How Mindfulness Could Save Your Life by Preventing A Fall

Being mindful means making better decisions

Polina Kuzovkova for Unsplash+

This is a stupid article, isn’t it?

Of course, mindfulness can prevent falls. Everyone knows that, you might say.

Sure, you know it when you’re in your armchair reading about it. But do you remember it when you’re crossing the street or deciding to walk up a dangerous staircase?

Do you remember in the heat of the moment?

That is the question.

Rehearsing mindfulness in a daily practice helps you remember it in the rush of your life.

He was 74 and decided to climb the stairs in a house under renovation, on which the balustrade was not yet installed. On the way down, he tripped, fell, and died instantly.

Peter was one of my massage clients. I used to give him a shiatsu massage every Saturday. He was in excellent health, wealthy, single, and well-loved by his friends and family. That accident was a tragedy that didn’t need to happen.

Why didn’t he stop, look, and decide that the unfinished staircase was unsafe and not go up? If he had, he’d probably be alive today, 13 years later at 87.

One simple decision — one tiny moment would have saved Peter. With the deepest respect to my old friend, I believe his fall was a lapse in mindfulness. If he had just stopped for a second, and... well, he didn’t.

Rest in peace, Peter.

What is mindfulness

Mindfulness is looking both ways before you cross the street. It’s paying attention.

It takes mindfulness to drive a car, eat lunch, talk to somebody, write an email, or make breakfast. We need to be mindful when we do these things, or we wouldn’t be able to accomplish them at all.

But a closer look reveals that we are not fully there when we do them — our minds are somewhere else. While we’re cracking our breakfast eggs, we’re worrying about our finances. A photo would show us preparing breakfast, but would not show our absent minds.

Mindfulness originates with the Buddha, in his first teaching after enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path, which his monks follow to liberate themselves from suffering and achieve enlightenment.

Mindfulness is being purposefully aware, without judgment, of what’s happening in your mind, your body, and your environment in the present moment — this is what meditators do on their cushions.

Although I have been practicing Zen for 25 years, I didn’t start meditating daily until I was 75 (six years ago), and it blew my life wide open. Not in the sense of enlightenment, but Daily meditation began to soften me and change me in important ways.

It resulted in improved concentration, better attention span, and less stress, anxiety, and worry. And I didn’t have to perform any special techniques in order to bring about the improvements. They slowly manifested from my simple daily practice of being aware, without judgment, in the present moment.

What I do

I sit quietly, aware of the room around me, my body, and my feelings, without judging them. The without judgment part is key — I just notice what’s happening within me and outside me, without layering my thoughts on top.

Anyone can do this, whether you’re sitting formally on a meditation cushion or in a comfortable chair by the window, having a cup of tea. Just notice what’s happening in and around you without judging it.

When I notice my mind has wandered off somewhere, I bring my attention back to my body. I’ll do this many times in 30 minutes. My thoughts are clouds, and I’m just watching them float by.

You can do this too, meditating casually, looking out the window. When your thoughts wander, bring them back. Who’s to say that’s not meditation? And if you do it regularly, you’ll realize you can also do it in line at the grocery store, at the airport, or in conversation with a friend.

You can just BE in those situations without pulling out your phone to distract yourself from the reality around you. And when your mind wanders, you’ll bring it back to the task at hand. Mindfulness is being fully present in life.

Recent I came to a stop at a crosswalk and watched a young man cross the street in front of me while texting on his phone, and he didn’t take his eyes off his phone the whole way. I wanted to yell out my car window, WAKE UP!

Facts about falls from the AARP

For adults 65 and older:

• Falls are the leading cause of injury and injury-related death.

• More than 95 percent of hip fractures are caused by falling.

• Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries.

Source: CDC

How to avoid accidents and falls

My number one fear as an older adult is the fear of falling. A fall to the sidewalk that a young skateboarder would find mildly annoying could send me to the hospital. The same goes for an auto accident or a bicycle fall.

Recently, on vacation, I had the opportunity to hop on a bike and take a little ride around an RV camp, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I knew if I fell off the bike, I could injure myself severely. I have decided that riding a bike is just another one of those fun activities I need to give up. This is my decision, based on my age and the shape I’m in.

Was that fear of bike riding an irrational fear? Maybe getting on a bike again would rid me of that fear, a part of me says. But my mindful self knows that if I fall, I’ll injure my hand or arm trying to break the fall, and incur more injuries when my body hits the asphalt. If my head hits the road and I’m not wearing a helmet, it’s deadly serious.

To quit bike riding is my decision. I know there are people out there in their 80s right now, riding their bikes and having fun. But everybody is different, and this body is not getting on a bike anymore.

Better decisions

Once in my tai chi class, the teacher was demonstrating some self-defense moves. And I asked him, But what if you meet a robber in a dark alley and he pulls a gun on you? What good are these self-defense moves then?

A tai chi teacher wouldn’t walk down a dark alley, he replied.

And a mindful person will not ride a bike if their intuition is telling them it might be unsafe. A mindful person will not walk up a staircase that doesn’t have a banister. A mindful person doesn’t care what anyone else thinks about what they should or shouldn’t do. A mindful person makes decisions based on reality on the ground, not solely in the thoughts in their head or what someone else tells them.

Mindlessness has consequences. In 1967, in the Air Force in the Philippines, I went to the firing range for my yearly evaluation and forgot to put on the ear protectors, and now, almost 60 years later, I still suffer from tinnitus — because of that bad decision.

Being mindful means making better decisions. Deciding not to walk up a particular staircase that looks dangerous, even if everyone else you’re with is doing it. Mindfulness is deciding to take the elevator. Mindfulness is deciding not to jaywalk. Mindfulness is not using your phone while walking.

Mindfulness is deciding not to get into a political argument in a bar or flip the bird at someone from your car. Mindfulness results in better decisions because your mind is clear and calm.

It could save your life.

Gary
May 2025