How Practicing Mindfulness for Health Can Improve Your Life
Chances are you’ve heard of the word “mindfulness” before. Nevertheless, you might be unsure about what exactly it means or how practicing it can greatly enrich your life. Mindfulness might seem simple, but in reality, it can be quite nuanced.
Today, we’re here to share with you the answer to your question “how can practicing mindfulness improve your life?”
There are plenty of ways that mindfulness can prove helpful--both in regards to your emotional and physical health.
At Cosmos Vita, we are passionate about helping you support your holistic wellness, and that means taking care of both your physical body and your spiritual self. Practicing mindfulness can actually help you make improvements to both of these.
We’ll begin by working out a definition for mindfulness, and then we’ll share some of the health benefits to practicing it. After that, we’ll discuss how you yourself can become a more mindful individual. Finally, we’ll discuss how practicing mindfulness can tremendously improve your life.
Trust us: you’re going to be shocked when you find out how much of an impact it can have!
What is Mindfulness?
When someone is being mindful, their brain (or mind) is present. You’re showing up and being aware of what’s happening, who you’re with, what you’re doing, and the space you take up.
While that might seem trivial or even simplistic, being mindful can actually be more tricky than it seems. Mastering this, however, can help you alleviate anxiety or significantly reduce overthinking.
When we’re not present and instead are lost in our mind or own thoughts, we can lose touch of the world around us. Sometimes we even become fixated on thoughts that could be upsetting or anxiety inducing. Instead of living in the world around us, we’re living inside of our heads. This can be problematic because we’re not fully showing up for ourselves or the people around us.
When you’re being mindful, you’re aware but not overwhelmed. As a mindful individual, you’re staying present to understand, not to react to. You’ll find that oftentimes, practicing mindfulness can actually lead to enhanced inner peace.
Mindfulness can seem simple, but in reality, it can prove to be quite difficult to stay in the present moment. When you’re learning and practicing mindfulness, the most important thing to do is resist judging yourself when your mind wanders.
Your effort towards mindfulness is far more important than the outcome the first time you practice it. If you find your mind wandering, simply remind yourself to be present and proceed. Resist from judging yourself or getting angry at your mind for getting lost. It’s part of the practice — and you’ll be a pro soon.
The best part about mindfulness is the fact that every single person has the innate ability to be mindful already inside of them. All you have to do is tap into it and see how your life changes.
Are There Any Health Benefits to Practicing Mindfulness?
Oh yes, there are plenty of potential health benefits to practicing mindfulness. In fact, we’d argue that this is one of the best things that you can do to support your health. Not only is mindfulness free, it’s also innate and accessible to all people. Take time to tune in and turn inwards, and you might be noticing the potential health benefits sooner than you can imagine.
The first way that mindfulness can support your health is by helping reduce stress. If you find that you’re overwhelmed and therefore, are dealing with stress as a result, consider mindfulness a tactic you can use to potentially reduce stress. Mindfulness brings you out of your head and into the present moment, which makes it an excellent tool.
In addition to this, it appears that mindfulness can support your working memory, which could potentially safeguard your mind from diseases that prey on memory. Mindfulness, therefore, can be helpful in a variety of ways.
That’s not all, however. Did you know that mindfulness can actually help your heart, too? Whether you suffer from heart problems or your heart is relatively healthy, science suggests that there can be benefits to practicing mindfulness.
There’s also evidence suggesting that mindfulness can aid immune response. It can potentially impact disease-fighting cells in a positive way, therefore making it an effective tool against illness.
Finally, mindfulness is also thought to make a positive impact on psychological pain. If you find that you’re suffering, we suggest of course that you seek the help of a licensed therapist or counselor. We also suggest that you attempt to practice mindfulness.
How Do I Practice Mindfulness?
Mindfulness, while innate, can be cultivated and practiced. There are several ways that human beings are capable of doing this. The first way that you can practice mindfulness is through meditation.
Perhaps you’ve heard of meditation before. It is often mentioned in conjunction with mindfulness because the two are so closely connected. For example, one way that you can begin to practice mindfulness is during walking, standing, moving, or seated meditation. You can also practice this while you’re lying down, but beware! You might fall asleep.
We want to take this time to give you a definition of meditation. When you meditate, you’re not trying to become a different, or better person. Instead, you’re simply training yourself to gain awareness and a healthy sense of perspective.
A lot of people think that when you meditate, you’re turning off your thoughts, feelings, and emotions. This is not the case. Instead, you’re simply experiencing these without attachment. If you find that your mind floats away from your practice, simply call it back into perspective and let the thought go.
There are so many ways to practice meditation, so if you’re curious about the practice, we encourage you to try different types of it until you find the one that suits you. Once you do, you can find ways to infuse mindfulness into it.
Another way to practice mindfulness is to simply integrate short pauses into everyday life. When you take a pause, you can channel greater awareness of the space you’re in, what you’re doing, and who you’re with. This is an exceptionally great way to practice mindfulness for those who don’t have the time to dedicate to sitting down and meditating.
Finally, you can also incorporate your meditation practice with other activities that you already do. This can range from sports to yoga. Whatever you do, remember that mindfulness is not supposed to cause stress or anxiety. The best type of mindfulness practice is one that works with your life, not against it.
Here’s How Practicing Mindfulness Can Improve Your Life
In addition to the myriad of ways that practicing mindfulness can make improvements on your physical health, you’ll also find that it can help improve your mental state. Did you know that mindfulness has actually been shown to boost your focus?
If you find that you’re frequently all over the place or have difficulty honing in on what you’re doing, practicing mindfulness can potentially help.
Mindfulness has also been shown to potentially reduce emotional reactivity. As we mentioned earlier, mindfulness allows us the opportunity to be present instead of lost in our minds. As a result, there’s evidence suggesting that the practice can reduce emotional reactivity. Therefore, if you find that you frequently react rashly or overly emotionally, mindfulness might be for you.
Did you know that mindfulness can enhance cognitive flexibility? It’s true. There are so many ways that mindfulness helps you be kind to your mind, it truly is worth a try. If you even have the slightest desire to practice it, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. It can transform your life.
Finally, mindfulness can also improve your life by making a positive impact on the relationships that you have with the people around you. Not only is their evidence suggesting that it can help you better communicate your emotions to your partner, it can also assist those who are dealing with stress in a relationship.
We’re huge fans of mindfulness because it’s a quick, accessible, and relatively easy way to reground yourself and connect with the world around you. We believe that once you start practicing mindfulness yourself, you’ll begin to see the myriad of ways that it can alter your life for the better and start you on the path towards greater holistic health.
Conclusion
Whether you’ve been practicing mindfulness for years and just want a refresher regarding all of its benefits or if you’re a newbie, we’re happy to share with you the variety of ways it can make a positive impact. We know that it can seem overwhelming to get started with a new practice, but we guarantee that like any activity, the more you do it the more approachable it will seem.
SOURCES:
What is Mindfulness? | Mindful
5 Science-Backed Reasons Mindfulness Meditation Is Good for Your Health | Mindful