Mindfulness urbano: a atenção plena nas experiências do cotidiano

Abstract

This research pursued to investigate the mindfulness practice in the urban context, from the lived experiences of advanced practitioners, aiming to understand how it happens. The main goal was to identify the environmental facilities and difficulties for the mindfulness practice based on the urban stressors (physical and interpersonal), the workarounds to deal with them and the meanings given by the participants for the search and maintenance of the practice. The focus on the urban context is justified when considering the meditative practices usually take place in friendly environments, in classrooms or at home, when the real challenges happen on the outside, with the daily life’s adversities with other people and the world. It has aimed to draw a scenario that could show how the search for mindfulness happens, how the participants apply such knowledge in their daily life and how the environmental context could help or obstruct the practice. An empirical qualitative research has been conducted, with a phenomenological approach, having Merleau-Ponty as main author. Three practitioners, both women, which have attended to the 8 weeks’ basic training, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction – MBSR, ready to practice the mindfulness techniques independently. The data collection has been performed through a semi-structured interview, having as main themes: “daily urban life”, “urban mindfulness” and “perception of well-being and quality of life”. The analysis of the interviews has identified some recurring themes, grouped in: search for self-knowledge, external indicators as support for the emotional self-regulation, bodily perception, emotional perception and mindfulness integrated into daily life. The research has also allowed for each participant to present a unique perspective from which the mindfulness has happened, not only as a technique, but as attitude and lifestyle. The participants’ speeches have shown that the main facility is that mindfulness is accessible at every moment and in any context. And the main difficulties that have been reported are the environmental noises, travel difficulties, organizing their personal and professional agendas against every day’s demands, and interpersonal challenges. It was discussed that awareness itself, if not anchored by a world view and ethic and morale values that sustain its existence in the person’s life, become just a meditative exercise. On the other hand, when integrated into daily life, aligned to personal values or beliefs, and mainly to the perception of a greater life’s purpose, it prospers by itself, benefiting not only the practitioner, but also the whole environmental context where he lives