One of my core beliefs is that that meditation helps us recognize our own inherent superpower, which is, in most cases, to control our responses and more during the gap between a stimulus and our response to it.
While meditation strengthens our awareness and intentionality, not all our actions are fully conscious. Modern behavioral science shows that many things we do, especially habits or unhealthy patterns, are triggered automatically, often by environmental cues or ingrained routines, without much deliberate thought. For example:
These responses can happen so quickly and unconsciously that “pausing to choose” does not always feel possible in the moment.
Emerging research suggests the answer is not merely to stop these automatic reactions in the moment, but to bring mindful contemplation into the midst of the behavior itself. Instead of fighting or shaming yourself for acting out of habit, gently notice what is happening as you do it. Ask yourself:
By practising awareness during automatic behaviour, you slowly weaken its hold and make space for intentional change. During this compassionate noticing, true transformation can begin.
Meditation helps in two keyways:
Larsen and Holland had proposed a framework which has targeted automatic processes for the reduction of unhealthy behaviours in health psychology. The framework categorizes intervention depending on differentiating between direct and indirect responses, response focus strategies and automatic response procedures. The essence of the framework is to propose a structured approach to understand how automatic processes lead to unhealthy behaviours among individuals.
David Sable in his article, has elaborated on the contemplative practices which enhance the underlying disposition for critical thinking. The concentrated practices refer to mindfulness practices. The critical thinking movement emerged in 1980 in America, which has reading of critical thinking due to the cross-section of academic disciplines. The reflective disposition of critical thinking are encouraged in order to be present in the moment and suspend judgement.
