Default Mode Network
When I started to engage in mindfulness, I went in expecting to get to the point where I could be fully present in the moment and stop my mind from racing and wandering. While I do experience this at times and those times have gotten longer and more frequent the more I’ve practiced minfulness, it is always inevitable that my mind will wander.
I used to get frustrated by this until I came across the default mode network when I was reading through Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer’s book, The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook. Turns out this network in our brain is designed to be active when our mind is at rest and goes inactive when the mind is engaged in something.
This network serves three functions: (1) creates a sense of self, (2) it projects its sense of self into either the past or future (3) it looks for problems.
Perhaps you’ve tried mindfulness and noticed your mind also was wandering, or you’ve gone on the same drive home that you take every day and when you get home you realize you don’t remember much of the drive, or you sit down to eat a meal and once it’s done you don’t actually remember eating much of it.
Why does this happen? Survival.
Our brain uses this time of “rest” to focus on possible problems and think through solutions. It’s quite a valuable network when you think of it from this perspective, but when you are trying to be present and in the moment, it can be frustrating.
What’s beneficial when this comes up is to bring gentle awareness to the wandering and then bring our mind back to the present. I’ve noticed my mind wanders less when I attune to something during my mindfulness practice. Whether that is the way my breath feels in my body on the inhales and exhales, doing a body scan to identify what my body is feeling, or engaging with my 5 senses. This hasn’t fully eliminated my mind wandering, but it has diminished the frequency that it occurs.
You can also come to your wandering with self-compassion. “I’m frustrated because my mind keeps wandering and playing through past/future problems (mindfulness). This happens to everyone and is meant to serve a function that helps us survive (common humanity). When it comes up I just need to bring my awareness back to the present and bring my focus to my breath, body, and 5 senses (self-kindness.)”
