Mindfulness -The key skill to happiness
Do you often worry about the past and things you can’t change? It can be so tiring to live in the past, constantly feeling guilty. We also often tend to unnecessarily plan out the future in a way that creates stress and anxiety. When we are finally meant to rest and relax after a long day, we generally use that time to solve potential future problems. It is almost as if we have stopped allowing ourselves time to relax, be present and enjoy the moment.
Signs of not being mindful can vary from multitasking a lot (and making simple mistakes which contributes to even more stress!) to forgetting the last thing you ate. If you struggle to be fully present in your life, then maybe you should try practicing mindfulness!.
Mindfulness is the awareness of one’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences in the present moment. The objective is to let thoughts, feelings, and sensations come and go without judging them or feeling compelled to act on them.
Practicing mindfulness will give you a strategy that you can use whenever you feel overwhelmed by anything that happened in the past or might happen in the future. It brings your mind back to the present and trains you to start letting things go. It keeps you more energized, improves sleep and attention, and helps in overall physical and mental well-being. Some benefits of mindfulness, which have been scientifically proven, include:
1. Lower stress.
2. Restored emotional balance.
3. Reduced anxiety and depression.
4. Aging slower
5. Reduced physical pain.
Mindfulness is dose-dependent. The more you do it, the more you gain. It also becomes simpler to be present and concentrate your attention where you want it to be instead of where your mind takes you. Here are different tips that will help you be more mindful in your life:
1) Start your day with a purpose
The underlying motive for everything we think, say, or do is referred to as purpose or intention. Setting a purpose and remembering those basic drives may transform your day, making it more likely that your words, actions, and answers will be more attentive and compassionate, especially during tough times.
On waking up, before checking phones or email, sit in your bed or a chair in a relaxed posture. Close your eyes and focus on your seated body’s feelings. Take three deep, long breaths to replenish your energy. As you breathe, pay attention to the rise and fall of your chest and belly. Ask yourselves “What is my intention for today?”. Make a daily intention and stick to it. Throughout the day, pause for a moment, take a deep breath and reconsider your goal. You can observe how significantly the quality of your conversations, relationships, and mood shifts as you become more aware of your daily objectives.
2. Listen to your body
Your body runs on its own — you breathe naturally, your heart beats continually, and your basic functions continue to run independently of what you do. Take a few moments to just be, concentrate on your breathing, pay attention to your heart. Pay attention to how you feel when air enters and exits your nostrils. If your thoughts are distracting, slowly guide your mind back to your breathing. Bringing your attention to your body not only helps you refocus on the present, but also provides you with the knowledge you need to effectively care for your body.
3. Mindful check-in
Imagine being able to press a stop button whenever you’re feeling upset, nervous, or overwhelmed by what’s happening around you. Then take your time to figure out what the best course of action is. Mindfulness may become your pause button with practice.
Take a few moments during the day to just be. Take a break from worrying about the future or lamenting the past. Stop and have a look around. What are you experiencing in your body, thinking in your mind, and feeling in your heart?. Gently move your attention through your body, noticing any thoughts, feelings, or emotions that arise, exactly as they are. Your feelings conceal a wealth of knowledge. There’s no need to examine, analyze, or appraise your experience. The emphasis here is on being totally present with oneself in the present moment and allowing everything to be as it is.
4. Don’t try to juggle too many tasks at once.
Imagine you were cleaning dishes and, after just washing one cup, you go outside and begin watering the plants. After watering only a few plants, you go back inside and begin studying, and then you return to washing the dishes again. It is not an efficient thing to do because it is difficult for our bodies to switch between tasks at the same time. It’s equally difficult for our mind to be present or for our brain to focus on multiple tasks all at the same time.
It’s difficult to keep up in our fast-paced environment, so I see why multitasking is so appealing. But isn’t it true that if you do more things at once, you’ll get more things done faster? Not always. In most cases, it will lead to simple mistakes which will cost a lot more energy and time to fix, making you even more stressed out. Keep in mind that a slow, mindful, and efficient brain is clearly superior to a rapid, unmindful, and inefficient brain.
5. Take some “NOTHING” time each day.
Many of us have forgotten how to remain quiet and do nothing because we live in a culture that frowns on it. The attitude that cries, “Do, do, do!” has been ingrained in us. It keeps yelling let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!. The concept of sitting and doing nothing is so strange to us that it makes many people feel uneasy — even guilty.
Spend at least a few minutes focusing on your body rather than what you’ve been doing. Engage your senses by concentrating on what you can smell, see, hear, feel, or taste right now. Even if it’s only for five minutes, sit for that five minutes and do… nothing!
6. Act mindfully
We do so many things on autopilot. Pay close attention to something you do daily. Pick one or two tasks that you perform every day — such as walking, brushing your teeth, cooking, driving, exercising, or reading a book — and get into the habit of paying attention to them. Your mind will wander, maybe in a matter of seconds, but don’t worry about it. Simply return your focus to the present. let us look at an example:
mindfully eating
It’s simple to limit eating to a ‘bite, chew, and swallow’ feeling. But first, avoid all other distractions and be present with your food. Slow down and allow a more relaxed transition to your meals. Close your eyes and begin to breathe softly in and out of your belly before beginning your meal. Pause and take a good look because your eyes eat first. Listen to your body’s sensation of hunger and eat accordingly. Concentrate on the texture of your food, the time and work it took to prepare it, the flavors in your mouth, and how much you enjoy eating it.
This is a simple example. Try to incorporate a little mindfulness into each of your everyday tasks, one at a time, and you will ultimately achieve a serene and aware state of mind in which you will discover your actual life’s purpose and reach a state where your body and mind are both content. Remember that life is more than just about guilt, and anxiety; it is also about serenity, and happiness; and mindfulness is the way to get there.
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