Hello there friends and welcome to my 86 th blog.

It seems that the word mindfulness is absolutely everywhere. Its popularity in the western world has skyrocketed in recent years.It’s on the cover of magazines and appears on the evening news.Celebrities swear by it, scientists study it, monks still practice it and business leaders use it to prevent burnout.

. Then there is the word meditation which has been around since time immemorial. Mindfulness and meditation  are used interchangeably often and consistently and there seems to be little explanation for both. This confused me hugely, and I really needed to make sense of it all. So, I did what I habitually do, and delved a  little deeper into the meaning of these two words..

What is the difference between mindfulness and meditation?

1. Mindfulness is a quality and meditation is a practice or activity.

Meditation is a practice where a person uses a technique to train their attention and awareness and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state.

Mindfulness describes a specific way of living that can be cultivated through practice. It is the awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose non-judgementally in the present.

Then there is mindfulness meditation, which is a mental training practice that teaches you to slow down racing thoughts, let go of negativity, and calm both your mind and body.

 

2. Meditation is one of the many roads to mindful living.

Meditation is one of numerous tools we can use to develop mindfulness. Other tools we may use could be trying to focus on one thing at a time or just slowing down.

 

3. Mindfulness can be used in treatment that does not include meditation.

Not all folk are keen on meditation and a number do not want to build this formal practice in their everyday lives. So, these people learn different skills to help them with mindfulness, without having to engage in the formal practice of meditation.

 

4. Mindfulness can be practiced formally or informally.

As mentioned above, there are many informal ways to practice mindfulness such as mindful walking, eating or even mindful conversation. To practice mindfulness informally means to partake in everyday activities with the intention of fully engaging in whatever experience is happening in the present moment. I will chat more about this below.

 Shoo! no wonder there is confusion surrounding mindfulness and meditation. The concoctions between them are extremely close.

Now that we can see the wood for the trees, hopefully, we can explore the general idea of mindfulness a little more.

 

1. It is not obscure or exotic. It’s familiar to us because it’s what we already do and how we already are. It takes many shapes and can go by many names.
2. It is not a special added thing that we do. We already have the ability to be present. We can cultivate these innate qualities with simple scientifically designed practices.
3. We do not need to change who we are in order to be mindful. It will just enhance us and help us in our aim to be our best self.
4. Anyone can do it, regardless of your creed, culture, or religious beliefs. It is easy and highly beneficial.
5. It is a way of living. It brings awareness and caring into everything that we do. Even a little can make our lives better.
6. It is evidenced based. Both science and experience demonstrate its positive benefits.

 

Yippee! it seems that I do not have to be a master of meditation in order to develop mindfulness.

 Let us have look at some of the benefits of mindfulness.

1. Mindfulness improves your wellbeing.

Being mindful makes it easier to revel in the pleasures of life as they happen, helps you to become fully engaged in activities, and helps you to deal better when bad stuff happens. By focusing on the here and now, we will be less likely to get caught up in the worries about the future or regrets about the past. We form meaningful friendships and we are able to liver our best life.

 

2. Mindfulness improves physical health.

Mindfulness relieves stress, may treat heart disease, lower blood pressure, reduce chronic pain, improve sleep, and may lessen gastric issues.

 

3. Mindfulness improves mental health.

In recent years psychotherapists have turned to mindfulness meditation for the treatment of depression, substance abuse, eating disorders, anxiety disorders and Obsessive Compulsive disorder.

 

This is all well and good and, if being mindful is so amazingly marvellous, why are we all not practicing it every day? Why do most of us spend our time ruminating about our past and worrying about the future? The learned folk say this is because mindfulness is not very natural and is actually quite hard to do. It would also appear that humans as a species are not evolved to enjoy the here and now. Rather we are wired to time travel mentally mostly into the future. By avoiding mindfulness, we can also help distract ourselves from any pain we may be experiencing. Neuroscience has shown us that mind wandering actually decreases activity in brain regions that involve the processing of pain. So, avoiding mindfulness is a self-defence strategy for those suffering mentally. Gosh, this makes me think that adopting this mindfulness as a habit may be a bit of a challenge as it seems that many of us do not know how to be at home in our head, or, we do know how, but we just would prefer not to be there!

 

However, in spite of the fact that practicing mindfulness may be quite difficult, having established how much I could benefit from it, I decided that I needed some pointers in how to start doing this. My time is precious so initially I will have a look the more informal mindfulness exercises I could do.

Below are a few exercises.

1. Morning routine

One needs to pick an activity that is part of our daily morning routine. For me this is showering. I need to focus totally on what I am doing. I notice the sound of the water as it sprays out of the shower head. I am aware of the temperature of the water and the feel of it in my hair, shoulders, and the rest of my body.   I notice the scent of the soap and shampoo and the feel of them against my skin. I see the water droplets on the shower screen, the water dripping down and the steam rising. I am aware of the movements of my arms as I wash my hair and body. When thoughts come into my head which will happen again and again, my aim is to acknowledge them, let them be and then bring my attention back to the shower. This I feel that I could do if I practice it often enough.

 

2. Mindful eating

I have chatted about this briefly in a previous blog. This is an awesomely  broad and deep subject and one I am still not entirely comfortable with.. However one aspect of mindful eating does resonate with me. i just need to take eight to ten slow deep breaths before I begin  eating. Like anything, the more frequently I do this, the more of a habit it will become. Well worth trying.

 

3. Mindful movement.

Whether I am walking, jogging, or doing a Jeff class I can practice mindfulness. Before I start to exercise, I need to bring purpose to my activity by consciously visualizing how I would like my session to be. As I warm up, I concentrate on my breathing and try to get the rhythm of my breath to match my movement.  As the intensity picks up, I try to continue coordinating my breath and movement. Then as I cool down, I slow down the rate of my breathing. Breathwork is a big love of mine, and I feel that i could certainly get to grips with this mindfulness practice.

 

4. Mindful driving.

Breathing exercises are wonderful to temper down the road rage that one often feels. I have discussed this before. I have succumbed to road rage more than once. I must try to take a  few calming breaths and then perhaps I can do some shoulder rolls to relax the muscular tension in my body. After this I can look at the other drivers and realize that we are all in the same boat and apparently this can all be quite comforting. I am hoping to work on this one as I drive many kilometres at the moment.

 

There are many other ways to practice mindfulness, relatively informally.  One can just sit quietly and focus on a word or mantra that you repeat silently. We can also be aware of subtle body sensations. One can notice any of the five senses and one can be aware of any emotions that these may conjure up. With all of these, one allows thoughts to come and go without judgement and then each time one returns to one’s focus.

If mindfulness techniques are a form of mediation, perhaps I may soon be able to formally meditate.That’s a thought!

What I love about mindfulness is the fact that it is always there. It is a friend that we can have throughout our lives. We can turn to it when we need direction, inspiration, and clarity. There is no wrong way or right way to practice it. We all do it differently and it is something we can learn to enjoy. I am so looking forward to working on becoming more mindful. i would love you to join me! Here’s to being present without judgment.

Please always bear in mind the fact that my blogs are my thoughts and information that I have gained from reading and researching This is a vast and deep subject, and I am merely scratching the surface of it.

With thanks to Arthur C. Brooks, Physiopedia, Crystal Hoshaw, Ed and Deb Shapiro. The Happiness Trap, Kendra Cherry, Parneet Pal, Carley Hauck, Elisha Goldstein, Kyra Bobinet , Cara Bradley,and Joshua Schultz