Mindfulness

WHAT IS MINDFULNESS AND WHY ARE PEOPLE talking so much about the benefits of it?

Mindfulness is becoming very popular and for very good reason.  So often we can get caught up in reminiscing about the past and worrying about the future, that we forget to live in the now.   Mindfulness helps up to do just that – live in the now.  In this way we are able to take in what is actually happening.  We observe, notice and even put words to what is happening.

By being able to do mindfulness we can stop being so reactive and start being more mindful.  This in turn helps us to become calmer, more centered and less reactive.  How many times have we found ourselves in a situation that we did not like and rather than just being mindful of what is happening, we start to let that event, person or situation dictate how we feel.  Often this causes us more problems and before we know it, the situation is being blown way out of proportion to the event.  What we need to learn is how to respond to things wisely rather than letting our emotions get out of control.

Being mindful does not mean you become a non thinker, non reacting person that just takes whatever life throws at you.  What mindfulness does is help us to become more aware of our thoughts, feelings and reactions and in doing so, helps us to chose more wisely how we think, feel and react to any given situation.

Mindfulness is a skill that needs to be learned.  Some people take to it like a duck takes to water, they just love it.  However, there are others that can mindfulness to be quite a difficult skill.  When someone is use to just doing things without really thinking about what they are doing, it can be hard to all of a sudden have to become mindful, aware, conscious of what is happening.

Therefore, it is useful to start off learning to do mindfulness slowly.  Start with doing a short exercise that lasts for a couple of minutes and continue to do that until you feel comfortable to move onto a longer session.  You will start to reap the benefits in no time.  Do not expect instant results but you will get results if you continue to practice.

Mindfulness exercises can be found via the internet, or a phone app.  One of the apps that you might like is called “Smiling Mind.”  There are others available, so do not limit yourself to just one, if you would like to see what else is available.