Mindfulness

Mindfulness is an intentional cultivation of consciousness, which is believed to promote well-being. Mindfulness practice in daily life with focused attention, awareness, and non-judgemental, accepting attitude demonstrates benefits in health, productivity, overcoming addictions, avoiding burnout, self-regulating behaviour and positive emotional states.

I used to think I was too busy to spend time on mindfulness and besides, there was no sufficient evidence to relate the effects in physical health. Little did I know that my approach was purely judgemental and unaccepting, building limits to a better version of my health and well-being. After some research, I decided to squeeze mindfulness practices into my busy daily schedule even only for 1 minute every day. Realisations came after each other: it was noisy, chaotic, painful and restless, everything contrary to what I expected in exchange of my spent time. Just like I observed my breath, I observed my mind trying to get me out of the practice. The value of regular practice has given me one of the greatest gifts of understanding that I have a choice; all movements inside my mind will just pass if I let them go without attachment. Without any resistance or distraction, I could breathe calmly and be mindful of my body and state of my mind by practicing consistently. I could observe myself getting better in focusing, stress relief and ultimately having increased performance in my daily life.

Mindfulness in medicine(mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)) has been successfully utilised to treat anxiety, depressive relapse, eating disorders, psychosis, and borderline personality disorder. There is an increasing interest about the therapeutic effects of mindfulness meditation and its clinical applications:

Are you still thinking that you don’t have time to practice?