By Greg Thurston
Creator of Seven Minute Mindfulness
Do you know what “mindfulness” is? Another buzz word? Don’t ignore it. Being mindful is so beneficial to your body and mind!
But what it is exactly? Is mindfulness just being more aware? Does it mean clearing your mind?
In a sense, being mindful, is like simplifying things. Usually you’ll try to multitask all day. You worrying about 12 things while doing just 6. And you know that doesn’t work too well.
Being mindful needs you to focus on the present moment. Being fully here. At this moment. Right now.
It allows you to act on what’s going on right around you and inside you. So it simplifies things because you can just enjoy the present moment.
Meditation is a way to be more mindful. You can practice it throughout your day, whatever you’re doing, and give it all of your focus and attention. It helps you to be proactive about putting aside other worries and being present in what you’re doing and who you’re with.
To experience the ultimate feelings of inner calm and presence, I highly recommend that you follow this link…
You’ll gain inner peace, happiness and feel ‘uncluttered’ in your life.
Honestly, mindfulness is something that we don’t give to ourselves much. Today, we are programmed on getting as much done as possible all the time. This leads to burnout, stress, health problems, and lower productivity.
Mindfulness, on the other hand, gives us the opposite. Let’s examine the benefits of mindfulness.
1. Mindfulness reduces stress
This is common. Today, we really battle stress from all sides – family, work, business, and relationships.
If you constantly worry about many things, your mind will never get a break. That’s why so many people are completely burned out, feeling depressed, and stressed to the point of panic attacks or needing medication.
Worrying robs you any opportunity of joy or relaxation in our day. You probably know how it goes: you’re sitting at your desk at work, stressed about a deadline, and also about a disagreement with your partner, and some tension you’re feeling with a co-worker, and that garage that needs cleaning out at home…
Always carrying all of these things lead to stress and:
- Restless sleep
- A racing mind
- Low energy
- Feeling irritable
- Feeing defensive
- Getting angry easier
- Panic attacks
- Constant panic
- Headaches, body aches, migraines
- Jaw pain from clenching teeth
- Tight shoulders and back pain
- Depression
As you can see, trying to keep everything on your mind leads to all kinds of problems, resulting in lower productivity or even worse outcomes.
You might even feel guilty if you forget to worry about something. Do you ever do that? You’ll finally get absorbed in something and it feels really nice, but then you remember all the things that aren’t resolved, and you feel guilty for letting yourself have a few minutes.
But you need those minutes!
Being mindful and present will allow you to get absorbed in what you’re doing, give it your full attention so you can do better. With that, you’ll feel clearer and mentally energized.
Your body and brain wasn’t made to handle constant stress. It’s so much healthier to be present and put aside the other pressing thoughts.
Challenge yourself to be mindful in one activity a day. It could be cooking, a walk, feeding the dog, drawing, ironing, or something else you enjoy.
Try it and see how it feels to let yourself be fully present with that one thing and not having thoughts about anything else. After that, see how you feel the rest of the day.
2. Mindfulness creates better health
Being mindful and present lowers our stress levels and bring many health benefits.
You may notice that you’re calmer after practicing mindfulness. Your head feels clearer. You feel more focused. You’re more productive.
Being mindful greatly benefits your mind, and that in turn benefits your body and overall health.
It is possible that people who practice being mindful have higher brain function, an increased immune function, lower blood pressure, lower anxiety levels, and are more calm.
We’ve heard this for years, and experts are talking about meditation and yoga. Both of these are ways to be mindful!
3. Mindfulness decreases depression symptoms
When you lower stress levels and improve your health, you will find that it helps with depression.
Mindfulness does that and more. It’s been considered an effective part of overall depression treatment for a long time.
Being mindful often helps people see and acknowledge their feelings. This leads to better coping. Being mindful lets you say, “I see that I’m feeling that way, and, hey, that’s okay.”
Being mindful engages the observant self within you, so you can notice how you’re feeling, and what you’re thinking, but not getting completely sucked into those feelings. You can step back and analyze the situation better.
4. Mindfulness increases Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity? What’s that? If you break it up, Neuro, or brain, plus plasticity, or being flexible.
Think about how plastic can be soft and pliable.
Being mindful helps your brain increase its ability to change and adapt. This is very important to our survival.
Simply put, neuroplasticity refers to how our brain grows, learns, and changes. When we change our mind or learn new things, we actually make new pathways and new connections within our brains.
However, this has bigger scientific implications. When someone has a stroke and has to relearn how to walk, they’re actually learning how to re-circuit their brain around the damaged area.
Imagine how much stronger your brain will be if you practice mindfulness and therefore improve neuroplasticity. That’s a huge advantage for dealing with all of life’s curves and for any brain damage you might suffer.
5. Mindfulness helps you deal with illness
Studies have found that mindfulness helps people with cancer and people with chronic illness; even terminal illness.
Certainly, being in the moment more would help someone enjoy life day by day. Research has found that mindfulness helps cancer patients reduce stress while relieving fatigue.
For many, mindfulness increases our spirituality and sense of purpose. It helps people handle their emotions, stress and depression originating from their illness.
Mindfulness can greatly improve life for people with chronic pain, such as low back pain. It helps patients focus on something other than the pain.
6. Mindfulness helps recovery
We’ve seen all the ways mindfulness benefits our mental and emotional health. It also helps us physically when we need to recover from illness.
This is probably due to all the other benefits of being mindful.
We have better focus, we’re less stressed, we feel more at peace, and so we’re happier.
We’ve talked about some big areas where mindfulness helps. To zoom in a bit, here’s a list of more specific ways that being mindful improves our lives:
- Better mental health
- Less stress at work
- Better emotional regulation
- Less problems with alcohol and drugs
- Less depression and anxiety
- Better performance at school and work
- Better relationships
- Better self-awareness
- Less burnout
- Better able to cope with ups and downs
- More resilience
We’re just healthier when we’re more mindful, because people aren’t really made to multitask multiple things all day long and always worry.
We can benefit from slowing down and enjoying the present moment. Why let other things detract from what you’re doing? You can give those other things your attention in due time.
For the ULTIMATE experience of mindfulness, I highly recommend that you check out 7 Minute Mindfulness.
This method will make your mind as calm as water. I’m talking about a method that will allow you to sink into relaxation, and feel abundantly positive and happy within minutes. It will fill your life with joy and satisfaction. And teach you how to easily defeat any life problems that you may be facing.
And it only takes 7 minutes!
Click Here To Discover 7 Minute Mindfulness
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.
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