Helping our patients to balance the judging versus the non judging mindfulness

I see many folks who have the belief that judging is a bad thing. Like most concepts and ideas, it can be good and bad depending on context.

Judging as a cognitive function is to “judge” data, thoughts, and feelings, in order to draw a conclusion and take action based on that. Without judgment, we will find it very hard to take action.

So what’s the “opposite”?

One can view mindfulness as the opposite of judging, where we try to view data, thoughts, and feelings without judgement in order to gain unbiased information for clarity.

Like the gas pedal and the brakes in a car, both are required to work together for better control.

Many folks are already familiar with judgement. Many patients I see are probably on “judgement overdrive”. It can be very emotionally and physically draining.

Hence, mindfulness is an important skill to attain, and when integrates well with our judging function, we can better regulate our thoughts and feelings.

It’s a balance of observing for clarity (mindfulness), and judging for action. A balance between the human being and the human doing perhaps.