How Mindfulness can help improve your mood, stress levels, sleep & so much more.
The practice of mindfulness:
The practice of mindfulness has been around for centuries but it wasn't until the 1970’s when Jon Kabat Zinn began exploring the clinical applications of mindfulness at the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The studies of mindfulness practices has grown and researchers have studied the effects of mindfulness on our body, mental and emotional states.
What it’s mindfulness? According to Kabat-Zinn, “Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, onpuepose, in the present moment, nonjudgementally”.
Think of Mindfulness as:
Being Aware - awareness of what is happening, around us as well as internally within our bodies and our minds.
Paying Attention - Many assume mindfulness is a passive practice, but contrary to that, we are actively engaged by paying attention to whatever comes our way through our senses and our thoughts.
On Purpose - Choosing where to place your attention and keeping it there, on purpose.
In the Present - Only attending to what is happening now, in this exact moment.
Without Judgment - Looking at what is happening in the present moment in the objective way without attaching judgment to it. By temporarily suspending any prejudged ideas about how we think things are or how we think things should be, we employ non-judgment.
There are different ways to practice mindfulness. An usual way to practice mindfulness that can help us regulate our emotional states are deep breathing exercise, meditation (one of my favorite mindfulness practice). Research shown that belly breathing/abdominal breathing (diaphragmatic breathing) helps slow down our heart rate and shifts our brains away from our flight-freeze mode, thereby calming our emotional state. By learning to be watchful to the present moment and to sensations and feelings rather than thoughts, we can learn to relate to our feelings rather than thoughts and emotions as they come up, without judgment. We can increase our resistance of accepting the emotion and the thought that is present without attempting the emotion and thought that is present without trying to avoid it or fix it (usually tends to feel negative mood). With a less anxious mind, it will encouraged a good sleep. Deep breathing not only can promote relaxation in the mind but also in the body.
Remember mindfulness is purely paying attention (to something) on purpose in the present moment without judgment. It can be as simple as drinking your morning tea in silence, practicing in being present in the moment without distraction (cell, tv…). Be aware the sensation of the tea in your hand, feel the warmth in your hand, seeing the steam, smelling the aroma, enjoying the flavor of the drink. If you start to disconnect and thought starts to cross your mind, thank those thoughts and allow yourself to simply go back and enjoy the moment. Now is your turn to try it.
