Mindfulness

What is mindfulness? Take a moment to stop. Notice how you are sitting, your posture. Be aware of your breath. Can you feel your body? Can you feel any pain? Are you calm or is your mind racing? Are you feeling tense or are you comfortable? Too cold, hot or just right? Are you thirsty or hungry? What are you feeling this very second? Happy? Sad? Relaxed? Bored or irritable?

This is what Mindfulness is about.

Mindfulness is about being in the moment, being completely in the now. About noticing this very second, how you feel, what you think and want. Without criticism or judgement.

It is about learning to notice everything in your body. your mind and your environment. From the grumbles in your belly, the traffic nearby, pain in your back or knee, the snoring of your dog, the birds in the trees, flowers in the park, the taste of that square of chocolate.

Mindfulness is about noticing everything in the moment.

It is about learning to focus your attention in the present, this very second, this very millisecond, NOW! It is about living in the present time. Reading this it sounds such a simple thing to do yet it is so difficult for many of us.

It takes practice, effort, decision. Something so simple can be very difficult to do. But in time and by making it a daily practice you will gain the skill.

Mindful.

Mindfulness is:

• about being present
• focussing on the now
• a way to calm your thoughts
• a very effective way to relax
• a way to release creativity
• it boosts physical and emotional health
• a way to gain empathy and compassion

Why be mindful?

Mindfulness practices can help us to increase our ability to regulate emotions, decrease stress, anxiety and depression. It can also help us to focus our attention, as well as to observe our thoughts and feelings without judgment.

Mindfulness therapy can treat depression and anxiety just as well as drugs

In the biggest ever scientific review of its kind into mindfulness, in 2016 The Oxford Mindfulness Centre went some way to proving that Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (MBCT) can have significant results in preventing relapse in patients with long-term depression. Through teaching meditative techniques, and encouraging patients to absorb and analyse their emotions without being controlled by them, they showed patients who engaged in the therapy were 23 per cent less likely to suffer an episode of relapse than those who didn’t, even if they stopped taking their antidepressants. This only serves to back up the work of the scientists who devised MBCT just over a decade ago.

Mindful Exercises

Mindful Breathing

This exercise can be done standing up or sitting down, and pretty much anywhere at any time. If you can sit down in the meditation (lotus) position, that’s great, if not, no worries.

Either way, all you have to do is be still and focus on your breath for just one minute.

1. Start by breathing in and out slowly. One breath cycle should last for approximately 6 seconds.
2. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, letting your breath flow effortlessly in and out of your body.
3. Let go of your thoughts. Let go of things you have to do later today or pending projects that need your attention. Simply let thoughts rise and fall of their own accord and be at one with your breath.
4. Purposefully watch your breath, focusing your sense of awareness on its pathway as it enters your body and fills you with life.
5. Then watch with your awareness as it works work its way up and out of your mouth and its energy dissipates into the world.

If you are someone who thought they’d never be able to meditate, guess what? You are halfway there already!

If you enjoyed one minute of this mind-calming exercise, why not try two or three?

 Mindful Awareness

This exercise is designed to cultivate a heightened awareness and appreciation of simple daily tasks and the results they achieve.

Think of something that happens every day more than once; something you take for granted, like opening a door, for example.

At the very moment, you touch the doorknob to open the door, stop for a moment and be mindful of where you are, how you feel in that moment and where the door will lead you.

Similarly, the moment you open your computer to start work, take a moment to appreciate the hands that enable this process and the brain that facilitates your understanding of how to use the computer.

These ‘touchpoint’ cues don’t have to be physical ones.

For example, Each time you think a negative thought, you might choose to take a moment to stop, label the thought as unhelpful and release the negativity.

Or, perhaps each time you smell food, you take a moment to stop and appreciate how lucky you are to have good food to eat and share with your family and friends.

Choose a touchpoint that resonates with you today and, instead of going through your daily motions on autopilot, take occasional moments to stop and cultivate purposeful awareness of what you are doing and the blessings these actions brings to your life.

Mindful Appreciation

In this last exercise, all you have to do is notice 5 things in your day that usually go unappreciated.

These things can be objects or people; it’s up to you. Use a notepad to check off 5 by the end of the day.

The point of this exercise is to simply give thanks and appreciate the seemingly insignificant things in life, the things that support our existence but rarely get a second thought amidst our desire for bigger and better things.

For example, electricity powers your kettle, the postman delivers your mail, your clothes provide you warmth, your nose lets you smell the flowers in the park, your ears let you hear the birds in the tree by the bus stop, but…

• Do you know how these things/processes came to exist, or how they really work?
• Have you ever properly acknowledged how these things benefit your life and the lives of others?
• Do you ever think about what life might be like without these things?
• Do you ever stop to notice their finer, more intricate details?
• Have you ever sat down and thought about the relationships between these things and how together they play an interconnected role in the functioning of the earth?

Once you have identified your 5 things, make it your duty to find out everything you can about their creation and purpose to truly appreciate the way in which they support your life.