What Is Mindfulness?
We live in times where we are often require to perform multiple tasks at once, we need to look ahead and plan for whatever may come our way. Stress and anxiety are common in our day to day lives and sometimes it can be overwhelming and distracting, sometimes it might even lead to diseases (which whether physical or mental are both very real).
Mindfulness is something we can use to help us cope with stress and anxiety, but what is mindfulness and how can we practice it?
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.
You achieve mindfulness whenever you bring awareness to what you’re directly experiencing via your senses, or to your state of mind via your thoughts and emotions.
“The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner
workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes.” – mindful.org
How can we practice mindfulness?
1. Set aside some time. Even 3 minutes a day it’s a good start!
2. Observe the present moment as it is. You are not trying to “blank” your mind. You aim to pay attention to the present moment, your present thoughts, without judgement.
3. Let your judgement pass by. If judgement arises during practice, just notice it and let it pass.
4. Return to observing the present moment as it is. Your mind might tend to wonder and that’s ok. Mindfulness practice consists of returning again and again to the present moment.
5. Be kind to your wandering mind. Don’t judge yourself or feel like you fail if your mind wanders off, just recognized it happened, and gently bring it back to the present moment.
With a new year and a new decade creeping upon us, consider adding this to your self-care repertoire, it might take time to develop the skill. But it is human skills that we can all learn and it can do wonders for our minds and bodies.
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