Mindfulness is the ability of being aware and focusing on your thoughts completely in the present moment. It is about being engaged in the present moment and paying attention to your surroundings, your body and breathing without interpretation and judgment. Mindfulness is considered a type of meditation that can help relax your mind and body, calm any restlessness or anxiety. Our mind can often feel so cluttered because of an overload of information, thinking about our tasks, responsibilities, overthinking and processing negative or unresolved emotions. It becomes quite overwhelming and exhausting for a person leading to a lack of focus, stress and anxiety. Practicing mindfulness can help center ourselves and make our thoughts feel more balanced.
How to be Mindful?
Breathing exercises are a great way to practice mindfulness. Taking slow deep breaths is the easiest way to quell some of the stress you are holdingin your body and mind. Taking a slow deliberate inhale through your nose and a long exhale through your mouth sends a signal to your brain that you are safe and you can calm down. Whenever you feel anxious or stressed in a situation, regulating your breathing can help you feel less nervous or frazzled and also helps you think better to find a solution.Focus on Breathing:
Practice Gratitude:
Celebrating the positives of our lives can be extremely good for our emotional well-being. Practicing gratitude means to think about everything we are thankful for in our lives be it supportive family and friends, having a home or just something good that has happened to us recently. Instead of complaining about things that we don’t have or situations that are not under our control, we should be focusing on what good things we do have and how grateful we are for it. Celebrating small achievements and finding happiness in little things in life can make us have a more positive and less stressful outlook on life.
Journaling:
Writing down how you feel in a journal can be a cathartic experience. By writing your feelings and thoughts can help you recognize your emotions and help you understand and process them better. You may be able to see a problem from a different perspective once your emotions are not overwhelming you and find an appropriate solution. It is an intentional way of being present with your thoughts and current experiences.
Meditation:
Mindful meditation can be quite challenging and difficult because it requires you to observe all your thoughts without judgment and being completely involved in them. You have to slow down your breathing and focus on the sensation of your breath moving through your body, scan your body for any stress or pain and let ay thoughts that come to your brain pass through without judgment. It is okay if your thoughts starts wandering too much just bring attention back to your breathing. Meditation takes practice and patience. Choose a peaceful location and a comfortable seat to practice mediation so you are not easily distracted. This will help settle and clear your mind. Mindful meditation gets rid of the stream of thoughts that’s cluttering your mind after processing them and helps your mind and body feel more relaxed.
Mindful eating:
Sometimes we are in the habit of watching something on the television or phone while eating. We don’t pay attention to if we are chewing properly or what our food tastes like and such distractions are not good for our health. Being mindful of what and how we eat can help digest our food better and makes our body feel healthier. Practicing mindfulness can be hard because it requires focus and patience. Sometimes we have to confront emotions and criticisms that we are not comfortable with and constantly need to redirect our attention to the positive aspects of life but once mindfulness is mastered, there are several benefits to it. It reduces stress, anxiety and improves quality of life. Research has show that mindfulness can also improve cognitive abilities and improves immune response. It always gets easier with practice.
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