Mindfulness is the practice of being fully aware of the present moment — not distracted, not dwelling on past hurts, definitely not worrying about what might happen in the future. Mindfulness keeps you grounded in the right here, right now. You don’t need to have achieved a state of blissful detachment to be mindful. Nor must you spend hours sitting cross-legged, meditating in silence.
Anyone can practice mindfulness. And you can do it anywhere, at any time. All it takes is commitment to detach from the stress and worry of monkey mind, giving your complete attention to what is happening in the present moment. The commitment to focus on your breathing and every aspect of what you’re doing. You might be preparing a meal, walking in the park, or commuting on the train. The ability to calm the mind is a fundamental part of meditation, but when you mediate you turn your focus inward.
We’re only just beginning to appreciate the many benefits of mindfulness and meditation. Studies have shown that with regular practice mindfulness can have long-lasting positive effects on your mental and physical health. Here are a few compelling reasons why you should incorporate mindfulness into your life starting today…
Physical benefits
- Decreased Stress — Scientists consider mindfulness a key element in fighting stress. In addition to decreasing cortisol, (a stress hormone), practicing mindfulness has an immediate impact on lowering blood pressure and heart rate. One study showed that practicing mindfulness cut heart attack risk by 50% in five years.
- Pain management — Mindfulness can help you deal with aches and pains, especially if you have a painful chronic disease like arthritis.
- Increased immune function — An increased immune function makes you better able to fight off common illnesses like the flu, and recover faster from illness, injury or surgery.
Mental benefits
- Mindfulness has been shown to increase the neural connections in the brain, improving brain function, memory, and decision-making.
- Mindfulness and meditation boost your attention span and capacity to focus and concentrate.
- It increases resilience and the capacity to deal with stress.
- It improves problem-solving and mental performance in stressful situations such as exams. One study showed that students who meditated before an exam performed better than students who didn’t.
- It slows down the progression of age-related cognitive disorders like Alzheimer’s Disease.
Emotional benefits
- Practicing mindfulness and meditation has been proven to dramatically reduce anxiety and depression, including postpartum depression, and enhance the effectiveness of psychological therapies.
- Mindfulness can have a powerful effect on changing a negative mindset and reprogramming your inner self-talk to be more positive and nurturing.
- It reduces feelings of loneliness.
- It improves your mood.
- It increases your capacity for empathy.
- People who practice mindfulness develop improved resilience.
- It enhances creativity.
