In our previous article we discovered that mindfulness can improve stress. But it can also improve your overall well-being. Being mindful helps you to stay present and enjoy life as it happens. You become a real part of activities and conversations. One of the most powerful ways to gain these benefits is to achieve mindfulness through meditation.
“By focusing on the here and now, many people who practice mindfulness find that they are less likely to get caught up in worries about the future or regrets over the past, are less preoccupied with concerns about success and self-esteem, and are better able to form deep connections with others.” helpguide.org
Mindfulness Protects Your Physical & Mental Health
Mindfulness doesn’t just reduce stress. It actually improves physical and mental health. We have discussed how mindfulness can lower blood pressure, reduce chronic pain and improve sleep. Recently, psychotherapists have started using mindfulness meditation as part of the treatment for substance abuse, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, and other conditions.
How does it work? Studies, some still underway, research the how and the why of mindfulness. Being aware and in charge of your emotions puts you in control of your emotions not the other way around. Some experts believe that it works by helping people accept their experiences. Remember mindfulness is not just being aware. Mindfulness is also not reacting. By being mindful, you observe what is happening and you accept the experience and let it pass, instead of responding with aversion, avoidance, or anxiety.
Mindfulness is a state of being. Meditation is one of the tools you can use to achieve it. There are several ways to meditate, from breathing to guided meditation and more.
Effective Meditation Techniques
Take a Break
Stop what you are doing and experience where you are. Experience what is around you with your seven senses. Look around and see in a new way. Breathe in the air. What do you smell? Listen to what is happening as you move through space. Feel the wind.
No matter where you are, you can take a break. Take 3-5 minutes to just experience where you are, smile and relax.
Take a Walk
Try “Purposeful Walking,” also known as mindful walking, an active mindfulness practice that requires you to be consciously aware while moving in the environment. Mindful walking is a meditation that is moving without a goal or intention. As you walk be aware of each step, aware of your thoughts, emotions, and your breath. The walking is the main focus. It is your space and your time to feel your breath, listen to your body and calm your mind. By doing so you can put your life in focus and allow you to prioritize what matters.
Find your Joy
Allow yourself to experience something you love. Watch the birds, listen to babies laugh, have a piece of chocolate and let the joy surround you. Find the joy inside yourself. Smile. Allow yourself to feel happiness whenever it comes your way. Live in the moment and bring accepting attention to what you do. Feeling happy is something that comes from inside, and can be found by looking inward with a view to discover happiness from within you.
Breathe, Breathe, Breathe
This can be done anywhere anytime to regain control of your emotions, stress, anxiety (and yes it can help with pain.) Just try to sit down, close your eyes and take deep breaths. Then focus on the breath as it moves in and out. Breathe again and focus on slowing down your breathing. Feel the air move in and out.
Guided Meditation
This practice needs a guide, but you do not need to find a Guru. Today apps and the advent of video calls have made guided meditation available to almost anyone, anytime, via both live sessions and recordings. Guided meditation can help with anxiety, depression, pain, and insomnia. Sessions range from 5 minutes to 30 minutes or longer.
Achieve Mindfulness Through Meditation
Mindfulness becomes easier with practice. Just like learning a foreign language, the more you practice the more fluent you become. If you aren’t fluent already, begin to practice mindfulness starting today.
This week if you know you might be in stressful situations (relatives, a big dinner with family and friends, uncomfortable conversations, etc.) make a secret plan to use mindfulness to control the stress. Take the dog for a walk. Go to the bathroom and breathe. Hug some babies. Find what works for you.
We can’t change or control everything swirling around us, but they don’t have to control us either. We can change the way we relate to those things by employing mindfulness through meditation .
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