What is Mindfulness? 11 Steps to Practice Mindfulness

In today’s world, it’s all about the race and competition people are facing and they are forced by the competition to be the best. But in that race, we forget one thing which is to live life to its fullest. Work is important as it helps in achieving future goals but we forget the most important thing which is about living in the present moment. Our life is filled with activity like hosting birthday parties, visiting malls, watching TV but we often forget to live the moment we are currently in and miss out how you are feeling at the moment.

Mindfulness helps an individual to see the positive side of every situation. Its shows how an individual should find peace and enjoyment in every small thing. Every person whether young or old, poor or rich, working or not, should try to adopt mindfulness in their daily life. A lot has been said about the importance of mindfulness and how to practice it in the workplace, but the advice doesn’t always address how to develop a sustainable practice over time.

3 Types of Mindfulness Practice

• Taking short pauses in everyday life and bring awareness of the current moment, out thoughts, feelings etc.
• Seated, walking, standing meditation
• Combining meditation practice with other activities, such as yoga or music

Benefits of Mindfulness

The cultivation of mindfulness has its roots in Buddhism. However, most religions include some type of prayer or meditation to help in focusing on the present and develop an appreciation of the moment and a larger perspective on life.

Mindfulness provides many useful benefits in our life. Some of the benefits are as follows: –

1.  Mindfulness helps in improving our physical wellbeing. It helps us to maintain blood pressure, reduces chronic pain and helps in getting good sleep.
2. Mindfulness helps our brain and body to manage stress which helps in improving our mental health. It is a very good source of alleviating our stress levels.
3. It enhances our ability to deal with illness or disease and improves our immunity. Mindfulness can not only help you deal with a chronic or potentially terminal illness or traumatic event, but it can also help you move on from it.
4. It helps in building a relationship or making stronger bonds within a relationship that already exists.
5. It helps in improving creativity in work fields. It leads to solving difficult situations of the business without any stress.
6. It helps to prioritize our goals and find a meaning in our life.
7. It helps to improve focus both in personal and professional life.

How to practice mindfulness?

Any person can achieve mindfulness which requires practice, precision, and willingness to get it. There are different ways by which we can achieve mindfulness. Some of the strategies to achieve mindfulness are as follows: –

1.  Reduce Overthinking:  Overthinking in work and daily life leads to a lot of stress, which is a direct cause of several diseases. Overthinking can also be the cause of conflicts in relations. A person should live in the moment rather than thinking about the future.
2.  Take Short Breaks: If a person feels loaded with work, it’s preferred that they should take mini breaks so that the mind is not overloaded and the body feels stress-free even after a whole day of work. Taking short breaks with friends or eating your favourite meal can also help in reducing stress.
3. Concentrate on a single thing: If a person is doing two things at one time, then both things will not be done perfectly. The brain will not be able to concentrate properly on one object. If you are doing work in an office and you get a call from your friends then, you are distracted and cannot complete same work with 100% efficiency.
4. Body sensations – Notice any subtle body sensations such as an itch or tingling without judgment and let them pass. Notice each part of your body gradually from head to toe.
5. Sensory – Notice any sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches in the present moment. Name them “sight,” “sound,” “smell,” “taste,” or “touch” without judgment and let them go.
6. Emotions – Allow emotions to be present without judgment. Practice a steady and relaxed naming of emotions: “happy,” “anger,” “anxiety.” Accept the presence of the emotions without judgment and let them go.
7. Deep breaths: At the time of work, one should take few seconds to check his/her breath. First, close your eyes and take a deep breath and exhale slowly so that it helps in removing stress from your body. It is a quick small trick that can also help in improving breathing patterns and helps to relax our minds.
8. Practice Meditation: Meditation is one of the finest ways by which any person can improve their mindfulness. It requires lots of practice and concentration, but once achieved any person can have control over their senses. It helps in reducing stress, improving posture, reduce the chances of harmful diseases, and also helps in seeing the better side of life.
9. Writing a Journal: Writing your whole day in a diary can help a person in reducing stress. A person often finds themselves stuck in a situation where they cannot share their feelings and words with any other person. In that case writing a diary can help in bringing out your internal emotions and can write in it. Diary keeps all the secrets of a person where they feel that he can share all his secrets.
10. Accept the present moment: Focus on the present moment. Its for a reason Present is called “The Present”. It’s a gift we all should enjoy.
11. Practice mindfulness: Most important step to achieve mindfulness, is to practice mindfulness. Try to incorporate mindfulness in your daily routine and enjoy the moment you are currently in like: enjoy the food you are eating, enjoy talking with your friends and family, enjoy any work you are doing. Mindfulness helps in training your brain in such a way that you will feel less stressed out and you can work more effectively.

Mindfulness Meditation

It combines meditation with the practice of mindfulness, which helps to focus on the present so that we can we more aware of our thoughts, feelings, and sensations without judgment.

Meditation begins and ends within the body. It involves taking the time to pay attention to where we are at present, and what’s going on around.

Mindfulness meditation practice couldn’t be simpler: take a good seat, pay attention to the breath, and when your attention wanders, return.

Conclusion

Working mindfully is a feeling of being stress-free and living the moment. Whether you are working or out and meeting your friends and family, always try to live the moment by practicing mindfulness.

Mindfulness should be taught in school from primary education. It helps children to deal with their every situation efficiently.

In conclusion, I would say that mindfulness is the best way by which an individual can live their life stress-free and is also the secret for longer and healthy life. Every individual should try mindfulness at least once in their life and he/she would surely feel the effect of it in their daily life in both the long term and short term. The mindfulness of both Buddhism and psychology views it as an important way to understand the self, and to obtain spiritual well-being.

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