Mindfulness – How It Can Benefit You
I’m surprised how many top performing people I know who practice Mindfulness. It’s about focusing our awareness on the current moment whilst calmly acknowledging and accepting immediate feelings thoughts and body sensations. Having spent time discussing mindfulness with Bhante Rewatha, who is Chief Monk of Great Britain (based in Maryhill, Glasgow which is more synonymous with TV detective dramas than Buddist temples!) simply it’s about being 100% in the present and not concerned about past issues or worrying about our future. I also know some highly effective people who have developed this state and might not call it mindfulness.
So what are the benefits of mindfulness?
- It clears the mind fog and allows clarity of thought in the present increasing our effectiveness
- It can reduce emotional exhaustion and improve job satisfaction. Here’s some heavy academic research:) Mindfulness at Work: A New Approach to Improving Individual and Organizational Performance
- It can reduce stress and improve health Neurobiological Changes Explain How Mindfulness Meditation Improves Health
- It can reduce chronic pain. I did and still do my own form of it to overcome phantom pain and it works. It’s simply about controlling our state, or putting it another way a form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Both work, here’s some research on back pain: Mindfulness may be effective for treating lower back pain
- It can be as good as drugs at preventing relapses of depression Mindfulness ‘as good as drugs for preventing depression relapse’
Never tried it before? Here are a few simple steps on how to do Mindfulness:
* Close your eyes and simply bring awareness to the present. Take a few deep breaths through your nose and let everything go. No judgements – it is what it is.
* Choose a routine activity like taking a shower, travelling to work, walking, etc. and focus completely on what you are doing moment by moment.
* Make a note of a pleasant event in your day. Were you aware of pleasant feelings at the time? How did it make you feel physically? What thoughts, feelings, moods did you have at the time?
* Breathing is life. It changes with our mood an it can act as an anchor to bring us to the present. Try this 3 minute breathing space and feel the benefit for yourself.