What is Mindfulness and Why is Everyone Talking About It?
Mindfulness is on everyone's to-do list these days, but it can be easy to miss the mark when trying to practice it. Mindfulness can be practiced in an abundance of ways, such as meditation practices, yoga, and simply paying closer attention to your experiences in the moment.
Have you ever tried to practice mindfulness? Let me guess, you sat or laid on the floor, closed your eyes and attempted to achieve a blank mind? After 20 minutes of trying, you thought “I can’t do this” and decided that mindfulness just wasn’t for you!
Guess what? We are here to tell you that mindfulness is a learned behavior which means that everyone can practice mindfulness. Though it may be difficult at first, it’s a skill that can be developed with the proper guidance and consistent practice.
MINDFULNESS: WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT IS NOT.
To really understand mindfulness, it can be easier to start with what mindfulness is not. People often think that mindfulness requires a blank mind. But, mindfulness is not an attempt to eliminate or suppress our thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Just as “boots are made for walking”, brains are made for thinking. Your brain will wander and when it does, your ability to turn your attention back to the present moment is the core of mindfulness.
Mindfulness is a non-judgmental awareness and acceptance of our thoughts, feelings, and sensations. It is our ability to gently redirect our attention to our experiences in the now.
IS THE HYPE REAL?
There are several reasons why everyone is talking about mindfulness and why you may have had someone in your life talk to you about it. While many practice mindfulness to increase their relaxation and calmness, there are many other advantages to practicing mindfulness such as:
Reducing stress
Decreasing anxiety
Decreasing reactivity
Increasing emotion-regulation
Improving mind-body connection
Improving positive affect
Improving focus
WHERE TO BEGIN?
If you are new to mindfulness, practicing a couple of minutes a day, a few times a week can be enough to get started. If you were new to running, you wouldn’t start with a 20-minute run 7 days a week, right?
If you are one of those people who sat down and tried to meditate for 20 minutes to clear your mind, you may have skipped some steps. Although mindful meditation is one way to practice mindfulness, this behavior can also be practiced while doing normal daily tasks. For instance, it may be easier to start by noticing the crunch of leaves under your feet on your walks, listening to music with your eyes closed or paying close attention to the lyrics/instruments played in your favorite song.
You can also begin by practicing the 5-4-3-2-1 technique, which is a well known mindfulness grounding technique. You simply start by noticing:
5 things you can see
4 things you can feel
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste
MINDFULNESS IN THERAPY
Although there are specific treatment modalities that use formal practices of mindfulness, mindfulness can also be viewed as the root of therapy. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “awareness is the first step”. Before we can grow and evolve, we must know what we are trying to change. In this way, our ability to simply notice our thoughts, feelings, sensations during the therapeutic process is mindfulness in its purest form.
Mindfulness in therapy may look like learning to sit with your emotions and becoming aware of how your emotions are felt in your body.
NEXT STEPS
If this blog post resonates with you, and you feel you need some extra support with practicing mindfulness, feel free to reach out and schedule an appointment with one of our providers.