Although the concept of Mindfulness is thousands of years old, the demand for a practice that calls us back to the present moment may be even more significant today. With the advent of technology, you may notice an increased challenge to stay focused and present. While you may love the connectivity provided by social media and smartphones, you often feel your attention is fragmented. Adding constant stimuli to an ever-active, stressed brain may make you feel burned out, agitated, and emotionally reactive.
If you are grappling with mental health challenges like anxiety, depression, OCD, CPTSD, and ADHD, it is common to experience feelings of frustration, overwhelm, and a lack of control.
To increase balance and emotional well-being in our lives, Mindfulness has gained recognition as a transformative practice in many spaces. Practicing Mindfulness boasts improved emotional regulation, stress reduction, greater focus, and more self-compassion in coping with day-to-day scenarios.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the practice of non-judgemental awareness and observation of the present moment. You develop resilience and focus as you train your mind to stay in the present, observing your inner and outer experiences non-judgmentally.
How does Mindfulness help deal with mental health?
Enhanced Self-awareness: Mindfulness helps you become more aware and attuned to your thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations. As you notice the arising of these occurrences, you can observe them with non-judgment.
Emotional regulation: As self-awareness improves, you develop a better relationship with your emotions. Mindfulness allows you to observe and respond to emotions with greater clarity and less impulsivity and reactivity, prompting an overall emotional balance.
Stress reduction: Stress shows up when the demands of a situation exceed the available resources to meet them. As you develop a long “to-do” list in your head, it is impossible to stay in the present moment. As Mindfulness calls for complete focus on the present, you can decrease stress and develop healthier coping strategies.
Improved focus and concentration: As you practice Mindfulness regularly, you flex the muscle of your attention on the task at hand. Mindfulness helps develop the prefrontal cortex, the brain area involved in decision-making and execution of tasks.
Increased Well-being: Practices of Mindfulness such as the metta meditation: “May I be Happy, May I be Healthy, May I be at Peace,” help you develop a greater sense of well-being by promoting self-acceptance, gratitude, and a greater connection to the present moment.
Better Relationships: Mindfulness helps improve your emotional intelligence. When you are more aware of your emotions and can watch them non judgmentally, you can observe them without reacting immediately. Less stress and reactivity translate to more relaxed and calm responses. Mindfulness also helps develop more presence around others, allowing you to give them your full attention, making them feel important and cared for.
What techniques can I use to practice Mindfulness?
There are many different exercises to practice Mindfulness, such as meditation, breath awareness, body scans, or engaging in everyday activities with full attention. Any task done with the idea of Mindfulness will help to develop your focus on the present moment, free from distractions and preoccupations.
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