Mindfulness can reduce stress, worry and anxiety. Research shows that this ancient technique, with its roots in Buddhism, still works. Just ten minutes a day can change the brain’s neural pathways and shrink the amygdala – the brain’s alarm centre. Thanks to this, mindfulness is used within healthcare to treat depression, anxiety and exhaustion disorder. Here you’ll learn more about the technique.
Mindfulness is about being aware of the present. It’s a technique that develops your ability to remember to be present in the moment. It can also be described as an approach to life that develops your attention, awareness and empathy. Moreover, mindfulness tends to provide much-needed relaxation. A breathing space where you can unwind and simply be.
For most people, mindfulness is a new way of being. As such, when getting started with mindfulness, it may seem difficult and strange. Perhaps you’ve tried it but felt lost, restless or anxious when doing so. It’s common to feel like this. At the same time, many people find mindfulness helpful in just such situations.
Reminding yourself to be more present and aware tends to make favourable choices in everyday life a little easier. And when we fail to do so, mindfulness is about being kind to ourselves, even when we feel we’re not living up to our own expectations. Mindfulness isn’t something we achieve but rather a way of being and relating to reality.
Every day, our minds are overwhelmed by a constant barrage of thoughts, ranging from everyday trivia to deeper reflections on life and the world around us. Most of our thoughts are about the past or the future, so we’re rarely in the present, where our life is actually taking place. The brain also has a tendency to focus more on the negative than the positive, which isn’t particularly helpful. When our mental wellbeing isn’t at its best, it’s easy to fall into a vicious circle of negative thoughts.
Another factor is that the world around us offers increasingly more stimuli as technology develops. Our smartphones contain an entire world of experiences craving our attention. Understandably, it’s not too surprising that many people find it difficult to be in the here and now.
Mindfulness can help you create more distance from your brain’s automatic thoughts and find a more forgiving approach. This way, you can better equip yourself to live with emotions such as worry and anxiety.
Our brains are plastic. This means that they’re malleable and can be influenced.
Meditation is the part of mindfulness where we sit or lie down to actively practise being in the here and now. This is why it’s often referred to as the formal practice. It can even strengthen your ability to be present in the moment throughout the rest of the day.
Mindfulness in everyday life is an informal way to practise presence. This is when we remind ourselves to be present in the moment even during everyday tasks like washing our hands.
Without knowing it, you’ve probably practised mindfulness many times in your life. Say, for instance, that you’ve been listening to a really good song and been completely immersed in the music without thinking about anything else.
Text: Caroline Erfass, mindfulness instructor
One meditation technique you can use anywhere is breath counting. You can try counting each exhalation. Each time you forget to count, simply note it, accept that it happened without judging yourself, and continue counting. If you completely lose count, just start over again. The point isn’t to get to a certain number but rather to discover when your thoughts and attention drift and you notice that you’re no longer counting. You’ve then practised mindfulness and can be happy with yourself.
Consider when during the day it would be most convenient for you to meditate for a short while. Many people prefer to meditate at home first thing in the morning, before their brain has started ticking over. If you’re not a morning person or have stressful mornings, it may be better to choose another time, such as after dinner. It can be easier to create a workable routine by meditating in connection with something else you do on a daily basis, such as after breakfast or before bed.
As a beginner, one common pitfall is being a little too ambitious about how long you’re going to meditate. Short moments go a long way. This could be two to five minutes a day – or just one minute – that you slowly increase over time when it feels right.
Initially, it can help to listen to guided meditations. Maybe while out walking if you get restless sitting still. You can find guided meditations here at Mind or wherever you listen to podcasts.
When we practise mindfulness in daily life, we try to experience the moment as it is. And we have our senses to help us. Try asking yourself questions like:
Feel free to choose a chore or task that you already do every day to practise being present. This could be when:
Here are some more examples of questions you could ask yourself:
Another nice way to practise mindfulness is to create a gratitude routine. Gratitude is an important part of mindfulness, and it helps us to focus more on what we have rather than what we don’t have. Writing a line in a gratitude journal every day is one way to strengthen your sense of gratitude. These can be things both big and small. And it doesn’t matter if it’s the same thing you’re grateful for every day.
Here are three mindfulness habits that can provide a good starting place:
When sitting down to meditate, it’s quite common to feel restless. “Doing nothing” can feel boring or difficult. Many people find that practising mindfulness while moving, such as walking, helps.
When we practise mindfulness, we “sit with what is”. If you experience strong and difficult emotions, try to acknowledge them by telling yourself what you’re feeling. You could, for example, say to yourself:
When we acknowledge an emotion, we often feel a little better about it. The emotion may remain, but it’s no longer a threat.
It’s common to be frightened by strong emotions and to want to escape them when they arise. Perhaps you can only put up with the emotion for a short time. In this case, praise yourself for trying, and show self-compassion given the difficulty it poses.
Over time, as you continue to practise being with what is, it can become easier to detect difficult emotions. You can also develop a more forgiving and kinder attitude towards yourself when struggling.
If you find that you forget to practise mindfulness, you can consider it a good thing when you realize that you forgot. You became aware. Practising mindfulness is very much about constantly forgetting and remembering. When we meditate, we constantly find ourselves thinking about other things. This is how we practise and become aware of what’s going on in our mind. We forget to be present, and after a while we remember, and this is completely normal.
You’ll also notice that it’s more difficult to be present on some days than others. When we’re stressed, it’s almost impossible not to think about what’s ahead of us or everything that needs to be done. You’ll become aware that this is how things are right now. You’ve witnessed the stress.
We’re all different. If you feel that listening to music or walking while being present is what works for you, then so be it. Avoid exercises that feel too difficult. Mindfulness works best when it’s not a must and instead grows into something you feel you want to do and that makes you feel good. After a while, mindfulness becomes a routine that almost just happens by itself.
If you’re feeling low, perhaps lonely, try reminding yourself that many other people feel the same way. Right at this moment. This is a great way to connect with other people facing the same challenges. Reminding yourself of our interconnectedness with others is also a way of practising mindfulness.
Text: Caroline Erfass, mindfulness instructor