Mindfulness can be applied to an extremely broad range of activities and settings to improve our experience of the present moment and our relationship to it. Mindfulness also emphasises the cultivation of compassion both for ourselves and others which eases and lightens our attitudes and reactions, making us happier, more able people.
It’s for these reasons that Mindfulness based practices have been introduced into such diverse fields as healthcare, psychology and psychotherapy, stress reduction, childbirth and parenting, education, cognitive therapy, integrative medicine, diet and weight-loss, coping with chronic pain and dealing with depression.
Mindfulness Meditation is no longer the preserve of solitary Buddhist monks meditating in caves, but a natural and practical method of mind training which can help us all deal with our chaotic minds and turbulent emotions more skilfully.
The Benefits of Mindfulness:
- It produces long-term positive changes in the shape of your brain
- Reduction in chronic pain, anxiety & depression, prevents relapse, and improves emotional disposition
- Boosts the immune system which helps fight off colds and other diseases
- Helps reduce the effects of skin diseases like psoriasis
- Improves relationships
- Increases self-awareness
- Enhances mental & physical performance
- Enables creativity
- Combats the ageing of the brain
- Improves memory
- Improves sleep
- Mindfulness Meditators are happier than non-meditators
- Evokes your bodys relaxation response
- Can make you more compassionate
- Mindfulness practitioners manage their time more effectively
- Mindfulness is recommended by GP’s
Some Personal Benefits of Mindfulness:
Listed below are just some of the personal benefits which I have gained from my practice over the years, and which I believe are shared by other long-term practitioners of Mindfulness.
- A quiet, calm and focussed mind
- Less internal commentary, self-criticism and negativity
- Less negativity towards others
- Less attachment to thoughts and emotions
- A sense of being grounded in my body
- An increased openness to the flow of things as they happen, rather than feeling that I must somehow control everything and everyone
- I laugh more and take myself less seriously
- An increased capacity for empathy and compassion, both for myself and others
- Increased self-confidence, self-responsibility and resilience
- A profound sense of being Ok with life just as it is
- A deep sense of wonder and curiosity
- A profound sense of being at one with the present moment
- Freedom from feeling pressured, stressed or controlled by time
- An ability to connect with, and genuinely understand, another person
- A sense of the Big Picture
Mindfulness Sources:
Hanson, R., & Mendius, R., Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom, new harbinger, Oakland CA, 2009
Hanson, R., Just One Thing: developing a Buddha brain one simple practice at a time, new harbinger, Oakland CA, 2011
Heaversedge, Dr. J., & Halliwell, E., The Mindful Manifesto: How Doing Less And Noticing More Can Help Us Thrive In A Stressed-Out World, Hay House, London, 2012
Kabat-Zinn J. Full Catastrophe Living, Piatkus, New York, 2011
McCowan, D., Reibel, D., Micozzi, M., Teaching Mindfulness: A Practical Guide for Clinicians and Educators, Springer, New York, 2011
Puddicombe, A., Get Some Headspace, Hodder & Stoughton, Great Britain, 2011
Williams, M., & Penman, D., Mindfulness: a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world, Piatkus, Great Britain, 2011