ‘present moment’.

In contrast, Rahrig et al. (2022), in their review of 12 studies, demonstrate the neurobiological results of mindfulness practice in enhancing the brain’s attentional control, through a cross-fertilization among 3 neural networks. This indicates that through mindfulness, one’s control of one’s own attentional networks becomes increasingly flexible – and alters brain function in measurable ways.

Brown et al. (2022) clarify this even further, identifying these two forms of attention that I’ve outlined above as focused attention and open monitoring. The results of their study indicate that the former has measurable benefits as demonstrated on EEG, while the latter results primarily in subjective benefits. Both, then, are good for us: focused attention refines our brain’s executive functioning, while open monitoring contributes to our felt sense of wellbeing, and our emotional awareness.

For the health psychologist, this hyperfocus or keen attention – beneficial to anyone – is especially helpful for those who struggle with attention deficit disorder [ADD], for example, or older adults with decline in short-term memory, or early dementia. As we refine and enhance our brain’s attention capacity, we’re better able to focus on what we’re doing, and memory also improves.

So how can we enhance our attention, in addition to mindfulness meditation itself? What other activities can we engage in so that we might find meditation easier to achieve and maintain? How can we pay attention to our daily lives – and live more mindfully?

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Exercises:

Naturally, we must begin with meditation itself, as this is the primary sharpener of attention. In its basic form: sit comfortably, distractions minimized, eyes closed, breathing slow and steady. Bring your attention to your breathing and keep your focus there: slowly in, brief hold, slowly out, brief hold, repeat. When you notice your attention has wandered (it will, even in the most experienced meditators; noticing when it’s happened is your aim), simply bring your focus back to your breathing. When thoughts, memories, or emotions arise, notice each one…as you wish it on its way. Pay no attention to its story; merely greet it and say a gentle goodbye again, returning your focus to your breathing. Ten minutes is sufficient for this (shorter duration in the beginning); set a quiet alarm so you aren’t focused on the time, but one that won’t startle you back to an alert state. Afterward, reflect: by writing, contemplating, talking with someone, drawing – whatever method works for you. Processing after the experience itself is essential.

Other mindfulness-oriented practices can also refine our skills of attention. If you’re able, engage in just 2-3 minutes of walking meditation; again, quiet your mind and minimize distractions, then begin walking…as slowly as possible. Match your steps to your slow and steady breathing: one step with one inhalation, another step on exhalation. If your mind wanders, refocus on breathing and ever-so-slowly walking.

Engage in mindful dining. If cooking your own meal, pay close attention to every aspect of your cooking process, without any external distractions (neither conversation nor electronic input). Then, dine mindfully, paying full attention – to your food, its taste but also appearance, texture, temperature, and any other details you can discern; how it feels in your mouth, when your body tells you it’s had enough. Notice the table, plating, how your hand moves as you feed yourself, the feeling of your tongue against your teeth or palate. Try to be aware of as much as possible – and cherish that food for the nourishment it gives your body.

Engage in a daily form of exercise, and pay close attention – to each movement, whether stretching, strengthening, or aerobic; to its effects on your body, what’s happening to your muscles, weight-bearing joints, heart and lungs; to each movement and your body’s positioning; to your breath. Notice everything – and honor your body as you do. This doesn’t exclude those who aren’t physically able, by the way; any form of exercise you can do, even while seated in a chair or lying in bed, or that someone else does for you in manipulating your limbs for example, can be approached in an equally mindful and focused way.

Gaze in a mirror. Notice your face in as much detail as possible. Stare into your eyes (often a powerful experience). We think we know our own face – but as we gaze mindfully, focusing closely, we may notice aspects heretofore overlooked. While you’re at it – cherish that face, in all its parts, even those you think you don’t like. Similarly, gaze at your own hands. Move them, notice them, sense what’s beneath the skin and how they function. Notice them as if for the first time. Take your time with this. They are a marvel.

Immerse yourself regularly in the natural world, ideally as a weekly excursion – and, ideally, solitary. (If this isn’t safe or for any other reason you need to go with someone, make a pact in advance that you’ll walk or sit in nature without speaking, each of you having a solo, parallel experience.) Take a long, slow walk if you’re physically able to do so – through a forest, up a mountain, along the shore, or otherwise – or if walking isn’t possible, get yourself deeply in nature (i.e. away from human busy-ness) and sit there for some time. Most of all: notice everything. As much detail as possible. Take it all in, engaging as many of your senses as you can. This is not only an exercise of attention but a profound replenishment, an enrichment of one’s spirit.

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References:

Brown KW, Berry D, Eichel K et al. (2022). Comparing impacts of meditation training in focused attention, open monitoring, and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on emotion reactivity and regulation: Neural and subjective evidence from a dismantling study. Psychophysiology 59, e14024. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14024

Čopelj E (2022). Mindfulness and attention: Towards a phenomenology of mindfulness as the feeling of being tuned in. Asian Philosophy 32:2, 126-151. https://doi.org/10.1080/09552367.2022.2031015

Rahrig H, Vago DR, Passarelli MA et al. (2022). Meta-analytic evidence that mindfulness training alters resting state default mode network connectivity. Scientific Reports 12, 12260. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15195-6