How Mindfulness Meditation Can Benefit You Tremendously
Mindfulness is a word in everyone’s mouth these days- Oprah, Arianna Huffington, you name it, they’re talking about it. But do you actually know all the benefits it brings to your life and how to do you practically incorporate it into your daily routine? Read more to find out how it’s more than you think.
“Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it.”
― Eckhart Tolle
We spend so much of our time either worrying about an uncertain future or dwelling in the past but we are rarely fully immersed in the present moment. There’s nothing wrong in the present moment, though. You’ll notice all the things that worry you exist either in the past or in the future. Yet the present moment is perfect.
And that’s when mindfulness practice can come in handy to help you focus on the present moment.
Mindfulness is a type of meditation where you focus on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. Practicing mindfulness involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress.
Let’s be honest, unless you have been practicing zen since a long time, there’s almost no way to quiet your mind completely. And it’s not the goal.
The key point is creating moments of calmness and show compassion if your focus isn’t fully there.
“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”
- Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
Mindfulness, according to the Mayo Clinic, has been linked to lower levels of stress, anxiety, insomnia, and depression. It is also thought to improve your focus and attention, as well as helping you experience thoughts and emotions with more balance and acceptance. Mindfulness makes you also more resilient against stress.
According to UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Magazine, mindfulness is rooted in Buddhist tradition and entails maintaining a careful tracking and awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens. It means being aware of your thoughts, but not getting caught up in them. This skill becomes particularly useful when you’re faced with difficult feelings or thoughts.
Mindfulness meditation, then, is the process of teaching the mind to be more present. It’s a type of meditation in which you focus on being aware of what you’re sensing only in that one moment. For example, you might concentrate on your breathing, noting the inhales and exhales. Any time you are interrupted by a thought (and we promise you it will happen), you just gently bring your attention back to your breathing — with no judgment.
Living in the moment and feeling the moment as it passes can feel challenging but offers so many benefits.
When we practice mindfulness, we’re practicing the art of creating space for ourselves — space to think, space to breathe, space between ourselves and our reactions.
You can have a mindful routine. You don’t need a fancy self-care subscription or even cushions. Here are five ways we can implement more mindfulness into our day-to-day lives:
Waking up with mindfulness
As you wake up, set a new intention for your day. For example, you can say “Today, I will be kind to myself; be patient with others; give generously; stay grounded; persevere; have fun; work hard,” or anything else you think would be important for your day.
Throughout the day, check in with yourself.
Pause, take a breath, and revisit your intention. You will realize that you’ve become more and more conscious of your mood and wellbeing each day.
Mindful eating
So many times we find ourselves eating too quickly or while already worrying about something that we don’t even notice all the flavors of the food we’re eating or when we feel hungry. Enjoy every mouthful of what you’re eating. Take your time and chow slowly. Feel the flavors of the food you’re eating fully. How does each bite feel? How does this dish taste? Put your phone or distractions away in the dinner table and focus on one activity.
Mindfulness meditation
First, let’s start with finding a comfortable and quiet place to sit.
If you’re a beginner or have been behind on your mindfulness practice for a while now, it can be helpful to set a shorter time span. Starting with 5-10 minutes is already great enough!
Notice your body and your skin. How do your knees feel? How are your arms? Are you tired or unrested?
Feel your breath and how it travels around your body, as you inhale and exhale.
Notice when your mind goes wandering on something else. Redraw your attention back to your breath. If you find yourself distracted, just be kind to yourself.
“Time isn’t precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now. That is precious indeed. The more you are focused on time — past and future — the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is.”
― Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
