10 More Benefits of Mindfulness
Improve focus, regulate emotions, better relationships, reduce stress levels and increase energy… that was the first 5…… here’s another 10..
1. Release the pressure valve
Our senses provide a readily available tool to be mindful. Tuning in to your senses can also offer a way to release the pressure valve throughout the day. To use the senses, as a spot meditation, simply take a minute to notice ‘what can I see, hear, smell, taste or touch’. This may be enough for you to ‘circuit break’ the stress cycle. For example, what 5 green things can I see? What 4 different textures can I feel with my sense of touch? What 3 different sounds can I hear? Why is it so effective? Because, as mentioned earlier, sensing inhibits thinking. Habitual thinking, and over thinking, can cause much of our modern-day stress. There are many many ways to use your senses as a mindfulness meditation. Experiment with this as a good place to start.
2. Experience a quieter mind, and a sense of more ‘space’ in your day.
Through simple practices, using the breath, the senses or the body, you can experience a quieter mind, and a little more space in, and around you.
3. Become more aware of your thoughts, and behaviours
– as you develop the ability to pause between stimulus and response… you create a space, or a moment in time, to notice…. ‘what am I thinking’…. and ‘how am I going to respond/act…’
4. Become more familiar with yourself and cultivate the ability to be with yourself,
and with what is, in this moment. The definitions describing mindfulness meditation that I like most are those which talk about being the practice of becoming familiar with yourself; and the ability to be with yourself. I practice mindfulness meditation to cultivate the ability to be with myself; to be able to stop, be still, and have micro pauses in the day. In this way we ‘go slow, to go fast’. Clarity comes from this ‘slowing down’, and from the clarity arises effective actions – whether conversations, presentations, writing, reporting, or whatever it is you are doing. This is more satisfying, for me, than being constantly pulled in different directions, or controlled, by the cravings of my mind. Whether it is desires for something else, to distract you from what you are doing, or from being with yourself, or sitting with a discomfort of some shape or form. You may find your mind likes to push you to avoid pain, and the discomfort of situations, or emotions at the expense of tuning in to the messages your body has for you, and the opportunity these bring to respond in a more appropriate way, and to grow.
5. Ability to stop, to pause, to ‘be’…….
More accepting, and allowing…. Of yourself, of others, of situations, of what is here, now. This ability is established as a result of training your attention to stay on the object of your focus – eg the breath, the body, all of the above….
6. Ability to stop and smell the roses… Thanks Gratitude…
to shift gears out of auto pilot and into conscious attention, and appreciation. We practice gratitude to cultivate contentment… read more here.
7. More flow…. with less distraction…
as you are able to stay present, and build capacity to focus on what you’ve decided to attend to, a flow state arises where you are completely absorbed in what you are doing and distractions fall away. This makes for a good day J
8. Easing of mental, and physical, tension
Mindfulness meditation has shown me my body has so much to tell me, if I stop and listen. I can now notice sensations of tightness and tension in my body, and when these appear. I can consciously experience how I can release these, albeit very slowly, and over time. I no longer have the tension headaches associated with this build-up of stress in my body. I highly recommend mindfulness meditation as a way to release physical, mental and emotional tension that you experience as tightness, and holding, in your body.
9. Some stillness
I was always a very busy person with very little downtime. If there was a time I’d sit down, I would 99.9% of the time bounce back up within a minute with something else to do (thanks to my ever-vigilant mind thinking of ‘what else’ can be improved, to make things the elusive perfect!). With mindfulness meditation I practice being still, and fully present. When a thought or sensation appears, I notice this, like I’m an observer of myself; interested in what is going on and any emotional charge encouraging me to act on my very persistent mind’s ideas (that pop out of nowhere). Each time I practice observing my thoughts without acting I’m cultivating the ability to be still. This has been my greatest gift; this ability to not be so affected by the mind doing its job; and being able to discern which thoughts I act on, with an awareness that it’s job is to think and I can’t stop that, but I can stop buying into all it brings up – and as I’m sure you know, there is a lot. I can now sit still on the couch and do nothing. Some of you reading this may be able to say you do this easily already and I say ‘that’s awesome’… I wish that had been me. But it wasn’t, and so this is one of the very sweet gifts of mindfulness meditation for me.
10. Nervous system has some time in a relaxed state
Each time you practice being mindful, or practice ‘spot meditations’ you’re shifting out of your thinking mind and into sensory awareness. This shift allows your nervous system (NS) a stint in a more relaxed state (parasympathetic nervous system is activated which is associated with the ‘rest and digest’ arm of your NS). This brings an easing of both the mental tension in your head and physical tension in your body.
To read about the first 5 benefits of meditation visit this blog.