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Getting Started with Mindfulness - Mindful
What meditation is
Meditation is exploring. When we meditate we venture into the workings of our minds: sensations, emotions and thoughts.
Mindfulness meditation asks us to suspend judgment and unleash our natural curiosity about the workings of the mind, approaching our experience with warmth and kindness, to ourselves and others.
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What mindfulness is
Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.
What meditation is
Meditation is exploring. When we meditate we venture into the workings of our minds: sensations, emotions and thoughts.
Mindfulness meditation asks us to suspend judgment and unleash our natural curiosity about the workings of the mind, approaching our experience with warmth and kindness, to ourselves and others.
Jon Kabat-Zinn
“Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally. And then I sometimes add, in the service of self-understanding and wisdom.”
Basics of Mindfulness Practice
- You don’t need special equipment, but you do need to set aside some time and space.
- Observe the present moment as it is.
- Let your judgments roll by.
- Return to observing the present moment as it is. Our minds often get carried away in thought.
- Be kind to your wandering mind. Don’t judge yourself for whatever thoughts crop up.
A Simple Meditation Practice
- Sit comfortably.
- Notice what your legs and arms are doing.
- Straighten your upper body—but don’t stiffen.
- Soften your gaze. Drop your chin a little and let your gaze fall gently downward. It’s not necessary to close your eyes.
- Feel your breath. Bring your attention to the physical sensation of breathing.
- Notice when your mind wanders from your breath.
- Be kind about your wandering mind. Practice observing them without reacting.
- When you’re ready, gently lift your gaze. Take a moment and notice any sounds in the environment.
Reasons to practice mindfulness
- Understand your pain. Mindfulness can help you reshape your relationship with mental and physical pain.
- Connect better. Mindfulness helps you give your full attention to people you interact with.
- Lower stress.
- Focus your mind. Meditation hones our innate ability to focus.
- Reduce brain chatter, that nattering, chattering voice in our head seems never to leave us alone.
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Mindfulness in major religions
Instructions for mindfulness meditations have been found in ancient texts of nearly every major religion, but it's Buddhism that exemplifies best mindfulness meditation: it...
Meditation and healthcare
Meditation has drifted from its religious connections and has been adopted by psychologists, healthcare professionals and other secular organizations as an effective way to deal with the stress and illnesses of the modern world.
3 core components of meditation:
- Awareness: Focus on developing awareness.
- Non-Judgement: Witnessing an experience or sensation without attachment or criticism.
- Peace: Though your feelings are valuable, mindfulness teaches you how to find serenity despite them.
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Mindful Wakeup
First thing in the morning:
- Close your eyes and connect with the sensations of your seated body.
- Take three long, deep, nourishing breaths—breathing in through your nose and out ...
Mindful Eating
- Breathe before eating.
- Listen to your body and measure your hunger.
- Eat according to your hunger. You can more mindfully choose what to eat, when to eat, and how much to eat.
- Practice peaceful eating. It’s not easy to digest or savor your food if you aren’t relaxed.
- If you don’t love it, don’t eat it. Make a mindful choice about what to eat based on what you really enjoy.
Mindful Pause
- Trip over what you want to do. If you intend to do some yoga or to meditate, put your yoga mat or your meditation cushion in the middle of your floor.
- Refresh your triggers regularly - add variety or make them funny so they stick with you longer.
- Create new patterns. You could try a series of “If this, then that” messages to create easy reminders to shift into slow brain.
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Mindfulness
... is a collection of practices aimed at helping us to cultivate moment-to-moment awareness of ourselves and our environment.
Meditation sharpens your attention
Meditation helps to counter our tendency to stop paying attention to new information in our environment. Other studies have found that mindfulness meditation can reduce mind-wandering and improve attention.
Larger randomized controlled trials are still needed to understand how meditation might work with other treatments to help people manage attention-deficit disorders.
Consistent meditation
Long-term, consistent meditation mindfulness changes our ability to handle stress in a better, more sustainable way.
- Practicing meditation reduces the inflammatory response in people exposed to psychological stressors.
- Mindfulness practices help us to be less reactive to stressors and to recover better from stress when we experience it.
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