Increase Self-Awareness Through Mindfulness Meditation
The moment we wake up, there is a constant movement — to our body and mind. Our alarm rings to startle our physical body, we grab our phone to turn it off and almost instantly feel the pull to read our emails, open up our apps and “check in.”
For the bothered mind, it may be too much and stress becomes a daily part of life. That simply will not do. There are several things you could do to calm your nerves. One of the simplest and most effective methods by far is mindfulness meditation. Today we’ll be talking about the benefits of mindfulness meditation, as well as how you can apply it to your daily routine.
What’s Mindfulness Meditation?
Mindfulness meditation allows you to embrace positivity, ease your body and mind, and slow your thoughts to a crawl. Meditation with a dash of mindfulness, a focus on the now, is what mindfulness meditation is.
Don’t avoid negative thoughts, bottle up strong emotions, or numb yourself to the world., Instead, take a breather and start confronting them.
There are different ways to reach the state of mindfulness in this type of meditation. Deep breathing and a focused outlook are the core of all of them. There’s no real need for external items such as scented candles or aromatics.
Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation
Minimize Stress
Mindfulness meditation is so effective that it has become standard practice among health professionals. Patients who are suffering from severe stress are often asked to undergo the steps of mindfulness meditation to calm their nerves.
This is handy for every situation, whether it’s for general mental unease to prepare yourself before risky surgery. Factors such as anxiety, chronic pain, and depression all lead back to too much stress. Meditation eases the pain from all of these factors when done correctly.
Minimize Stress
Mindfulness meditation is so effective that it has become standard practice among health professionals. Patients who are suffering from severe stress are often asked to undergo the steps of mindfulness meditation to calm their nerves.
This is handy for every situation, whether it’s for general mental unease to prepare yourself before risky surgery. Factors such as anxiety, chronic pain, and depression all lead back to too much stress. Meditation eases the pain from all of these factors when done correctly.
Mature Emotional Outlook
Meditating mindfully helps patients lead more positive lives. By giving themselves positive reinforcement, their self-image is improved significantly. When meditating, inflammatory chemicals known as cytokines are significantly reduced in production as well.
Additionally, the reduction of stress and positive outlook means a stronger understanding of themselves. Being able to recognize your own harmful habits and direct your attention to more productive ones would be impossible when the mind is attacked with stress.
Increases General Awareness
Narrowing your focus on meditation does wonder for your attention span. Meditating helps the mind get used to emptying itself of all distractions. Once your mind is better equipped to deal with distractions inwardly, external distractions will be a breeze. After all, nothing is noisier than what’s in your mind.
Strengthens Memory
As we age, our memory tends to waver. Meditation gives your brain time to remember all the good things. Repeating a series of positive thoughts in your mind helps you retain them better over the years. When combined with other repetitive exercises such as yoga, the benefits to your memory and general mental health are strengthened.
How To Meditate Mindfully
Mindfulness meditation’s best quality is that it's practical and efficient. You can do it almost anywhere and at any time.
Find Any Place
Find somewhere that you can sit, or lie down. It does not need to be quiet or away from people. Find a comfy chair or nice spot on the floor to sit on. Keep your body soft but mindful that your back isn’t too rigidly straight or overly slouched. Wear clothes that you find yourself most comfortable in, if your meditation is planned. Of course, that’s just optional, you can do this wherever and whenever you want.
Focus on Breathing
Keep your mouth closed as you breathe in through your nose. Perform slow and steady inhalations. The inhale can be around 5 seconds, then you slowly exhale for another 5 seconds. Repeat this 6 times. On the 6th exhale, however, slowly exhale through your mouth as well.
Pay attention to the rise and fall of your chest as you do this. Take note of the temperature as the air enters your lungs and leaves them.
Confront Yourself
Take as much of an unbiased look at yourself as you can. Think of what’s causing all of your stress. Imagine yourself looking at yourself from the outside and assess how your day has been going. Let every thought you’ve had that day present itself in your mind palace.
There are styles of meditation that encourage you to empty your mind (honestly there’s so many styles of meditation that take the time to explore what resonates with you!). Mindfulness meditation seeks to do the opposite. It is telling you to witness all of those thoughts swirling around your head. You cannot solve a problem if you keep setting it aside.
Conclusion
Mindfulness meditation is simple to do, but a bit tricky to understand without continual practice. It’s very easy to get lost in the “confronting yourself” stage after all. However, the trick to this is witnessing your thoughts and staying present with your meditation technique as effortlessly as possible. If you’re frowning, you may be trying too hard to concentrate. Soften.
Always prioritize the logical approach then apply your emotions. Once you learn how to do this consistently, the practice will continue to reveal new opportunities for growth and surrender.
Reach out to me, Brenda, and the creator of Mother of the Mind if you need to support or a mentor for your mindfulness practices (from yoga to meditation and subtleties of our being).