What is Mindfulness and Can it Help Me?
Mindfulness is something we are always hearing about in 2019, but what is mindfulness and how can it help me? Let’s keep it simple.
What does it mean?
Most importantly, being mindful doesn’t require changing who we are, instead, it’s about developing and nourishing the best of who we can be while allowing our minds time to rest.
Mindfulness is simply giving yourself entirely to the moment you are in and enjoying it! In other words, mindfulness is about being present. This may sound ordinary and insignificant, but in our busy lives we spend so little time being present.
We spend our days preoccupied and thinking about what is behind or in front of us, never giving our mind a break. For this reason mindfulness is simple yet anything but ordinary.
For example consider the time we take to care for our material possessions. The effort and care we put into these items often takes a much higher priority than the time we dedicate to giving our minds the break that they deserve.
When we look at our lives this way it is easy to see why stress builds up.
Get Rid of Needless Stress
This is the first area where mindfulness can positively impact your life. Mindfulness cuts out needless stress. When our mind isn’t given an adequate break, it often takes control and we lose touch with our body. We then easily become lost in obsessive thought, which makes us stressed.
Mindfulness also helps:
Improve sleep
Enhance performance (in exercise and other activities)
Bring care and attention into more that we do
Gain insight and awareness into our lives
How can I care for my mind and give it a break?
For those just beginning to practice mindfulness it’s all about starting slowly.
Practice Being Present:
Notice where you tend to zone out and get consumed by thought. Is it when you’re driving, brushing your teeth etc? When you notice your mind wandering during these moments, practice bringing your mind back to what you’re doing.
Visualise bringing yourself back into your body and out of your mind.
Breathing:
Learning to focus on your breathing clears your mind of thought and gives your mind the break it needs. Attending yoga classes is a great way to practice this.
Meditation:
Meditation takes practice, and we understand it can be hard to completely clear your mind. However, as previously mentioned, every one of us has the capability to be present.
Luckily, to help in your mindfulness practice, there are countless apps and Youtube videos that offer beginners a way in to meditation.
Remember:
Anyone can exercise mindfulness, it’s a way of living that doesn’t require you to change who you are and the results are based in evidence. Look forward to being the best version of you.
