Mindfulness
Mindfulness
Mindfulness has been practised for thousands of years by various religions and traditions, most notably Buddhism and Hinduism, but not excluding Judaism, Christianity and Islam.- Trousselard et al, 2014.
Within Buddhism, it is said that mindfulness (or Sati) is the first step towards enlightenment and/or following Siddhartha Gautama's (the Buddha) footsteps. Throughout time, mindfulness has become increasingly popular in the Western world. We've all heard of meditation and yoga in the 21st century, but still, many of us equate it to/imagine it to be a Buddhist monk wearing robes sitting meditating on top of a hill with legs crossed on top of each other with an absolutely clear mind. Right now I'll say that no, this isn't the be all and end all of mindfulness.
Mindfulness can be adopted by anyone, of any age, class, race, sexuality, gender. It is an inclusive practice, a journey that is different from one person to the next- a journey that can be difficult. Simple, yes, but not easy. So what exactly is mindfulness? Mindfulness is paying attention on purpose. This seems vague, but stay with me.
We live in a world that never sleeps. TV, phones, internet, etc. We have everything in our hands and at the push of a button. This fast past society we're in has us extremely busy- if not in our physical, then definitely within our minds. Ask yourself this. When was the last time you paused to observe? If it was recently, then that's great, but for most of us, we probably can't remember. We forget to stop and look, be it the trees around us, the birds singing in the bushes, or even looking inside ourselves to see how we're really doing. Mindfulness incorporates doing exactly this- paying attention to the rise and fall of our breath, acknowledging our thoughts and emotions without judgement before letting them go, and using our senses to look, listen, see, hear and feel what is around us. "But what does this do?" I hear you ask. Ah, well this is the beautiful part. It gives us awareness of the world, others and ourselves and it is through this awareness we can be better equipped to deal with mental stress, anxiety, depression, you name it. Studies have shown that those who meditate are more emotionally stable and find it easier to regulate their emotions than those who don't meditate (a big fat win for those with mood, anxiety and personality disorders), which brings us onto the next little chapter in this post:
Meditation
Meditation is NOT:
Meditation is the act of giving your full attention to only one thing, usually starting with the breath. This can be expanded to compassion, kindness and it can be goal orientated (I once read that the Dalai Lama meditated for two whole hours before an interview). There are plenty of ways to bring meditation into your life. You can incorporate it into any part of your day (though I will recommend before sleep to start with as it's a great way to release emotions, thoughts and feelings of the day passed). Morning meditation is a fantastic way to start the day, though I will admit, I find it harder on a morning because I almost fall back to sleep, but this is why it is called a practice.
You don't have to sit crossed legged for meditation. Personally, I lie down on my back with my arms by my side. You can sit on a chair with your feet on the floor, too.
During meditation, focus on your breath- the rise and fall of the chest and abdomen, and how the air feels going through your nose. You may take a few deep breaths to settle in, then return your breathing to normal and just observe. Don't worry about any thoughts that pop up. Acknowledge them without judgement and let them go (I visualise my thoughts drifting away as clouds). Find the pause between inhale and exhale and feel the stillness. This is the present moment.
Another way to focus during meditation is to take part in a mindfulness body scan. Scanning your body from toes to head, really get in touch with how your body feels. Is it light or heavy? Is there any pain? Are you uncomfortable? Without changing anything, just observe without judgement. Again, if any thoughts arise, acknowledge and let them go.
One positive that can be taken from the internet, is that there are literally thousands of videos of guided meditation online. My personal favourite is Jason Stephenson on YouTube. Once I'm in a dim lit room with his voice and music in my headphones, I am ready to pay attention on purpose. He has relaxing sleep music, meditation for compassion, forgiveness and letting go, and visualisation.
"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf"
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Gratitude
As well as meditation, another great way to practice mindfulness is through gratitude. It has been scientifically proven to improve physical/mental health, sleep pattern, self-esteem and enhances empathy whilst reducing aggression. [Psychology Today]
Ways to express gratitude include:
A great way to practice self compassion is to use daily self loving affirmations. Say them to yourself, write them on sticky notes or send yourself emails of them. Here are a few of my favourites:
This is a meditation app, starting with just ten minutes of meditation each day.
If you've made it this far down the blog post, I understand this was a lot of information but thank you. I hope some of these can make you feel better in your life.
Leigh
noun
- 1.the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.
"their mindfulness of the wider cinematic tradition" - 2.a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.
Mindfulness has been practised for thousands of years by various religions and traditions, most notably Buddhism and Hinduism, but not excluding Judaism, Christianity and Islam.- Trousselard et al, 2014.
Within Buddhism, it is said that mindfulness (or Sati) is the first step towards enlightenment and/or following Siddhartha Gautama's (the Buddha) footsteps. Throughout time, mindfulness has become increasingly popular in the Western world. We've all heard of meditation and yoga in the 21st century, but still, many of us equate it to/imagine it to be a Buddhist monk wearing robes sitting meditating on top of a hill with legs crossed on top of each other with an absolutely clear mind. Right now I'll say that no, this isn't the be all and end all of mindfulness.
Mindfulness can be adopted by anyone, of any age, class, race, sexuality, gender. It is an inclusive practice, a journey that is different from one person to the next- a journey that can be difficult. Simple, yes, but not easy. So what exactly is mindfulness? Mindfulness is paying attention on purpose. This seems vague, but stay with me.
We live in a world that never sleeps. TV, phones, internet, etc. We have everything in our hands and at the push of a button. This fast past society we're in has us extremely busy- if not in our physical, then definitely within our minds. Ask yourself this. When was the last time you paused to observe? If it was recently, then that's great, but for most of us, we probably can't remember. We forget to stop and look, be it the trees around us, the birds singing in the bushes, or even looking inside ourselves to see how we're really doing. Mindfulness incorporates doing exactly this- paying attention to the rise and fall of our breath, acknowledging our thoughts and emotions without judgement before letting them go, and using our senses to look, listen, see, hear and feel what is around us. "But what does this do?" I hear you ask. Ah, well this is the beautiful part. It gives us awareness of the world, others and ourselves and it is through this awareness we can be better equipped to deal with mental stress, anxiety, depression, you name it. Studies have shown that those who meditate are more emotionally stable and find it easier to regulate their emotions than those who don't meditate (a big fat win for those with mood, anxiety and personality disorders), which brings us onto the next little chapter in this post:
Meditation
Meditation is NOT:
- Getting rid of thoughts.
- "Clearing" the mind.
- In any way, making one superior to others.
Meditation is the act of giving your full attention to only one thing, usually starting with the breath. This can be expanded to compassion, kindness and it can be goal orientated (I once read that the Dalai Lama meditated for two whole hours before an interview). There are plenty of ways to bring meditation into your life. You can incorporate it into any part of your day (though I will recommend before sleep to start with as it's a great way to release emotions, thoughts and feelings of the day passed). Morning meditation is a fantastic way to start the day, though I will admit, I find it harder on a morning because I almost fall back to sleep, but this is why it is called a practice.
You don't have to sit crossed legged for meditation. Personally, I lie down on my back with my arms by my side. You can sit on a chair with your feet on the floor, too.
During meditation, focus on your breath- the rise and fall of the chest and abdomen, and how the air feels going through your nose. You may take a few deep breaths to settle in, then return your breathing to normal and just observe. Don't worry about any thoughts that pop up. Acknowledge them without judgement and let them go (I visualise my thoughts drifting away as clouds). Find the pause between inhale and exhale and feel the stillness. This is the present moment.
Another way to focus during meditation is to take part in a mindfulness body scan. Scanning your body from toes to head, really get in touch with how your body feels. Is it light or heavy? Is there any pain? Are you uncomfortable? Without changing anything, just observe without judgement. Again, if any thoughts arise, acknowledge and let them go.
One positive that can be taken from the internet, is that there are literally thousands of videos of guided meditation online. My personal favourite is Jason Stephenson on YouTube. Once I'm in a dim lit room with his voice and music in my headphones, I am ready to pay attention on purpose. He has relaxing sleep music, meditation for compassion, forgiveness and letting go, and visualisation.
"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf"
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Gratitude
As well as meditation, another great way to practice mindfulness is through gratitude. It has been scientifically proven to improve physical/mental health, sleep pattern, self-esteem and enhances empathy whilst reducing aggression. [Psychology Today]
Ways to express gratitude include:
- Acknowledging three things you're grateful for daily.
- Writing gratitude lists.
- Telling others (and yourself) how grateful you are for them.
Doing just one of these each day can improve your mental well being because you are literally identifying and reminding yourself of the positives in your life.
Yoga
Yoga has become extremely popular in the Western world within the last ten years. You see women all over Instagram in the most complicated postures, and while it's impressive, for some it can be scary to even consider yoga after seeing many others contorting themselves. However, yoga isn't really about this. Yoga is mindfulness through movement, showing gratitude to your body and to the sun. It's not about how flexible you are. I've heard so many people say "I'm not flexible enough to do yoga". There's no better place to start! Yoga improves flexibility, lowers blood pressure and also has the same benefits as that of meditation and gratitude. You can start with beginner's yoga, which includes basic stretching. It is said that the original yoga pose was sitting cross legged and breathing.
There are plenty of videos and websites online dedicated to teaching yoga. I've always been a fan of 'Yoga with Adriene' and Mandy Ingber on YouTube.
Self Compassion & Affirmations
We often think of compassion towards others, which is fantastic. However, many of us don't often use it towards ourselves. As humans, we are very self critical. "That assignment I did was rubbish" or "I am so ugly" is, sadly, rather common. But what does this do to our psyche? It brings us down, gives us low self esteem and even worsens depression. Then we get stuck in the cycle of negative self talk, which is extremely vicious. One way to combat this is to give ourselves compassion. Treat yourself as you would a small child. Give yourself praise for your achievements. When you make a mistake, say to yourself "I forgive you" and try again.Self Compassion & Affirmations
A great way to practice self compassion is to use daily self loving affirmations. Say them to yourself, write them on sticky notes or send yourself emails of them. Here are a few of my favourites:
- I am worthy of love.
- I am successful.
- I am strong and capable.
- I love and treasure my body.
You can make your own to suit your life! Buy a journal and some cute pens and write lists of affirmations, highlighting your favourites.
Great Apps
While I believe in not spending too much time online, there are some fantastic apps out there for mindfulness. Here is a list of my favourites:
- YOU: Small actions, big change
This is an absolutely amazing app. There are hundreds of prompts for micro-mindfulness actions, gratitude, eating healthier and moving your body.
- Moodpath
Record your mood three times daily and every two weeks you will get a report of how you're doing. This can be excellent for identifying triggers for certain emotions and what makes you feel good in your daily life.
- Remente
In this app, you can take on little challenges to achieve goals. The app has a "life assessment" tool which you are encouraged to do each week, to see which parts of your life you feel you need to focus on the following week.
- Headspace
This is a meditation app, starting with just ten minutes of meditation each day.
If you've made it this far down the blog post, I understand this was a lot of information but thank you. I hope some of these can make you feel better in your life.
Leigh
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