Why do mindfulness

Above all, mindfulness practice involves accepting whatever arises in your awareness at each moment. It involves being kind and forgiving toward yourself. Gently redirect. If your mind wanders into planning, daydreaming, or criticism, notice where it has gone and gently redirect it to sensations in the present.

Try and try again. If you miss your intended meditation session, simply start again. By practicing accepting your experience during meditation, it becomes easier to accept whatever comes your way during the rest of your day. In addition to formal meditation, you can also cultivate mindfulness informally by focusing your attention on your moment-to-moment sensations during everyday activities. This is done by single-tasking—doing one thing at a time and giving it your full attention.

As you floss your teeth, pet the dog, or eat an apple, slow down the process and be fully present as it unfolds and involves all of your senses. If mindfulness meditation appeals to you, going to a class or listening to a meditation tape can be a good way to start. In the meantime, here are two mindfulness exercises you can try on your own.

A less formal approach to mindfulness can also help you to stay in the present and fully participate in your life. You can choose any task or moment to practice informal mindfulness, whether you are eating, showering, walking, touching a partner, or playing with a child or grandchild. Attending to these points will help:. The effects of mindfulness meditation tend to be dose-related — the more you do, the more effect it usually has. Most people find that it takes at least 20 minutes for the mind to begin to settle, so this is a reasonable way to start.

But you can get started by practicing the techniques described here for shorter periods. Cookie Policy. What are the benefits of mindfulness? How does mindfulness work? Cultivate mindfulness informally In addition to formal meditation, you can also cultivate mindfulness informally by focusing your attention on your moment-to-moment sensations during everyday activities. Invest in yourself The effects of mindfulness meditation tend to be dose-related — the more you do, the more effect it usually has.

You are better able to relate with others, engage in various activities fully, and gain full benefits from them. Moreover, it helps you have fewer worries about the future and regrets about the past. It also reduces overthinking and racing thoughts that keep you from seeing things realistically. This and other benefits you get from it as a whole enhance your well-being.

As you gain control over your thoughts and feelings and get better at reacting to them, you get to build your character in the process, as doing that eventually becomes a positive habit. Also, you can recover from tough situations much faster than you did before, which makes you stronger and in better control of the direction of your life and even how you relate with others.

Mind-wandering and thoughts of tiredness are known to cause less productivity in the workplace, school, and even at home. Also, feeling exhausted after a few minutes of work makes you want to take a long break. Mindfulness helps you become aware of these aspects that reduce your performance when they start creeping in and you get to respond to them in an uplifting way that will help you keep going on with the activity.

By being aware of both your inner and outer experiences, you get to discover more about yourself and your environment, as well as others. This, in turn, helps you understand how to deal with various problems you face as a person, how to make your environment better, and how to be a better friend, partner, and person in general.

Here are some of the most popular mindfulness techniques that you can work with to also boost your level of mindfulness:. Mindfulness meditation is one of the best ways to learn how mindfulness generally works — you get to experience it and start cultivating it in your life slowly. Essentially, this meditation helps you to become aware of your thoughts, feelings, emotions, and sensations as they arise within you.

It starts by being aware of your breath and then other parts of your body, as well as your immediate environment. As a beginner, guided meditation really goes a long way. This is a form of training that makes use of mindfulness to help participants become more aware of the present moment and be able to manage stress, depression, and anxiety, and how they react to it.

It was created by Jon Kabat Zinn and involves 26 hours of session time. This is a good way to learn about and practise deeply mindfulness in relation to other areas of your body. This is a form of therapy that works with meditation, mindfulness, and cognitive therapy.

It helps the participants to break the negative thought patterns that get them into deep states of depression and gives them the chance to manage it well. This is a practice that involves doing a general body scan while paying attention to the thoughts and feelings that come up with each body part, without forming opinions or conclusions, you just remain aware of them.

This is another practice that many people sneak into their lives that helps with keeping them more aware. Mindful eating involves taking your daily meal while being aware of the activity of eating. You put your mobile devices away and stay away from the TV as well as any other things that would keep you from concentrating while eating.

This way you can be mindful of the taste of the food you are eating, how you chew, how you swallow, and everything else involved in eating without judging or making conclusions. Mindful walking is the same as mindful eating since you pay attention to the activity of walking. You take note of how you take each step and what you are thinking about as well as feeling as you do it. It is normally done in an open space or anywhere you feel you have a suitable environment to concentrate. After doing it for a long time, you can then do it as you walk to work or to other rooms in your house and any other time you are walking.

This involves observing yourself while you are in a state of rest. As you take your rest, you aim to be aware of the thoughts and feelings that manifest themselves without trying to interfere with them.

Thoughts come and go on their own, and you should just observe how that works without making an effort to change anything.

The practice helps you focus, relax, and become calm and mindful as well. The most recommended technique for building mindfulness is mindfulness meditation. This type of meditation, as mentioned earlier, helps you get acquainted with the general concept of mindfulness and you can get a feel for it. When you use guided mindfulness meditation resources like videos and audios, you are given a walkthrough of what you are going to experience, why you experience that, and how to work with it by the guide.

After you have used guided meditation well enough to understand how the practice works and how to do it, you can then proceed to do it on your own. Then you can do it frequently without taking long breaks. On top of mindfulness meditation, it is advisable to add other mindfulness activities to increase your level of mindfulness throughout the day.

You can choose two or three mindfulness techniques from the list above, those that you feel are a good fit for you, to combine with mindfulness meditation that you will work with for years to come.

Then you should also go ahead and reconsider your daily schedule and figure out where you can take some time to use these techniques to increase your mindfulness and make it a habit of doing them daily. Eventually, you should aim to be mindful from when you wake up to when you go back to sleep. That is mindfulness at its best. It will take time to get there, but it is more than possible with determination and persistence. It is normal, and with time you will get better. Now that you have learned how life-improving mindfulness can be, it is now your chance to make up your mind about it — follow the process you have learned here to begin working on it and making it part of your life.

David Oscar is the founder of IYBP and is always researching better ways to tap into the unused power of the brain and share them with the world. Practicing mindfulness also involves acceptance in that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judgement, meaning there is no right or wrong way to think or feel in a given moment.

While mindfulness has its roots in Buddhist meditation, it is now widely accepted as a stress management technique due to the many positive effects it has on the mind and body.

Mindfulness is used in a variety of settings including schools, prisons, hospitals, veteran programs, and beyond. Studies have shown that practicing mindfulness, even for just a few weeks, can bring a variety of physical, psychological, and social benefits.

Here are 10 reasons to incorporate mindfulness into your life. How to Practice Mindfulness There are many ways to practice mindfulness, but all techniques are various forms of meditation used to achieve a state of alert, focused relaxing. This is done by deliberately paying attention to thoughts and sensations without judgement.

This allows the mind to focus on the present. Here are some examples of how to practice mindfulness. Sources: HelpGuide. Mindfulness Classes Available for Employees and Students Health Promotion and Wellness offers free mindfulness classes for both students and employees over the summer and through out the academic year.

Classes meet once a week for four weeks. Each week participants learn a new mindfulness skill and practice using the concept. Classes are free, but registration is required. Space is limited and classes usually fill up.

Reserve your spot today online. Check out additional ways Health Promotion and Wellness can help you stress less. Additional student classes are also offered by Student Counseling Services during the academic year.