Have you ever found yourself pulling up outside your house after a day at work and can't remember the details of your drive home, did you stop at the traffic lights like you were supposed to or how about that pedestrian crossing?
That feeling of being on autopilot is something most people have experienced. We have so much going on in our lives, it’s easy for our minds to wander or become distracted from what we’re supposed to be doing. With thoughts of that thing, we forgot to do earlier or the things we’ve got to remember to do later hijacking the present moment. Staying in the present moment, the here and now is something that has become harder and harder as more and more things land on our plate, as we try to keep all those plates spinning.
Mindfulness is the process of trying to remain in the moment, to retain focus on the present. It’s about switching off the autopilot and having full awareness of our surroundings, thoughts, feelings both emotional and physical and our actions.
We have lost the ability to stay in the moment and are having to re-learn how to do this. Most people associate mindfulness with meditation but there is so much more to mindfulness than meditation. Meditation is not for everyone but mindfulness can and should be.
The Effects of Mindfulness on Health
Most of us know what we mean when we talk about our health but what about our well-being? Our well-being involves every aspect of ourselves, our physical health, mental health, emotional health and how these impact each other. For example, if we are experiencing emotional distress such as we might during a relationship break up we might not sleep very well. We might wake up feeling groggy and unable to get going after one sleepless night but nothing a cup of coffee or two couldn’t fix. However, if this were to continue it could lead to some real health problems such as a weakened immune system, heart issues and diabetes for a start.
Whilst mindfulness has become a well-used and well-known phrase these days, ask most people what this actually means and they don’t really know. Ask if it would improve their health if they were to include mindfulness in their life and even more people would be confused.
Do I Really Need Mindfulness To Be Healthy?
If you’re unsure if mindfulness is really worth the bother, see how many of these things you can relate to:
Do you have difficulty concentrating and staying focused?
Do you struggle to fall asleep at night or wake up during the night?
Do you struggle with overthinking and a restless mind?
Do you constantly feel anxious or worried?
Do you wake up feeling tired even when you’ve had a good night’s sleep?
Do you feel tired and low on energy?
Do you feel irritable and agitated?
Are you overly critical of yourself or others?
Are you argumentative or defensive?
Do you have skin rashes and allergies?
Do you grind your teeth at night?
Do you have frequent headaches or migraines?
Do you feel like you never have enough hours in the day?
Do you find yourself drifting off in the middle of conversations?
Do you find yourself jumping around in conversations, flitting from one thought to another?
Do you have high blood pressure?
Do you have a low/weak immune system?
Do you find yourself comfort eating
Benefits of Mindfulness
If any of that list resonated with you, there’s a good chance you would benefit from incorporating mindfulness into your life.
Here are just some of the benefits of mindfulness:
It can lead to increased clarity in thoughts and perception
Increases awareness
Reduces anxiety and depression
Reduces sleep issues
Increased energy levels
Lowers blood pressure
Lowers heart rate
Boost the immune system
Reduces brain fog and increases brain functioning
Increases concentration and focus
Increases ability to remain in control of emotional responses
Increases ability to manage stress
Positive relationships with others
Feelings of calm
Increases positive thoughts whilst reducing negative thoughts
Increases resilience
Increase work performance
Reduces risk of burnout
As you can see there are many benefits to practising mindfulness. There are also many ways to incorporate mindfulness into your life from the obvious of meditation to spending time in nature.