Mindfulness: How It Helps Your Health
We all need attention and a long attention span to focus on a subtle subject.
Mindfulness means the practice of being present in the moment or being entirely aware of the present moment, not being absent-minded.
To reach that “moment,” it’s suggested that we try meditation. Most of us have a thought in our mind of a monk sitting in nature wholly lost in their divine or spiritual world. The truth, it’s just a stereotypical belief.
We can actually meditate while walking, while reading, while writing, while doing just everything that we’ve been doing, except sleeping.
Meditation is just training the mind to be in the present even if we’re not meditating. Using breathing is one of the things on which we can focus our minds because it’s with us in every present moment. This trains our mind to be in the present always.
If you believe in time traveling, you should know that our mind is a professional time traveler.
At one point in time, it’s in the present, and within split seconds, it’s in the past, and within minutes it’s in the future.
Whenever you realise that your mind is traveling, bring it back to the present. Initially, it might be challenging, but gradually you start being aware of the present. You actually begin being mindful by getting rid of past regressions and future tensions. You will start living an actual life.
Everyday life problems that you once found difficult now seem way easier. You might have been complaining about your low concentration during work time. Still, if you are aware of the present, there is no need to force concentrate on something. Because being in the present itself means concentrating. So that your work efficiency would increase exponentially, and you’d become more creative and productive.
We all must be wondering: how do we suppose to be in the present if our mind is continuously time traveling?
Be patient…
Patience is not an issue if you are meditating. We can use many different techniques to let go of thoughts and return to the present. Therefore, a simple breathing technique of meditation helps us reduce cortisol levels, a stress hormone.
According to the study result, meditation can boost the immunity system due to brain-function regions’ simulation.
For example, if you use breath counting or a mantra, you notice that you are thinking about other things, either concentrating on your breath. In this case, you would gently turn your attention back to your breath or your mantra. You will combat impatience, which signifies that you have gotten caught up in thoughts and are no longer being present.
Every time you feel impatient, meditating can be the best way to remind you to return your attention to what you are feeling and noticing now.
Meditation is a complete focus on the moment.
When you focus on what is happening now, there is no room in your brain to think about other things.
Patience comes with understanding. Understanding that things need time. It also requires accepting that things are uncertain. Translating this to mindfulness is not that hard:
- Take your time, but push for results
- Learn to be patient through breath, mantra, meditation, visualisation
- Outcomes are uncertain, remain the focus
- With consistency, results become more certain
- Learn to learn from mistakes
- Give up, and you will fail
“Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” — Buddha
I usually think of mindfulness as self-awareness. The most significant benefit to me is that it has given me the ability to take a step back and question my own thoughts.
Being mindful has opened me up to the beauty of the world. I started learning to appreciate the little things around me that benefited my mind hugely by making me happy. Mindfulness gave me a new control over myself and opened me to the world’s more profound experiences.
Lowering anxiety has long term consequences on our psychosomatic responses, emotional well-being, and interpersonal relationships.
“Long-term anxiety and panic attacks can cause your brain to release stress hormones on a regular basis. This can increase the frequency of symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, and depression.” — Effects of Anxiety on the Body. Medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, Ph.D., CRNP — Written by Kristeen Cherney
Experiencing short-term stress or anxiety force the brain to fuel the nervous system with certain hormones and chemicals to protect the organism from danger. Two famous examples are adrenaline and cortisol.
Stress hormones can affect much stronger mental and physical health in the long-term run. For example, adrenaline can cause frequent headaches by increasing activity of the heart that over time can lead to constricted arteries; long-term cortisol present in the blood can lead to weight gain.
The benefits of mindfulness are numerous for human health.
Despite that, mindfulness can help us enjoy activities. It certainly can make us more productive!
If we start training the mind to consistently let go of distractions, again and again, eventually we become less distracted and build a new healthy habit. Distractions are often a significant obstacle on the way to our goals, and it takes effort and practice to intentionally focus the mind.
Meditation that involves mindfulness plays an essential role in increasing creative thinking skills by reaching the brain’s Neocortex part. This part of the brain is crucial for stimulating your creative thinking, analyzing, problem-solving and other types of cognitive skills.
Meditation can also lead to self-awareness, which means you will be more aware of your strengths, weaknesses, virtues, and vices. Knowing yourself, you can create strategies that help you overcome your weaknesses and best utilise your strengths.
As you see, there are so many incredible benefits to practicing mindfulness to improve your general and mental health, with more being discovered all the time. Thanks to neuroscience, the scientific community is becoming much more aware of how the brain works.
Mental training practices such as mindfulness, just like going to the gym, work best to prevent and reduce health issues. It’s a vital component of self-care because it gives the space to check in with yourself at different moments. There are so many simple ways to center your thoughts and practice mindfulness anywhere, for example, by doing yoga or breathing exercises.
If you want to take the first steps to support a healthier and happier life, mindfulness and meditation are a great place to start.
Thank you for reading! Please let me know in the comments below if you have experienced any mindfulness benefits in practice. How does mindfulness improve your general health, your quality of life?
Disclaimer: The article isn’t medical advice. Author is not a medical doctor. The information is for educational purposes only. It is not meant to diagnose or treat any medical conditions.
You just read another post from In Fitness And In Health: a health and fitness community dedicated to sharing knowledge, lessons, and suggestions to living happier, healthier lives.
If you’d like to join our newsletter and receive more stories like this one, tap here.
