Mindfulness seems to be all the rage these days. It seems to have gained popularity in recent years and I cannot say enough positive things about it! It is something that I personally practice daily and something that I preach and teach to my clients.
You may have heard of mindfulness, but what exactly is it? Simply said, mindufulness is the practice of being present, in the current moment, in a non-judgemental way. But what exactly does this mean? When we are practicing mindfulness, we are putting in the effort to be present, in the current moment. It means taking the time to be aware and notice what is going on, both within you and around you. When we are practicing mindfulness, we want to notice what we are feeling, both emotionally and physically. What emotions are arising within us? Are we happy, sad, content, surprised, disgusted, or quite possibly, we are experiencing a mixture of emotions, some of which can even be in contrary to each other.
We also want to take the time to notice the bodily sensations we are experiencing. Is my heart racing, am I experiencing tension or pain in my body, do I feel hot or cold? When we are practicing mindfulness, we also want to notice our surroundings. One way to go about doing this is by using, or rather noticing, our 5 senses. What do I see, hear, smell, taste, and touch? Is my sweater soft and cozy, or it it itchy and rough? Can I hear the birds chirping, the faint sound of a dog barking, or the joyful squeals of a toddler playing, with no cares in the world? When we are practicing mindufulness, we want to be fully present and aware of what we are doing. It is a great idea to put your phones down for an hour while you play with your child or talk with your friend. We went to become completely immersed and absorbed in what we are doing, and let all other thoughts and distractions fall away.
Another key aspect of mindfulness is experiencing the moment WITHOUT judgement. We want to notice what is happening without attaching any sort of judgement to it. As opposed to judging the moment or our feelings, and labelling them as positive or negative, good or bad, we want to just accept everything as it is. Say we're experiencing pain, we want to notice the pain as purely a sensation, without attaching a negative label to it or allowing ourselves to become frustrated or angry with its existence. We just want to notice and accept it as a sensation we're experiencing.
According to the American Psychological Association, mindfulness has a whole host of benefits. It helps to reduce rumination (which is when we repeatedly think about something, usually a negative event or occurrence) and stress, it increases our working memory and our focus, and it lessens our emotional reactivity. Furthermore, mindfulness has been shown to increases cognitive flexibility, which, among other things, allows us to be more self aware and self observant, allows us to better cope with stressful and negative events, and allows us to recover faster, and to essentially feel better quicker, after we have been provoked in a negative manner. The APA has also found evidence that mindfulness leads to an increase in relationship satisfaction, as well as a number of health benefits, including an increase in immune functioning and overall wellbeing.
Meditating is a great form of mindfulness. There a many apps or free YouTube videos that lead you through guided meditations. Even just turning on some calming music or nature sounds, and clearing your mind or focusing on your breath is a great way to accomplish a state of mindfulness. Start in small increments, say 5 minutes a day, and build your way up, slowly increasing your meditations or periods of mindfulness as you become more comfortable in the art of losing yourself and calming your mind.
The more you can practice and be in a state of mindfulness, the more present you will be in the here and now, the calmer you will feel.
Davis, D. M., & Hayes, J. A. (2012). What are the benefits of mindfulness. A wealth of new research has explored this age-old practice. American Psychological Association.