Doubt, an opponent of the mindfulness practice

 "There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt, doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relationships. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills".  Buddha

About "being mode": "It helps you to step outside of your mind's natural tendency to over-think, over-analyse and over-judge"  from the book: Mindfulness. A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World.   Authors: Mark Williams and Danny Penman.

The following are just comments about the obstacle of doubt and its possible relation with "doing mode":

One of the obstacles when practicing mindfulness is doubt, after a while of practice and especially when you start personal practice without a facilitator and supporting audiovisual material. The mind makes all kinds of thoughts to be the owner of the moment. As soon as you choose an object of attention to meditate on and start, thoughts will come up like: "Am I really doing it right?", "Is this going to help me with my situation?". "I am not good enough at this" "I have been doing it for a long time and I do not really see results". Doubt takes any kind of disguise in the mind and is very convincing to make the participant think during the act of meditation that you're not doing it well, that is not enough, that it does not work. Doubt uses a very important ally in this task of convincing the practitioner to abandon the ship. 

The ally is the "doing mode". Doing mode seeks results, tries to get to a place, to meet a challenge, the "doing mode"deceives those who believe they are successful in their activities, first because it makes them believe that they are their activity, then it makes them believe that all situations in life have to be solved or resolved.  The "doing mode" was tattooed even in people's bones since they began their school years, classical education practices over and over again the idea that if you think about it, you solve whatever it is.

So when a person goes through a situation in life that involves emotions, feelings, mourning, depression, anxiety, etc. "doing mode" tries to solve what has no solution just by reasoning it out. These types of rational thought processes cause a lot of resistance and damage to people's mental health by practicing most of their lives only in the "doing mode" and in eternal doubt. Doubt creates a lot of resistance in the practitioner using just "doing mode".

The invitation of mindfulness is to balance the "doing mode" with the "being mode";  "the being mode" is practiced with mindfulness, it makes you realize the world of emotions, thoughts and sensations that happen through your mind-body in the present moment, and it gives you the space to "live" the experience and welcome it. With the obstacle of doubt, it is not fought, it is observed and transformed by realizing that you are not your thoughts. Many times labeling that thought when doubt comes, is a good way to realize the deception that mind is trying.

Another antidote to deal with doubt,  is to constantly remind participants as mindfulness facilitators that the only way to get it wrong is not to do the practice. There is no other way to do it wrong. As long as you dedicate a formal space and time to the act of meditating, you are already doing it right.

The attitude of trust that is also practiced in mindfulness supports us a lot also in the face of doubt, since by trusting the internal resources and the wisdom of the body, sooner or later with time and discipline the doubt dissipates. With sustained practice of mindfulness, you will notice when doubt visit you again. Doubt will even make you laugh when you realize is back. The simple mindfulness act that shows you that doubt is back and make you laugh, takes away the strength of the doubt and its a tangible expression that evidence that you are less identify with your thoughts.

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