What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is conscious, non-judgemental awareness; it is a state of being fully present in the moment. There are many positive impacts that mindfulness can have on health, especially mental health. People who practice mindfulness may have a greater ability to focus on the present moment and have less worry about the past or future.
There is a place for mindfulness in comprehensive mental health treatment. It can be used to help reduce feelings associated with anxiety and depression, increase the ability to cope with unpleasant feelings and emotions, improve negative self-talk and internal dialogue, facilitate greater stillness and calm, help to become more fully engaged, and increase the idea of acceptance.
Can Mindfulness Affect Well-Being?
Mindfulness can help enhance the healing process because it can help facilitate an increase acceptance, rather than avoidance, and at times this is a desired outcome.
Mindfulness can help to bring physical comfort in many ways. It allows us to become still and present in the moment. Often, when we are experiencing what we perceive to be a negative physical sensation, we are unknowingly passing judgement and attaching negative thoughts and beliefs to the sensation which creates greater discomfort.
Take the physical sensation of pain as an example. When we feel pain and attach negative thoughts and emotions to the pain, we have now created emotional turmoil. In addition to the physical pain we may now also be feeling anger, “Why is this happening to me again?”, or frustration “Now I won’t be able to finish my work assignment!”, or worry “I don’t know why I feel this way and it makes anxious”. If we are simply aware of the physical sensation of pain without attaching judgement to it, we may be able to better tolerate the physical sensation and also shift awareness to something else we are experiencing in the present moment.
Beginning Mindfulness
Some of the best mindfulness techniques are also the simplest to do. One of my favorite techniques is practiced by moving though the steps below.
First, become still, either seated or lying down and close your eyes.
Begin to bring awareness to your breathing, and use your breath to scan your body. As you scan your entire body, notice how you feel. Become an observer of how you feel.
Next, begin to widen your awareness to what is going on around you, the noises inside and outside of the room. Become an observer of the sounds around you.
Be aware of any thoughts that travel through your mind. Allow them to pass though your mind without judgement. Think the thought, and let it go. You are an observer of your thoughts.
Remain in this state of awareness for as long as you are comfortable.
