Learn to become mindful and how to use mindfulness techniques in your everyday life!
There is a lot of research which supports the benefits of mindfulness for our overall health and wellbeing. Mindfulness is an effective way for reducing stress, anxiety and to give us a greater feeling of calm and control in our life.
So what is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is "paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally." (Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Programme).
Or in other words, it's just being in the present moment, in the here and now, accepting, observing and non-judging. Being aware of our experience and being able to detach and witness our thoughts.
Mindfulness can be practiced outside a formal setting in our everyday experiences. Stopping throughout the day, having little mindful moments, already help us to detach, to step back, from our constant stream of thoughts and to quiet our busy minds. The aim of mindfulness is to learn to put a space between our thoughts and emotions and our observing mind to be able to respond in a more balanced way to everyday challenges.
Through mindfulness exercises we can learn to identify difficult emotions and feelings, frightening thoughts and anxiety and learn to deal with them in a different way by accepting them and learning that they will pass. Just like the weather, we can't control our thoughts but we can control how we respond to them.
Just practicing mindfulness for ten minutes a day is enough to feel more in control, mentally calm and stable.
