Back to the Present and the Critical Understandings for Mindfulness
Introduction
backtothepresent is a program created by Wayne Johnson, MD that aims to teach mindfulness and self-awareness to adolescents and young adults. The initiative is part of the honorconnor.org not-for-profit organization. According to the project’s YouTube channel, backtothepresent exists to raise awareness about the mental-health crisis experienced by the young people of our country and to provide video references that portray “an understanding of the Critical Understandings needed to be less anxious and more mindful and present”. The foundation of the program is a Mindfulness Mantra (shared by the user) that reminds participants that they can be consciously aware of what they are doing, feeling and thinking and can freely choose how to use their time and energy wisely. This mantra frames the program’s Critical Understandings—a series of complementary visual representations of a model that help young people cultivate mindfulness and live in the present.
Below is an overview of each set of understandings. Each group links key concepts in order to illustrate how human experiences and capacities can be balanced to promote mental and emotional well-being.
Our Three Gifts: Physical, Emotional & Spiritual
The first critical understanding emphasizes that human beings have three primary “Gifts”: physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. Lewis University’s wellness program explains that wellness is a lifestyle and continuous discovery of behaviors and healthy habits that promote physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. Wellness is described as a multidimensional state of being marked by positive health, quality of life and a sense of well-being. backtothepresent encourages participants to work on being mindful of their awareness of these three Gifts and how they manifest themselves through our actions, feelings, and thoughts. It then encourages participants to challenge themselves, knowing they can freely choose what they would like to do, feel, or think next. Understanding that to learn how to utilize these three Gifts will require patience with the valuable and limited time and energy we have while alive. And finally, backtothepresent encourages us to honor these three Gifts by listening to their bodies, acknowledging and regulating our feelings, and being clear in our intention of our thoughts with a sense of productivity, peace, and purpose or connection to something larger than themselves.
Limited Resources: Time & Energy
Time and energy are considered finite resources. Minimalist writer Joshua Becker notes that we receive only one life to live with a limited number of days and a limited number of resources—which include time and energy, prioritizing the attention upon meaningful relationships. When people recognize their finiteness they become more intentional; ignoring these limits often leads to wasted resources and lost opportunities. Back to the Present teaches young people to be mindful of where they invest their time and energy so they can focus on meaningful experiences rather than distractions.
Manifestations: Actions, Feelings & Thoughts
Mindfulness requires noticing how our actions, feelings and thoughts are connected. In a mindfulness article for the Vermont Bar Journal, Samara Anderson explains that self-awareness is the capacity to interpret your actions, feelings and thoughts objectively and to use this awareness to respond in healthy ways. I like to characterize self-awareness as, not simply being mindful of what it is we are doing, feeling, and thinking without judgement, but also being aware of how our actions, feelings, and thoughts influence others. Without self-awareness, people often react impulsively or in maladaptive ways. By practicing mindfulness, backtothepresent participants learn to observe what they are doing, feeling, and thinking without judgement and to respond thoughtfully.
Unique Abilities: Conscious Awareness & Free Choice
Human beings possess a remarkable ability to monitor their internal state and to make choices. Self-determination theory defines self-determination as a person’s ability to make choices and manage their own life, and notes that being self-determined means feeling in greater control of one’s outcomes. backtothepresent encourages young people to cultivate conscious awareness—observing their experiences—and to exercise free choice to align their behavior with their values.
Satisfactions: Needs, Wants & Desires
Understanding the difference between needs, wants and desires helps participants prioritize what truly matters. Lisa Adams explains that a need is a requirement, duty or deficiency of something necessary. This includes the common necessities of survival, food, shelter, safety, and reproduction. Our needs being met provides contentment. A want may also be described as a lack or deficiency, but it often refers to a wish to possess or do something we believe we want that will make us happy. A desire is a strong feeling or yearning or craving for something to happen that brings joy into our lives. The Berkeley Well-Being Institute further distinguishes that needs are essential for survival and well-being, while wants are longings for things beyond the basic necessities. Our desires our fulfilled when we have good relationships with others; this is what brings true joy into our lives. Recognizing this hierarchy allows individuals to satisfy fundamental needs first and to evaluate whether their wants and desires align with their long-term well-being.
Emotional States: Contentment, Happiness & Joyfulness
backtothepresent differentiates three States of Emotional Well-being: contentment, happiness and joy.
Contentment is defined by Merriam-Webster as freedom from worry or restlessness; peaceful satisfaction. It reflects a state of ease and acceptance that occurs when Id has what it is we need to survive.
Happiness is described by therapist Katherine Atherton as a feeling of satisfaction based on what we do and how we behave, often fleeting and triggered by external factors such as situations, people or events. Clearly, this is what happens when we achieve the Satisfaction of having what it is we want: an accomplishment, acknowledgement, or possibly and acquisition of an ego driven motivation.
Joy is deeper and more long-lasting than happiness. It arises from an inner sense of purpose, meaning and relationships, and is relatively independent of external events. Atherton notes that joy provides enduring contentment and satisfaction with life overall. I believe this exists when we have good relationships with others. Have you ever met someone who has good relationships with everyone they desire that is not joyful?
backtothepresent teaches that happiness may come and go, while joy exists as a state of mind that arises when individuals align their lives with their values and maintain meaningful connections. Contentment often accompanies joy because it represents peaceful acceptance of one’s circumstances.
Sources of Knowledge: Instinct, Intellect & Intuition
The program encourages young people to recognize three complementary Sources of Knowledge:
Instinct refers to goal-directed, innate patterns of behavior that are not the result of education or experience. Instincts help us survive and respond to basic needs. These are planted deep within the unconscious mind.
Intellect is the power of knowing, distinguished from feeling or willing; it is the capacity for rational thought, using logic and reasoning. This Source of Knowledge is learned knowingly through study or practice and can be utilized by the conscious mind.
Intuition is the ability to understand or know something without conscious reasoning, this Source of Knowledge is typically accessed unknowingly. I believe this knowledge is activated in our subconscious mind through observation.
By balancing instinct, intellect and intuition, participants learn to make well-rounded decisions that honor both their rational mind and their inner wisdom.
Elements of Our Psyche: Id, Ego & Superego
Sigmund Freud’s structural model of personality distinguishes three components:
The id is largely unconscious and is the source of basic drives and aggressive energy, operating according to the pleasure principle and seeking immediate gratification the Id’s drive assures us that our needs will be met providing contentment.
The ego develops from the Id to deal with reality; it balances the Id’s assurances with external constraints and operates according to the reality principle, mediating between Id and Superego to acquire what it is we want, believing we deserve to be happy.
The superego embodies internalized moral standards and ideals; it strives for perfection and includes the conscience and the Ego ideal to provide what it is we desire, good relationships with others. This is how humanity brings joy into existence.
Awareness of these parts helps individuals recognize internal conflicts and respond more mindfully rather than acting purely on impulses.
Obligations: Awareness, Challenge, Patience & Honor
Mindful living involves upholding certain Obligations:
Awareness—The American Psychological Association defines mindfulness as awareness of one’s internal states and surroundings and notes that mindfulness training teaches people to observe their thoughts and feelings without judging or reacting. Humanity has the Unique Ability to be consciously aware of our actions, feelings, and thoughts.
Challenge—A challenge is something difficult that tests strength, skill or ability. Humanity has been given the Unique Ability to freely choose what we would like to do, feel, or think next. Viewing life’s obstacles as challenges encourages growth.
Patience—The Cambridge Dictionary defines patience as the ability to wait or continue doing something despite difficulties, without complaining or becoming annoyed. Another source notes that patience involves enduring frustrating situations calmly and maintaining self-control. To learn how to utilize our Gift’s to their fullest potential requires us to be patient.
Honor—Honor involves high respect and adhering to right conduct or fulfilling obligations. For humanity, honoring our three Gift’s permits us to minimize the suffering we create for ourselves and others, as we learn how to love appropriately.
These Obligations remind participants to be present and respectful, to embrace difficulty as an opportunity, to be patient with themselves and others, and to act with integrity.
Agreements: Productivity, Peace & Purpose
backtothepresent encourages an Agreement with oneself to balance productivity, peace, and purpose:
Productivity is a measure of efficiency in converting inputs into useful outputs. backtothepresent teaches that without physical productivity we waste time and energy. Our productivity should be aligned with meaningful goals, not mere busyness. Our awareness of our physical Gifts permits us to direct our own productivity.
Peace is defined as a state of tranquility or quiet, freedom from disturbance or oppressive feelings, and harmony in personal relations. Our awareness of our feelings is the main offering of our emotional Gift. Cultivating inner peace helps individuals remain calm and centered amid challenges.
Purpose is an object or end to be attained—an intention or determination. Our awareness of our own thoughts permits us to utilize knowledge to fulfill purpose. A clear sense of purpose guides actions, feelings, and thoughts and helps people focus their Limited Resources on what truly matters.
By committing to productivity that supports their purpose and fostering inner peace, participants can maintain balance and provide the opportunity for presence and avoid burnout.
Intuitive Attributes: Emotions, Behaviors & Responses
Emotions strongly influence behavior and decision-making. Our emotions are complex combinations of feelings and thoughts, involving subjective experience, that provoke or entice behaviors. Because emotions can lead to automatic reactions, mindfulness teaches individuals to recognize the links between their feelings and thoughts.
Behaviors combine the thoughts that provoke our actions. These thoughts and actions precipitate become manifest through Observing emotions without judgement helps people choose more constructive behaviors instead of reacting impulsively.
Decision-Making: Impulse Control, Loving Intention & Implementation
Back to the Present recognizes decision-making as a deliberate three-step process that integrates many of the previous understandings. It begins with controlling impulses, then moves to setting a loving intention and culminates in implementing one decision at a time. Each stage draws upon the id/ego/superego model and the physical, emotional and spiritual gifts.
Controlling impulses (Physical Gift & Id). Our physical gift includes instinctual urges and impulses governed by the id. Left unchecked, these impulses can lead to reactionary decisions. Cognitive behavioural therapy, combined with mindfulness, teaches people to recognise cognitive distortions and triggers, use self-awareness to pause before reacting, and pre-plan responses using “implementation intentions”buildingblockstherapy.org. By managing their unconscious instincts and impulses, individuals can engage their conscious awareness of physical actions and freely choose what is necessary to meet their needs, thereby promoting contentment.
Setting a loving intention (Emotional Gift & Ego). The emotional gift involves our feelings and the ego’s role in mediating between impulses and ideals. Setting a loving intention means consciously identifying what matters and aligning actions with values rather than focusing on outcomes. The Calm blog notes that intention setting is a purposeful act that shifts the focus from goals to the quality of experience, guiding daily actions in line with one’s valuescalm.com. Mindful decision-making practices encourage a brief pause, allowing space for self-reflection and patience, which improves the quality of decisionskayekendrick.com. By setting intentions lovingly and engaging our intellect, we can guide our feelings toward meeting the wants of our emotional gift and bring happiness into our lives.
Implementing decisions one at a time (Spiritual Gift & Superego). Finally, the spiritual gift engages our superego and intuition to carry out decisions in alignment with our deepest desires. After pausing and setting an intention, the decision is implemented mindfully and individually to ensure it honours our values. Implementation intentions—pre-planned responses to specific scenarios—help solidify new habits and reduce impulsivitybuildingblockstherapy.org. By accessing intuitive knowledge and adhering to moral principles, we choose and implement actions one at a time that align with our deepest desires, cultivating joyfulness.
These three steps—impulse control, loving intention and mindful implementation—bridge the program’s critical understandings. They show how the id’s instinctual energy can be guided by the ego’s intentions and the superego’s moral compass to make thoughtful decisions that honour physical needs, emotional wants and spiritual desires.
Conclusion
Back to the Present frames mindfulness as a holistic practice that integrates various aspects of human life. By recognising their physical, emotional and spiritual gifts, managing limited resources like time and energy, and becoming aware of their actions, feelings and thoughts, young people learn to make conscious choices. Understanding needs, wants and desires helps them prioritize essentials while pursuing meaningful goals. Exploring different emotional states, knowledge sources and components of the psyche fosters self-understanding. Upholding obligations such as awareness, challenge, patience and honor, and balancing productivity, peace and purpose, enables participants to live intentionally. Finally, cultivating sensitivity to their emotions, behaviours and responses empowers them to respond to life with curiosity and compassion. These critical understandings, woven together by the Mindfulness Mantra, guide individuals toward a life that is more mindful, present and joyful.