Today I want to share a short introduction to mindfulness. I wonder how many of you have, or are about to switch away from this post 😊 For those people that are goal oriented and like to live at a fast pace, getting things done, the idea of mindfulness can be quite alarming. They often can’t see the point – the time could be better spent ticking another item from their to-do list. Mindfulness though, can be a fantastic tool for improving our mental health. For most of us at the moment, that’s a little more fragile than it was two months ago.
What is mindfulness?
It’s simply being more aware of the present moment. Awareness of how you feel, of the environment around you and where your thoughts are leading you. It’s about noticing “being” rather than always doing. Do you find yourself thinking mostly about the future? Possibly the very near future. What needs doing this afternoon? What to have for tea? When you’ll fit in some priority task? Do you find yourself “overthinking”, analysing a problem or situation over and over? Or perhaps you spend a lot of time remembering past events. Imagining how you could have acted/reacted differently and how the outcome could have been different. All of these ways of thinking are a great drain on our energy. Left unchecked, they can lead to both physical fatigue and also damage our mental wellbeing.
Practicing mindfulness (and it does take practice) helps us to avoid being overwhelmed by our thoughts and feelings. It can actually give you greater control, by letting go of thoughts that don’t help you.
Mindfulness can also help us reconnect with our bodies so that we notice and understand the messages it is sending us. We can then notice when we are thirsty and take a drink, instead of being so busy doing, that we mistake the signal and eat rather than drink.
Now that you’ve had an introduction to mindfulness, you may want to know how you can integrate it into your own health plan. If, as I said at the beginning, you’re a goal oriented person, you probably know that mindfulness is going to be a challenge for you. In either case, I can help get you started and then keep you on track through a series of telehealth sessions.
Stay safe, stay well, stay home.