What is Mindfulness?
We’ve posted a few times about mindfulness so I thought it would be useful to explain a bit more about what it’s all about and why it’s important for maintaining good mental health.
Mindfulness is a way of paying attention to where you are, what’s going on and how you’re feeling in the present moment without judging it.
All too often we are doing a million things at once, with a million thoughts in our heads and the result is feeling quite stressed and overwhelmed. Mindfulness is a state of awareness that allows us to take a step back from the overwhelm and refocus ourselves so we can take a more helpful course of action than spiralling into negativity. The key to mindfulness is to bring ourselves back into the present moment and focus on something without judgement or self-criticism.
The way to achieve this level of awareness is through practice. Taking a few minutes every day will, over time, help you to become more skilled at stepping out of the negativity and refocusing on the here and now. Eventually with enough practice, the negativity will be a harder place to find.
How do I ‘do’ mindfulness?
If I say the word ‘meditation’ to you, what comes to mind?
Perhaps you have an image of someone sitting crossed legged on the floor chanting for hours, or maybe you saw the word and thought ‘urgh, what a load of nonsense!’ I invite you to notice those thoughts and how they made you feel and instead of going with them and clicking away from this blog…… keep reading instead…..this is Mindfulness, it’s a type of meditation. You’re already noticing how you’re feeling and staying in the present moment.
Mindfulness can be done in a lot of different ways. It’s important for you to find the best way that works for you. Here’s a few to try:
Just notice for a second how you’re feeling in your body.
As you’re reading, take a slow breath in to the count of 4
1……2……3……4.
Hold it for a second.
Slowing breathe out for 6.
1……2…...3…….4…….5…...6.
Repeat a couple of times.
If you notice your mind wandering off, just notice that it’s gone and bring it back to being aware of how you’re breathing.
Did you notice you were thinking that this feels silly maybe, that’s okay, just notice that and come back to your breath. Did you notice that your breathing felt a bit weird when you paid attention to it? That’s okay too, it is what it is, no judgement.
Here’s another one:
Pause for a moment wherever you are reading this and tune into what you can hear around you right now…… the sound of the fridge humming, the sound of distant traffic, the sound of birds in the trees outside, the sound of the cat meowing downstairs.
Just accept the sounds that are there, notice without judging the constantly hungry cat or worrying if the fridge always sounds like that. Just sit and listen for as long as you want.
Notice how it makes you feel? Has anything changed in your body…. maybe your breathing has slowed down? Maybe you feel less tense? Maybe no change at all, that’s okay too.
Great work!! You already meditated twice today!
Here’s my final example but you’ll need to go put your shoes on for this one:
Go outside! (somewhere in nature if possible).
Notice all the things you can see, the colours of leaves, grass, flowers and the landscape, the light and shade in the trees, the different types of trees and flowers and wildlife around you.
Notice all the things you can hear, the wind through the trees, the sound of people nearby, the sound of any birds around.
Notice all the things you can feel, the texture of leaves, the feel of the ground under your feet as you stand and how the ground feels as you walk, the temperature of the air on your skin, the feeling of your clothes against your body.
Don’t judge it, just notice.
Report back, tell us how it felt and what you noticed.
So why is mindfulness important?
There’s lots of scientific research gone into understanding why mindfulness is good for us. Here’s some of the findings:
Improved emotional regulation: As we become more aware of what’s going on for us, we become more able to disrupt unhelpful patterns of thoughts and behaviours and take more helpful action. This means we become less reactive, less stressed and can feel less anxious and depressed in the longer term.
Improved memory: Feelings of stress and overwhelm can prevent us from remembering everyday things like where you left your keys or if you locked the car door/turned your hair straighteners off/blew out the candle before you left the house. Being more present, on purpose will help you to remember and as a result, worry less.
Improved attention: In a world of a million disruptions, notifications and sensory overload, it can be easy to become distracted. Mindfulness practice can improve your skills in focused attention. The more you practice mindfulness, the longer you will be able to practice it for and the longer you will be able to stay focused on other things as a result.
Improved relationships: We are often not present with the people we love because we are pulled away into negative thinking, mentally planning for future activities and worrying. Mindfulness practice will help you to be more present, on purpose, with the people that matter most and your relationships (and sex lives) will improve as a result.
Improved physical health: There’s a lot of research that says mindfulness can have a positive effect on chronic pain, fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. By refocusing our attention outside of our bodies (and the pain/difficult symptoms), we are likely to notice symptom relief.
Mindfulness is like exercise; it takes time to see improvements or changes. The research tells us that as little as 15 minutes a day for 8 weeks can bring about positive changes like those outlined above.
A final note: Mindfulness isn’t for everyone, and it isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ approach. It can be used as a standalone treatment but there is a lot of research indicating it’s increased effectiveness when it’s used alongside therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Speak to an accredited Therapist, please click the link below to get in touch and book an assessment.