There are many people who, even during their days off, such as weekends or vacations, cannot leave behind the hectic pace of life they lead. They are not capable of isolating themselves from everything and slow down to enjoy the moment to the fullest.
The truth is that people have lost the wisdom of being and connecting. We have too many responsibilities, tasks and commitments and if we have a free space, we look for an activity to occupy it, we never use it to rest. And in the rare moments that we finally get to rest, our minds are often focused on worries or thinking about everything we could or should be doing.
This syndrome of being busy always has consequences such as:
- Irritability
- Pressure
- Insomnia
- Muscle tension, stomach problems and headaches
- Allergic reactions (eczema and asthma)
In short, it ends up causing us a great level of stress. Luckily, mindfulness is a practice that can help us alleviate all these effects.
What is mindfulness good for?
Mindfulness is defined as full attention. It is a preventive practice through mental exercises whose objective is to pay attention to the present moment to feel things as they are happening, without trying to exercise any control over them.
Its origin is in Buddhism and already, for 30 years it has been integrated into Western medicine and psychology. With the practice of mindfulness, it is possible to increase self-awareness, reduce physical and psychological symptoms resulting from stress and, therefore, significantly increase general well-being.
What benefits does mindfulness have?
- Reduce stress. Specifically, it reduces cortisol levels, the stress hormone.
- Increase our perspective. It helps us to analyze in a more objective and effective way the problems that arise in our day to day.
- It helps us to be better people. By being more self-aware, we are less judgmental when we interact with others. We could say that it develops our most compassionate side.
How is mindfulness practiced?
There are two options: formal practices such as meditation and yoga, or informal practices that try to develop mindfulness attitude and aptitude in activities of daily life.
You can start practicing mindfulness yourself in a very simple way. In different situations of your daily life, for a moment, pay attention and become aware of these 3 things:
- Situational Awareness: Where am I? What is happening? Who is around me?
- Action Awareness: What am I doing?
- Body awareness: What is my body position like? What do I feel? How is my energy?
