Key Points:
- Practicing mindfulness improves both mental and physical health.
- Mindfulness involves both concentration (a form of meditation) and acceptance. Deliberately pay attention to thoughts and sensations without judgment.
- It takes practice to become comfortable with mindfulness techniques. If one method doesn’t work for you, try another.
Mindfulness is the practice of purposely focusing your attention on the present moment—and accepting it without judgment. Mindfulness is now being examined scientifically and has been found to be a key element in happiness.
Mindfulness is just one of the topics that will be discussed in Wellness for Me.
- Take a couple of minutes to notice your breathing. Sense the flow of the breath, the rise and fall of your belly.
- Notice what you are doing as you are doing it and tune into your senses. When you are eating, notice the color, texture and taste of the food.
- When you are walking, tune into how your weight shifts and the sensations in the bottom of your feet. Focus less on where you are headed.
- Don’t feel that you need to fill up all your time with doing. Take some time to simply be.
- When your mind wanders to thinking, gently bring it back to your breath.
- Recognize that thoughts are simply thoughts; you don’t need to believe them or react to them.
- Practice listening without making judgments.
- Notice where you tend to zone out (e.g., driving, emailing or texting, web surfing, feeding the dog, doing dishes, brushing teeth, etc.). Practice bringing more awareness to that activity.
- Spend time in nature.
- Notice how the mind likes to constantly judge. Don’t take it seriously. It’s not who you are.
(source: heretohelp.bc.ca)