You’ve probably heard that mindfulness is crucial to your wellness, happiness, and even health. But what is this magical practice everything is talking about? How can it possibly transform your life? You may even be wondering how hard it is to learn or use.
Mindfulness is the state of being fully present in a moment, aware of our bodies, surroundings, where we are, and what we are currently doing. Mindfulness isn’t new; we are born with this ability. You probably find yourself being fully aware of things already for brief moments. However, our minds tend to wander off track and become preoccupied with our thoughts or focusing on what is coming next or what just happened.
There are several different ways to achieve mindfulness. Still, the most common ones include meditation (seated, standing, or walking), yoga mixed with meditation or mantras, and carving out a few times each day to pay attention to our senses.
I started my mindfulness journey by practicing small sessions throughout the day. First, I would take no more than ten minutes at a time to sit down in nature and observe, feel, and smell what was around me at that time. Then, when my mind would start to wander and be filled with intrusive thoughts or worries about the future, I would gently try to pull myself back to the moment. It takes time and patience, but it is worth it. If you are wondering how to pull yourself back, an easy way to do so is to notice something with a sense other than sight.
3 Surprising Ways Mindfulness Improves Our Lives
Mental Wellness
Most of us spend our lives on the go. Some of us even eat on the run because our days are packed with appointments, places to go or deal with long commutes. On top of the time that this takes, we are so busy, caught up in our thoughts, concerned about what others are thinking, or worried about our future that our brains can’t relax.
When our brains can’t relax, we ratchet up our stress levels. Stress hormone exposure over time can affect our mental health and wellness. When we take time to observe how we feel and respond to things and our environment, we can take steps to lower our stress levels. When we lower our stress levels, we can feel more at peace, able to handle those anxious thoughts better and our brains can feel refreshed instead of under constant pressure.
When our brains aren’t constantly under pressure, how we perceive things like pain may change as well. You see, when our brains are allowed to relax, how pain is processed changes. The levels of what we feel may diminish enough to allow us to function.
Increases Creativity
Mindfulness helps to nurture and nourish our creative sides. Creativity is critical in helping us overcome challenges and obstacles we face. Creativity allows us to think of new ways to adapt or learn new techniques. Several studies have shown that the tie mindfulness has to creativity is the same link used to improve brain functions and memory.
These three traits – creativity, improved brain functions, and memory – can help us navigate the twists and turns of life while allowing us to build up resiliency which helps us manage to live with chronic conditions.
As a side note to the studies which showed improved brain function and memory, some of these studies have followed people for several years. It has been observed that those who practice mindfulness regularly are far less likely to have the same degree of aging memory loss as those who did not practice mindfulness.
Maintains Overall Health
Mindfulness goes beyond mental wellness, though. We reap physical gains when we practice it as well, such as increased enzyme activity (which may be tied to slowing down the aging process), better regulated immune systems (to help maintain health and fight off infections), and an increase in positive hormones (which help us feel happy).
Science is backing up the claims that practicing mindfulness can play an integral part in having a longer, healthier life.
Take the Next Step
If you need help learning how to be mindful or want to improve your skills, let’s connect and get you back to living life beyond chronic illness. Supportegy Wellness provides chronic illness support through various proven ways, including chronic illness support groups.