Keep Calm And Be Mindful - Understanding The Benefits Of Mindfulness

byEricaVines

203 followers

Updated 9 years ago

Mindfulness within mental health and meditation is a concept that has grown in popularity in recent years as more and more people begin to understand what can be achieved with such a simple idea and the more that we study it and embrace it, the more benefits we are beginning to see.

So What Is Mindfulness?

The basic definition of mindfulness in a more everyday context is a sense of awareness, of simply being more mindful of the things around us, but mindfulness can go beyond trying to become more in tune with the world and is now becoming a popular part of meditation.

Becoming mindful of your body, your senses and your mental state through meditation is a simple process that just requires the confidence and time to just listen to what your body is saying.

Stop, listen, feel, that is really all there is too it; take the time to stop and sit, listen to the feelings and messages from your body and feel them. Once you do that, you can then begin to enjoy the many potential benefits of letting mindfulness into your life.

How Can Mindfulness Benefit Your Life?

There is a vast range of mental and physical benefits of practicing mindfulness, which can be surprising given the simplicity of the practice. It is easy to wonder how 15 minutes of mindful reflection on your pain and mental state can have any significant benefits on your well being but the results are commonly seen.

Like many forms of meditation, mindfulness can be great tool against stress and anxiety and studies have shown that not only is there a link between mindfulness and cognitive meditation, it can also aid with depression by impacting on cortisol levels.

Furthermore, some schools have even taken up teaching the practice to aid exam-based anxiety and even improve attention spans. As for the physical side, aside from a potentially clearer understanding of the aches and pains in the body that may have been ignored, there are also studies suggesting a link to lower blood pressure and better immunity.

There is even a form of mindfulness dieting to improve awareness and appreciation of food that can aid weight loss.

There Is More To Mindfulness Than Meets The Eye.

The concept of mindfulness, that simple act of taking a few moments to stop, listen and feel, is a basic idea that we can all incorporate into our lives. Whether it is a case of listening to those aches as we wake or meditating to control our anxiety for 20 minutes in the afternoon, anyone can enjoy mindfulness and the benefits and it is so easy to see the physical and mental changes it can bring.