A Little About Mindfulness That’ll Go A Long Way
Mindfulness might be a word that you’ve heard thrown around here and there on social media, but WHAT DOES IT MEAN?? Mindfulness is a form of meditation, but it isn’t the typical “sitting-cross-legged-with-eyes-closed-and-saying-ohm-while-finding-peace” type meditation we often imagine. Instead, mindfulness is practicing being fully present in the current moment without judgment. Mindfulness means spilling a drink and not feeling angry or cursing at the spilled beverage, but rather focusing on taking a breath and not viewing the accident as ‘good’ or ‘bad’...it just ‘is’.
Rewinding back a little bit here…notice I said PRACTICING mindfulness:
Practice Makes Progress (Not Perfection)
Mindfulness is not something that will come naturally if you’re used to having anxious reactions. To put it simply, you can think of mindfulness as the opposite of anxiety. So if you’ve spent most of your life feeling anxious, it will take some time to learn how to react differently.
What are some benefits of practicing mindfulness?
You will be more attuned to your daily life. This is actually related to the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, meaning that once you place value on something in your life, you start recognizing it in more places. It may seem like it is new, but usually it was there all along. For example, “the red car syndrome” has been studied using the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon: People who purchased a new red car, started seeing red cars everywhere they went. But, if someone bought the same car in a different color, like green, they began noticing green cars everywhere. What this means for you: Once you take time out of your day (value) to dedicate to being mindful, for even a few minutes, you begin to see the world through a different lens (red car).
You will feel less anxious. This one seems like a no-brainer; the whole reason you’re looking at this is to feel less anxious! But it is true. If you pause, breathe, and stop labeling everything in life as ‘bad’, or even ‘good’, you can live in the moment and not worry about the ‘what ifs’ of the future. To put it simply, you can’t be anxious in a calm body.
You will learn more about how the mind and the body are one. The brain IS the body and the body IS the brain. They are one in the same. Mindfulness requires recognition of this concept and learning how to identify the effects each has on the other.
You will sleep better. When you are being present and not anxious, your body will remain calmer, which will make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep at night. A great representation of how the mind and body impact one another!
You will be able to think more clearly and maybe make decisions easier. When you are being mindful, you are thinking about the here and now, not the million things that ‘could’ or ‘should’ happen, nor beating yourself up for past decisions.
Now you know a little more about what mindfulness is and its benefits, but HOW do you do it? Here is an EASY STARTING POINT for mindfulness practice:
Step 1: Pick one activity you do regularly that you don’t really pay attention to. This can be washing dishes, folding laundry, brushing your teeth…the things you do frequently during which your mind wanders. Because if you’re anxious, your mind is wandering towards the anxious thoughts! Identify your activity. Make sure within a week you can do that activity most of the seven days.
Step 2: Do the chosen activity. When you are doing it, focus on your five senses: Sight, touch, sound, smell, and taste. Of course, depending on the chosen activity, you may not be able to use all of your senses. After all, I definitely don’t want you eating dish bubbles!
Step 3: Reflect on what the mindfulness activity was like for you. What did you notice? Did you recognize an emotional change? A change in your physical reactions? What can you continue to do to practice mindfulness?