Mindfulness

Mindfulness

'Mindfulness' is a word we hear a lot these days, but what exactly does it mean? Find out what it is, what the benefits of mindfulness are and how you can start to practise it.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercises.

Preparation

Have you ever driven somewhere and realised when you arrived that you couldn’t really remember anything about the journey? Or have you ever eaten a whole packet of biscuits when you were planning to only have one? Or have you stayed up much later than you planned, or even all night, watching ‘just one more’ episode of a TV series? All of these are examples of mindlessness. When we live this way, we are not fully awake and not fully living our lives.

What exactly is mindfulness?

When we are mindful, we are more conscious of our thoughts, our actions and what is happening around us. We might notice a beautiful sunset or really listen carefully to what a friend is saying, rather than planning what we’re going to say next. We are also more aware of our own feelings and our thoughts. Jon Kabat Zinn, who has done a lot to make mindfulness popular, says mindfulness is: ‘Paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, and without judging.’

So we are consciously deciding what to pay attention to, we are not worrying about the past or planning for the future and we are not trying to control or stop our thoughts or feelings – we’re just noticing them.

Why is mindfulness so popular now?

For most people life is getting busier and busier. Technology means that we always have something to do and there isn’t much opportunity to just ‘be’. People are often doing two or three things at the same time: texting while watching TV, or even looking at their phone while walking along the pavement. People are working longer hours and bringing work home. All this can make us stressed, and mindfulness can be a way of reducing this stress.

What are the benefits of mindfulness?

Research shows that mindfulness reduces stress and depression. It can help you to concentrate, have a better memory and to think more clearly. It can also help people to manage pain better and to improve their sleep, and it can even help you lose weight because you won’t eat that whole packet of biscuits without thinking!

How to become more mindful

Mindfulness Day is celebrated on 12 September, so maybe that would be a good day to try a few mindfulness techniques and see if they make a difference. But, of course, you can try these on any day of the year.

A very simple technique that you could try right now is to close your eyes for a couple of minutes and count how many sounds you can hear. This will help to focus you on what is happening right now.

Another technique is to focus on a piece of food, typically a raisin. Instead of eating it without thinking, slow down. Look carefully at it and notice how it feels in your fingers. Smell it. Then put it on your tongue and taste it. Only then start to eat it slowly, noticing how it feels and how it tastes.

Both of these techniques force you to slow down and focus on the present moment, and there are plenty of other ideas you can find online if you want to try mindfulness for yourself. 

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Average: 4.3 (29 votes)

Submitted by om mariam on Wed, 18/09/2019 - 15:56

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I remember that I came over the phrase mindfulness a few days a go but when I read the article I realized it isn’t like what I guessed.So it appears that I didn’t try any techniques related to mindfulness but surprisingly I have been doing it without knowing this idiom, as a mother and housewife my every day tasks seem endless leave me to the circle of depression and frustration and the result of course will be mindless. But the only thing takes me from this mess is my prayers; when I standup and calling up my god five times a day at these moments I try to be clear-headed , more conscious and relax.

Submitted by parisaach on Tue, 17/09/2019 - 05:42

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Actually I didn't know anything about the English world 'mindfulness' before I read this article, and I've never read about the mindfulness techniques before, but as soon as I read the first technique I tried it and it was interesting. I think I am a mindless person, though I still don't know exactly which persons are mindful. I usually don't have any plan and never finish the things that I start.I still don't finish my master education after 5 years and it is embarrassing, everybody make fun of it . The only thing that I stick to, is my karate classes, I really enjoy of doing exercise and having stronger body . After reading this article I searched for mindfulness techniques and I found some interesting techniques, some of them are really easy but doing these exercises continuously is really difficult, especially for me , as I saind I'm not mindful.
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Submitted by Anaitat on Sun, 08/09/2019 - 11:33

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To my mind my brain makes it in a natural way without a special effort because mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we are doing, that’s a natural process, while all the new bedazzles attracts us focusing on the present moment. Mindfulness asks us to suspend judgment and unleash out natural curiosity about the working of the mind with warmth and kindness.
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Submitted by Anaitat on Wed, 04/09/2019 - 16:49

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Have I tried any mindfulness techniques? That’s quite a question! I never have thought about technique to focus on a piece of food, typically a raisin, instead of eating it without thinking. I never have looked speсially carefully at it and I never have noticed speсially how it feels in my fingers, I never have speсially smelled it. I think my daily life focuses me on the present moment: my brain as a computer suggests what I should do at the certain moment basing on the entries that I made in it previously as in a dairy.
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Submitted by Olena Tsypyashchuck on Tue, 21/05/2019 - 18:52

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I found out about mindfulness not long ago and I`m very interested in it. I want to add that it also helps to get rid of consequences of false teachings. That is if someone had such an experience. I`ll willngly go to this training in my city.

Submitted by al_amaal on Fri, 11/01/2019 - 02:46

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thanks a lot for this great article. I had a great time.