Mindful Meditation

Simply stated, Mindfulness is a state of awareness. It is being in the moment as the moment is happening. Its paying attention to your thoughts, physical reactions, and the interaction with your environment without the need to judge what his happening. People have been practicing mindfulness for several decades to reduce stress and promote mental health. Why are we hearing about it more in the last few years? Why now, is it suddenly more popular and more widely used? It is a form of meditation, but meditation is more about clearing your mind. Mindfulness is letting your mind wander where it wants to go but bringing it back to a peaceful present. Give it a try and see what Mindfulness can do for you!

Mindfulness has some evidence based benefits for your health including:

• Empathy

• Emotion Regulation

• Decreased Reactivity

• Increased Response flexibility

• Intra/Interpersonal benefits

So how do you practice mindfulness?

The Practice of Mindfulness

• Set aside some time and space

• Aim to pay attention to the present moment, without judgement

• Let your judgments roll by

• Return to observing the present moment as it is

• The practice of returning, again and again, to the present moment

• Be kind to your wandering mind

• Recognizing when your mind has wandered off, and gently bring it back

Here are some references and cool sites for you to explore mindfulness further near:

https://www.mindful.org/yoga-poses-for-meditation/

http://www.rachaelkable.com/podcast/

http://grandrapidscenterformindfulness.com/#

http://grandrapidscenterformindfulness.com/mindfulness-programs/create-your-own-workshop/

References:

• Alfred, J. (2017). Six Mindfulness Exercises You Can Try Today. [Online: Pocket Mindfulness]. Retrieved from https://www.pocketmindfulness.com/6-mindfulness-exercises-you-can-try-today/

• Davis, D.M. & Hayes, J.A. (2011). What are the Benefits of Mindfulness? A Practice Review of Psychotherapy-Related Research. Psychotherapy, 48(2), 198-208. doi: 10.1037/a0022062

• Goldin, P.R. & Gross, J.J. (2010). Effects of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction on Emotion Regulation in Social Anxiety Disorder. Emotion, 10(1), 83-91. doi:10.1037/a0018441

• Goldstein, E. (2016, August 1). Three Mindful Things to do to Start Your Day. [Online Magazine: Mindful]. Retrieved from https://www.mindful.org/3-mindful-things-wake/

• Hoffman, S.G. et al (2010). The Effect of Mindfulness on Anxiety and Depression: A Meta-Analytic Review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78(2), 169-183. doi:10.1037/a0018555

• Keng, S.L. et al (2011). Effects of Mindfulness on Psychological Health: A Review of Empirical Studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(6) 1041-1056. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.04.006

• Segal, Z. (2016, June 8). The Three Minute Breathing Space Practice. [Online Magazine: Mindful]. Retrieved from https://www.mindful.org/the-three-minute-breathing-space-practice/

• https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/253873585&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false