Mindfulness is a term that most people have heard, but not many people can actually explain properly. It’s a psychological practice that focuses on being in the moment and observing the world without judgement. It has many potential benefits for emotional wellbeing and can be practiced with a little bit of guidance.
What is mindfulness?
Being mindful is about learning how to pay close attention to the present moment. This can involve being aware of your surroundings, or observing your own thoughts and emotions in the moment, without trying to control or judge them. It’s essentially like the opposite of being on autopilot and involves keeping your focus on what is happening around you and within you. Contrary to popular belief, mindfulness is not just about relaxation. However, this along with many other things can be a positive side-effect.
How can being more mindful help me?
There are a variety of benefits that people can gain from practicing mindfulness more often.
Less stress about painful thoughts
Mindfulness focuses on staying in the present moment, which allows us to be less preoccupied with both the past and the future. We can often become fixated or caught up in painful memories or anxiety about things that have yet to happen and mindfulness helps to rein us back from these thought patterns.
Help with observing the world
We can often be blinded by our urges and emotions and this can prevent us from getting a good look at the world around us. By being mindful, you can slow down to observe and explore the world with a curious mindset and see what’s happening for you in the present moment.
Lets us recognise more joy in life
We’re often too distracted by negative things to actually realise how much positivity we have in our lives. Mindfulness helps us to recognise moments of joy and fun so that we can savour them rather than let them pass by.
Improves emotional regulation
Over time, mindful practices have the potential to improve our abilities to manage our own emotions. Over time, they can rewire our nervous system in a way that makes us more resilient to intense and stressful situations.
How to practice mindfulness
There is no one perfect way to practice mindfulness. Some people like using a form guide like an audio or script to enter mindfulness while others prefer to just begin observing things around them. However, there are a few useful things that you can do that may help you practice mindfulness effectively. By using these tips, you can make sure you get the most out of your mindfulness experience.
Focus
Over time, mindful practices have the potential to improve our abilities to manage our own emotions. Over time, they can rewire our nervous system in a way that makes us more resilient to intense and stressful situations.
Observe
It’s important to try and observe the focus of our mindfulness practice with a strong sense of curiosity. A good way to think of it is to look at everything as though you were planning to explain to an alien that has just come from another world and has no frame of reference for our experiences.
Return
Often during mindful practice, we may get distracted by our thoughts and drift away from the moment. This is really normal! When you notice your mind has wandered, gently return it back to the focus of your mindfulness practice.
What can we direct our mindful attention to?
Broadly, mindfulness practice can be focused on the internal world or the external world. Understanding both of these can help you decide what you most want to focus on when engaging in mindfulness.
Internal world
The internal world involves things like our breath, our emotions and feelings, the physical sensations we detect in our bodies, and the thoughts passing through our minds.
External world
The external world refers to the things we can attune ourselves to in the world around us using our senses.This means the things that we can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell.
Remember! Mindfulness is a skill that, like learning a new instrument or getting good at a new sport, we need to practice to improve at.
At the start of your mindful journey, you might find it especially hard to get into a mindful zone. Just know this is OK! With time, dedication and patience, you will surely notice your mindful muscles begin to grow.
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