5 Benefits of Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the state of being where one purposely focuses on the present moment and accept it without judgment. Mindfulness is being scientifically assessed and has been known to be a key element in the reduction of stress and one’s overall happiness. The idea of mindfulness has been very popular these days especially in the fields of psychology and counseling for the past several years as a practice that can benefit patients and physicians. One’s overall emotional, mental, and physical well-being can all benefit from the constant practice of mindfulness.

The practice of mindfulness can be traced in Buddhism, however many religions add some kind of meditation or prayer technique that can help transfer the thoughts away from the usual preoccupations to an appreciation of the moment and a much bigger perspective in life. Experts believe that mindfulness works, and it helps people accept their current experiences, including the painful and negative ones, instead of reacting to them with avoidance and much negativity.

It is very common for mindful meditation to be coupled with psychotherapy, particularly in some cognitive behavioral therapy and treatment. This discovery makes perfect sense, as both meditation and behavioral therapy share the main goal of helping individuals obtain perspective on maladaptive, negative, and irrational perceptions.

Here are some of the benefits we can obtain from practicing mindfulness regularly:

• Enhance Focus

Mindfulness, particularly mindful meditation has been identified to boost one’s ability to focus on his or her attention fully. Moreover, it improves one’s capability to block out any stimuli that lead to distraction.

• Develop Working Memory

Working memory is much like our short term memory. The short term memory refers to the storing of information whereas our working memory denotes the organization of information that was stored in the short term memory. Regular mindfulness practice can develop and enhance our working memories.

• Reduce Stress

There is a lot of research that reveals that practicing mindfulness is very effective as a stress buster. It can help boost the positive effects and decrease the negative effects and or anxiety. Moreover, mindfulness helps people process emotions selectively, as opposed to reactively.

• Better Relationships and Satisfaction

Practicing mindfulness can minimize conflicts in any relationship and enhance the ability to be able to express oneself in a relationship of other social situations. Moreover, having the ability to be more mindful can also determine one’s level of satisfaction in a particular relationship.

• Enhance Intuition, Self-Insight, and Immune System Functioning

Apart from these, mindfulness has been established to improve one’s intuition, self-insight, reduce psychological distress, enhance the immune system, and boost one’s control over his or her particular reaction when faced with fear.

How Mindful Meditation Works

There are some kinds of meditation that also involve concentration by focusing on the breathing, repeating a certain phrase, and allowing some barrage of thoughts that often come and go. These meditation and concentration techniques such as yoga or tai chi can help bring about the relaxation response, which in turn is very helpful in lowering the body’s response to stress. Mindfulness and meditation help improve our concentration and cognitive skills. Here is how it works exactly:

Pay Close Attention

You are very cognisant about sensations around you like touch, sights, and sounds that make up your everyday experiences. The trick is not to latch on a specific idea, sensation or emotion, to be caught up thinking too much about the future or the past. Rather, you watch your mind and find mental habits that create a feeling of well-being or otherwise.

Go With The Flow

With mindfulness meditations, you fortify your concentration, observe your flow of emotions, bodily sensations, and thoughts without any judgment as to whether they are positive or negative.

Stay Focused

There will be some instances when the whole practice may not be relaxing, after all, however, over time it will give you an insight to better self-awareness and happiness as you become more comfortable with a much wider array of life experiences.

These are a few of the many benefits that regular mindfulness can give a person. All you have to do is practice being mindful of yourself, and start to experience these benefits for yourself starting today.