What is Mindfulness | Mindfulness and Mental Health
mind-ful-ness
noun
1.the quality of being conscious or aware of something
2. a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique
Above is the official Oxford definition of mindfulness. It is basically about being present in the moment right now.
Take a moment to stop everything you are doing right now.
Take a deep breath and let it out.
Bring your focus to your body-
What do you feel? Is there any tightness anywhere? Any specific sensations? Are you hot, cold, just right?
What do you see around you? What are the colors, the patterns, the little details? What do you hear? Is it close by, in the distance?
What kinds of thoughts are popping up in your head? Are they negative, positive, neutral? How do you feel right now? Anxious, calm, happy, restless, content….
That little exercise was a mindfulness one. How was that for you? Was it hard, easy, so-so?
Mindfulness and Our Thoughts
We have over 50,000 thoughts a day and most of those thoughts tend to be worries about the future. Rarely are we actually in the present moment.
It’s impossible to be present 100% of the time, it’d be information overload. Our brains are set up to create automatic processes in order to make things “easier” on us. However, our brain doesn’t distinguish which automatic process is “helpful” or “harmful.”
For example, do you every arrive at your destination such as work or school without really remembering all the details of your drive there? That’s because that process has become such a routine it becomes more automatic. Our brain just “knows” what to do so we don’t have to put so much energy and focus into every detail. That automatic process can be helpful for us (of course as long as we are aware enough to be able to respond to any sudden changes on the road).
Sometimes these automatic processes that take over can be more harmful for us than helpful. We all have our own “protective” measures built in that started in our childhood. Our brain is wired to protect us, so if something feels threatening then we go into those survival modes. In our relationships this can be reacting with anger, defensiveness, distance, etc. This can also include seeking out comfort in negative coping habits such as drinking, eating unhealthy, being more codependent, etc.
Becoming More Conscious
Mindfulness is a big key to help us develop more awareness of our more “automatic” processes. By creating a bigger capacity to be more mindful of what is going on, what we are thinking about, and how we are feeling we can then start the process of making a conscious decision of what we want to do and how we want to respond.
With Mindfulness, it is about the journey, not the destination!
The key to developing more mindfulness is to practice. Also, there is not true state of Mindfulness all the time. It’s also not something to “achieve,” rather it is just something to engage in or “practice” every day.
How do you practice Mindfulness?
There are many ways we can start to incorporate a practice of mindfulness in our daily lives.
Some ways to do this includes:
meditation
mindful eating
progressive muscle relaxation exercise
Engaging in different mindfulness practices is a great way to create more awareness of our thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
This helps create more opportunity to make conscious decisions on how we want to be.
Do you engage in any mindfulness practices? I’d love to hear from you!
Disclaimer: This is not a replacement for a therapeutic relationship or mental health services. This is for educational purposes only and should be in used in conjunction in working with a licensed mental health professional. If you are in California and looking for a professional therapist feel free to use the contact me to request an appointment or search Psychology Today for local therapists in your area.