Here are 3 simple reasons why mindfulness is important
You’ve probably heard 100s of times already, that being mindful is an essential part of a healthy and happy life. But you may be wondering just why this is.
Well, being mindful has the power to change many different aspects of your life in small but meaningful ways. Sometimes the benefits are so small that it doesn’t feel like it has any immediate impact. But the benefits can be super awesome if you’re not careful!
Yes, if you’re not careful with when & how, and how often you practice, being mindful can have dramatic, super awesome power that can help transform your life in a positive way!
Here are 3 answers to the questions: "Why must I practice mindfulness? Why is it so important to everyone?"
1. Mindfulness Helps With Mental Health
The more we stress, the more we spend our entire day running around, worrying about the past, and all the things which may be happening right now, and we panic about the future. Or if “panic” is an overstatement, at least we fret about the future. And so our worry snowballs as our thoughts race through everything. Our thoughts jump from seemingly inconsequential or trivial things, to disturbing thoughts about whatever it is that weighs us down.
We all experience this, and sometimes it lasts quite long. The longer this goes on for, the more likely we’ll run into health problems. We know this, right?
Stress is rather recent concept. Our parents didn’t seem to “suffer from stress” the way we do. This is not because they’ve somehow been immune to it. It’s just that back then, when they used to run around and worry about their present, past and future, the concept of “stress” wasn’t yet a thing. It wasn’t on their radar. Hell, it wasn’t even on mental health practitioner’s radar until the last few decades, really.
But stop and really think about it, for a second. Worrying is a “mental activity”. It’s not physical in any shape or form. Except that you can probably measure your brainwave activity during these mental acrobatics. But that is the extent of its… realness.
Despite the fact that worrying thoughts aren’t real in the true sense of the word, these thoughts and feelings eventually produce physical changes in our bodies. Like a stiff neck or aching muscles for example.
That’s not the only way that stress and tension affect us negatively. It usually affects us mentally and emotionally first. Sometimes our mental and emotional reaction to stress affects our lives in ways that change relationships. Every kid knows to stay out of daddy’s way when daddy’s had a difficult day at work. There’s your proof that stress isn’t new, by the way.
The worst part, I think, is that we have come to just accept stress as part of life. Welcome to the human race, we think. Daddies like that, are daddies we’ve all had, and it’s perfectly ok if my kids one day feel like that about me.
Stress and tension take years to build momentum before it manifests physical discomfort and pain. And the result isn’t always just a stiff and painful neck either. Many people develop stomach ulcers, skin problems, hair loss, eating disorders... The list goes on, and is slightly different for everyone.
Our symptoms start in small ways. At first, we’re quite oblivious of it. At times, we realize something is amiss but we cannot pinpoint what exactly. And for some of us, like by the time you have a stomach ulcer for example, it’s sometimes almost too late to do something about the stress for a reduction in stress and tension to improve your physical symptoms. What’s going to work the fastest for a stomach ulcer? Medication? Surgery? Happy thoughts?
Here’s the lesson. Two actually: When you aren’t mindful of what you think, and how you feel, you become stressed. And it’s never too late do something about stress.
So it is only logical that, in order to take care of our mental health and lower our stress levels, it’s crucial to be mindful of our environment and how we feel and respond. That’s what mindfulness does. It arrests our thoughts. Centers it on the here and now. So that we can slow the progress of our worrying thoughts, just a little. But even a little is something. That lets a little sunlight into our darkest thoughts. And this melts our snowball down to a more manageable size.
Mindfulness helps us be more at peace mentally and being mindful will keep our brain feeling fresh.
2. Mindfulness Boosts Creativity
Not only does mindfulness help preserve our mental health, but it also nurtures our creativity. And I don’t just mean creativity, like painting or poetry. No.
Creativity is especially important when we face challenges in our life. Creativity is a part of learning to overcome challenges.
Various studies on mindfulness found that practicing mindfulness improves brain function and memory, which help us navigate the twists and turns of life more easily. Those who practiced mindfulness in their everyday life tended to suffer less memory loss later in life compared to the control group participants that didn’t practice mindfulness.
3. Mindfulness Keeps You Healthy
Besides just mental benefits, practicing mindfulness has several physical benefits for our body. It improves immune function so that we can stay healthy and fight off infections more quickly when we get sick. One study found that being more mindful increased enzyme activity in the body. These enzymes slowed the aging process. (See “Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress”, Epel et al.).
This means that mindfulness is scientifically proven to lead to a longer, healthier life.
Mindfulness is an integral part of leading a happy and healthy life, no matter how you look at it.
Why must I practice mindfulness? Why is it so important to everyone?
Here are the list of reasons just from what I shared above:
Instead of worrying about the past, present or future, it arrests your thoughts and centers your awareness acutely on the here & now instead of the past, or the future, or whatever may be troubling you.
That awareness lowers stress & tension.
Lowering stress & tension impacts your mood, relationships, family. And your response to challenges in life and therefore your work. It also impacts your body & health, and ultimately your aging process.
Mindfulness helps to keep you mentally sane, and boosts your creativity. It works in several ways to keep you physically healthy as well. So, if you want to live your best life, it’s time to start being more mindful right now.
Start with a simple exercise. Right here, right now. Just for a minute. 60 seconds. That’s all. Do the following, slowly, attentively and with purpose:
Go ahead, focus on your breathing.
Feel your heart beat.
Feel how your lungs expand with each breath.
Or feel how shallow your breath is.
Notice what changes when you inhale deeper now.
Now focus on the sounds around you.
See, it wasn’t hard to endure 60 seconds of mindless focus on being mindful in this moment. But it takes practice to still your mind. The longer you can stretch the session out, the better.
Here are three books to get you inspired.
Suggested Further by Reading
Check out these gems available on Amazon. Note that Woodbridge Hypnosis earns from your qualifying purchases. And to earn from your qualifying purchase, I make a little effort to curate the list, find the image and text for your ease of browsing. I trust you find this in order. However, these books may be available at your local bookstore or library. And if not, find anything else that may be on topic!
Open the list to find out more about each. Click the image to buy it on Amazon.
1. Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
Psychcentral.com has this to say about this book & author:
"This is a one-size-fits-all mindfulness handbook that will teach you the concepts, get you started with exercises, and sit on your bedside table as a welcome reference. The chapters are short and self-contained, so you can dip in wherever you want.
It was written by author and mindfulness teacher Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1994 and has remained a bestseller and classic. Kabat-Zinn founded the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Clinic in 1979, which was then associated with the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
He has written many other mindfulness books, the best-known one being “Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness,” which is full of research and recommended applications. It’s the book that ushered mindfulness into medical and scientific circles.
This shorter book [Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life] is directed to a wider audience and is meant to provide a “brief and easy access to the essence of mindfulness,” Kabat-Zinn writes. “Full Catastrophe Living” is directed toward people with serious medical problems, stress, and chronic pain.
You can also purchase the accompanying “Guided Mindfulness Meditation Series 2” audiobook or audio CD containing mindfulness exercises narrated by Kabat-Zinn designed to complement the book."
2. The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation
3. How to Train a Wild Elephant: And Other Adventures in Mindfulness
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