Reasons why mindfulness is so important by Sylvie and post script by Toni Star

 

Why mindfulness is important may seem obvious once you understand what mindfulness is. Don’t be fooled! Many people use the words mindfulness and meditation interchangeably. Meditation is a mindfulness tool but is NOT mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of purposely setting your attention on something. For example, it can be an object, your surroundings, your feelings, a person, or the sensations in your body.

Why Mindfulness Is Important

Mindfulness is about calming your mind and living in the present moment. However, you will experience many life-changing benefits from becoming more mindful.

1. Mindfulness Improves Your Well-Being

As you become more mindful, your satisfaction with life grows because you improve your physical and mental well-being.

Physical Well-Being

Being more mindful enables you to use your mind’s power to be healthier. For example, you will learn to make better food choices as you become mindful of how your body reacts to poor food choices. You will learn to pay attention to your hunger cues and stop eating when you are full. Your body talks to you. Learning to listen will promote your physical well-being. Furthermore, the state of your mind impacts your body. Specific emotions (e.g., anger, sadness, embarrassment) can be linked with particular health outcomes (e.g., cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disease).

Mental Well-Being

Practicing mindfulness can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression.

 

2. Mindfulness Teaches You to Enjoy Life

You can learn to enjoy life again using mindfulness. As you practice living in the present moment, you take in everything and make the most of your time. Here are some ways to practice this:

·        Pay attention: Practice listening to others with more intention. Open your mind without judgment.

·        Rediscover the old: Look at your familiar surroundings and find something new you never noticed before.

·        Remember to breathe: As you draw your attention to your breath, you will often notice that it is shallow. Take a few cleansing breaths.

·        Lift your chest proud: Most walk around, never noticing our stance. Lift your chest, and feel tall and proud.

·        Listen to your senses: Take a moment to absorb sounds, colors, smells, and sensations.

 

3. Mindfulness Enables You to Be Truly Present for Others

When you learn to become mindful, you absorb each moment with those you love. You are more present for them, you pay attention to their conversation, and remember what matters most. You learn to eliminate distractions and create meaningful interactions.

4. Mindfulness Changes Your Brain

Did you know that mindfulness has the power to modify your brain’s structure? Mindfulness practices like meditation can reduce age-related brain degeneration and improving cognitive functions. You can change your brain’s neural pathways using mindfulness as you practice creating new thoughts. Moreover, neuroimaging studies have demonstrated structural changes in many brain regions relating to paying attention and regulating your emotions when people practice mindfulness.

5. Mindfulness Helps You Regulate Your Emotions

Besides improving your overall mental well-being, mindfulness can be a powerful tool to regulate your emotions. This doesn’t mean not experiencing certain emotions. Rather, it means developing a certain self-awareness to notice your emotions and become curious about their meaning. This awareness then enables you to self-regulate.

Avoidance, suppression, and rumination are associated with anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. On the other hand, acceptance, attention, and intention lead to the decreased mental proliferation of other negative emotions (which leads you to ruminate on your emotions).

 

Written by a woman named Sylvie, fitness trainer and holistic coach

From a Christian point of view, mindfulness can be especially helpful when it comes to lowering anxiety and depression because it helps you to focus only what is currently going on, instead of worrying and feeling anxious about tomorrow or next week. When you focus only on the present, your brain only deals with what is currently going on. Anxiety and depression can enter the brain when you worry about what is coming up. So, to lower the anxiety and depression, focus only on what is going on in the present.

Think about it! You and I only have what is currently before us. We don't have the rest of the day, tomorrow, the following days, next month or next year. This is not fatalistic thinking; it is the truth! So, put away the worries of tomorrow, next month or next year. Focus only on now! By doing this you will be happier and your anxieties about the future will be smaller, more manageable and you will enjoy the hours and days that God gives to you! 

God Bless and be happy!