Mindfulness: Practical, powerful, effective. Here’s how.
We live in a fast-paced, technology-reliant world. It’s a great time to be in, but it comes with its own challenges too!
It’s easy to become anxious as we sit in our cars, stuck in traffic. Our blood pressure goes up, we begin to sweat, we curse and get angry. Accidents happen. We think that these are the worst things that could happen to us, but such things are almost always out of our control.
It’s hard to keep a cool head and remember something like that when you’re in the midst of stress and anxiety. That's where mindfulness comes in handy.
Where’s it from?
Mindfulness comes from the eastern religion Buddhism. It is, however, not exclusive to the religion and philosophy of it.
Many different religious groups do some form of prayer or meditation - It helps to calm an anxious mind! It allows the person to shift their mindset from immediate problems and lead them toward a more appreciative state of mind, and it enables a person to put the larger picture of one's life into perspective once again.
By being mindful, you make it easier for yourself to enjoy the pleasantries within your life, and it helps you to be more engaged and present within your daily activities. Most importantly, it helps you to deal with adversity.
Going back to the traffic scenario, being in a state of mindfulness will help your body to stay in a calm, cooler state. It’ll help to lower your blood pressure and remind you that the world isn’t going to end just because you didn’t get home ten minutes earlier!
Sounds good. What is it?
Mindfulness is focusing on the here and now. According to various studies, people who are practice mindfulness tend to find themselves less likely to experience anxiety and dwell on the regrets of their past.
As many social media users can attest to, it is easy to scroll through and see what your friends, co-workers, and family are doing. We compare their life to ours and often feel as if we’re living an inferior existence.
Mindfulness can help boost your self-esteem in this regard. It can also help you to form a deeper and more meaningful connection with other people. You begin to see them and yourself as separate people who are on different paths in life. You can learn to appreciate the differences and appreciate yourself for being the unique person that you are.
It’s about more than the mind.
Don’t be fooled by the “mind” in mindfulness. It’s more than just a mental thing - it helps to improve your overall physical health as well!
Experts have revealed to us that lowering your stress can lower your blood pressure, lower chronic pain, ease gastrointestinal difficulties you may be having, and even relieve heart disease.
How can I do it?
Practicing mindfulness can be done in quite a few ways and all help you to become more alert and present. It helps you to face your thoughts and to experience them in a non-judgmental manner. This opens your mental pathways to be able to reprocess the present as it's happening.
Consider starting with basic meditation.
Find a comfortable place to sit down. Close your eyes and focus on the natural rhythm of your breath. Your thoughts will come and go. Try to just let them be and avoid berating yourself for their presence.
The hardest part of being mindful is learning to let go of controlling your emotions. How many times have you felt a certain way, and you’ve told yourself to stop doing it and then you become even more frustrated? You get into combat with yourself and only add fuel to the proverbial fire.
Mindfulness is sitting and letting your emotions flow through you. By acknowledging the bubbling thoughts that rise to the surface – but not judging them – you will slowly see your brain calm its activity.
In time, your meditation will begin from an even more ‘still’ place – the goal of this practice. As you regularly repeat your mindfulness meditation, you’ll come to experience the benefits you enjoy during meditation throughout your daily life.
A great benefit for a better life.
What an interesting subject! Mindfulness is a modern, practical tool in your arsenal. With it, you’ll learn to live a better life.
We hope you found today’s Citrus blog useful! Be sure to check back again for more useful articles.