The importance of practising mindfulness

It's crucial to pause and practise mindfulness.

Mindfulness is the practise of paying attention on purpose to the present, such as how the air smells and feels while walking your dog or how a bite of bread tastes with dinner. The ultimate goal is to help you shift your focus away from your usual worries and toward a deeper understanding of the present moment and a broader view of life.

When scientists look at mindfulness, they find that it can improve both physical and mental symptoms and lead to positive changes in attitudes and behaviours that affect health.

  

Here are two independent mindfulness exercises you can attempt.

Fundamentally, mindfulness practise

• Sit on a chair with a straight back or cross-legged on the floor.
• Focus on a part of your breathing, like the feeling of air going in and out of your nose and mouth or the way your stomach rises and falls as you breathe in and out.
• Begin to broaden your concentration once you've narrowed it to this extent. Become conscious of sounds, sensations, and thoughts.
• Accept and consider each thought and sensation without assigning value to them. If your mind begins to run, bring your attention back to your breathing. Again, broaden your consciousness.

Mindfulness in daily activities

A less formal approach to mindfulness can also assist you in remaining in the present and participating fully in your life. You can choose any activity or moment to practise casual mindfulness, like eating, taking a shower, strolling, or playing with a child. This sense of awareness will become more natural with practice.

1. To begin, focus your attention on the sensations in your body.
2. Inhale through the nose and allow the air to flow down into your lower abdomen. Allow your stomach to stretch entirely. Then, exhale via the mouth. Observe the sensations of every inhale and exhale.
3.  Proceed with the task at hand carefully and deliberately. 
4. Engage all of your senses. Observe each sight, touch, and sound in order to appreciate every sensation. 
5. When you become aware that your mind has wandered from the task at hand, gently return it to the sensations of the present.

Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-practicing-yoga-4050218/