Why Should You Be Mindful?

Hello everyone,

I am sure we have all heard people tell us to live in the present, in the moment, or be attentive to things happening around you right now? Right? This state of being, which you may or may not be aware of is called Mindfulness. Know of it? Probably heard of it or even practiced it, through meditation and other such training. It is not a new concept and has been around for a while with its roots in Buddhism and is what we shall be discussing today in this post. 

I heard a ted talk on mindfulness a while ago and it really got me thinking. I think it's such a crucial thing to be aware of what we are doing, while doing or even when planning what needs to be done. Accepting our situations and where you are in what you do, is probably the first step for it, future has not happened yet, but working  for it happens in the present, which is where we need to be, to get to where we want to be. Makes sense?. You could say it is like similar to meditation (but a little different) where you are structuring your inner workings into something that aligns with all your process for the present moment, i.e., refocus all your energies to the present moment.

First let me explain what exactly mindfulness is. It is nothing about being aware and being a full part of a place, situation and time in the present moment. It is honestly not rocket science, and is something we all, as humans, already possess, but it still needs a lot of conscious effort to implement it in our day to day lives. So, in a way, you need to train your mind to be to be mindful, which then makes adapts you brain to conform to it.

A lot of times we just feel like we are doing things on autopilot, things we are used to doing out of habit, like a day to day routine for example. But what mindfulness does is, it targets areas of brain, that you generally do not make use of (which is a lot of it btw, just FYI!) and instead of being zoned out, thinking about 100 different other things, and being anxious for no bloody reason, it just gets us back to where we are present. Being aware of your thoughts, actions or feelings and accepting them without being judgmental about them is what this concept is. Thus, it also does help you keep your mental health in check as well and improves the quality of life for long run. It has also been proven to improve your overall being and reduce stress largely.

How do we become mindful you ask? There are quite a few techniques, and after a bit of research these were what I came up with. 

1.     Be Aware, Be Present: Try to consciously focus on the things that surround you, the sounds, people, the smell, everything basically.

2.     Accept your feelings: Accept how you feel and your emotions, they are a part of you after all and trying to run away from them is not going to get us anywhere.  Also, this way it is easier to let them go.

3.  Breathing: It is undoubtedly a vital part of life and any type of meditation, even mindfulness. Managing your breathing and keeping it in control can help you a great deal in focusing. So, take a deep breath, focus on that one breath (feeling the inhalation/exhalation) and get ready to face anything that comes your way like a pro.

4.     Go with the flow: Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and not judge proceedings. Your mind might wander here and there, which is pretty common, but you will just have to bring it back and start again.

5.     Just start it: In the beginning you might find it a little difficult or it may seem to not make any great difference, but like everything good, the journey of self-awareness does take a good amount of time. 

So what do you guys think? Pretty doable isn't it? Let’s try to inculcate it in our everyday life slowly, one step at a time (like for anything) and unleash our full potential in the present!

P.S. Have you guys heard about mindfulness? Do you meditate? What do you think helps you the most in destressing or connecting with yourself? Please leave in the comments below. It would be great to share ideas which might help one another.