Feeling Stressed Out? 6 Ways Mindfulness Can Help
Today, we are overworked, overstressed and overwhelmed. The pace of life is faster than ever. The economic, social and political stresses are all creating internal and external turmoil.
How do these problems affect us? We feel continuously rushed and our lifestyles are out of balance. Many of us have a hard time sleeping, breathing or even properly digesting our food. More of us experience serious health conditions such as heart disease, cancer and drug addiction.
Our relationships with ourselves and others are affected and with that, our sense of enjoyment and appreciation of life. The costs are very high; we lack peace, happiness and true fulfillment.
Mindfulness is a very effective tool for creating inner peace and balance.
What Is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the art of attention and awareness. It lives in the present moment which is the only moment we have. It is a form of nonjudgmental, relaxed awareness.
When we are mindful, we are paying attention on purpose to the contents of the current moment, including our emotions and environment.
Benefits of Mindfulness
Mindfulness provides us with a sense of peace, focus and balance. It teaches us detachment from inner drama and harsh judgements. Through mindfulness, we learn to allow things to simply be, rather than trying to control, resist or fix everything around us. However, letting life be does not mean not being proactive.
When we’re mindful, it helps us create clearer vision and better judgement. It helps us to live in the moment and enjoy it.
We become more receptive to what is and as a result we take appropriate, organic and authentic actions, moving towards our true fulfillment. Mindfulness quiets the compulsive mind and creates an expanded way of looking at life. It relaxes our physical being and supports the natural healing process of the body.
Here are the Do’s and Don’ts of how to cultivate mindfulness and support a state of inner peace, focus and balance.
Observe and Don’t Judge
Observing or witnessing, teaches us to relax, accept and drop judgment. As a result, our state of being shifts to a more peaceful one.
Notice Your “Monkey Mind”
Our Monkey Mind is part of our Defensive Self. It is relentlessly commenting on everything we encounter. It pushes us to file things in drawers according to categories. We have the “good” drawers and “bad” drawers in our mind. There we collect our likes and dislikes.
As we go through life, we are constantly bouncing between rejection and attachment, jumping from the future to the past – and back again. This reactive way of being does not allow for receptive observation, awareness and peace.
It is most important to begin to observe this kind of obsessive and compulsive thinking. If you are a meditator, you know how hard it is to relax the “Monkey Mind.” It takes practice.
But the first step is to notice it, and identify the action and impact of it. As you grow your mindfulness practice, you can learn to slow down and relax your restless mind.
Set Up a Daily Meditation of “Mindful” Practice
Exercise, yoga, cleaning your house, or merely sitting on a bench to watch the sky – these activities are ways to find peace. The most important element is your ability to quiet the Monkey Mind, ground your body in your breath, and be mindful in the moment.
Teach Yourself to Live in the Moment
Deep down, we all long to experience and enjoy every moment we have. On some level, we need to become more like children and train ourselves to smell the roses and appreciate the simple things in life. We should aim to cultivate the most basic right of life – enjoyment!
Learn a Healthy Detachment from the Inner Drama
Treat your emotions as you would a child that you love. Allow yourself to experience them and move through them, so that you can find a way beyond. Remember, you have emotions, but you are not your emotions. You are the witness and the healer of them.
To learn more on how Mindfulness can help you relax follow the link below.
