What Is Mindfulness Meditation?
Mindfulness is the western equivalent of what is called Sati in Pali, a language spoken by the Buddha. Sati was considered a gift from Buddha to humanity some 2,500 years ago.
Mindfulness can start simply by choosing to take a moment to be grateful for someone or something each day.
In mindfulness meditation, there’s complete acceptance of the world around you. Concerns and thoughts that are not absolutely vital to what you are doing at the current moment must leave as you accept mindfulness. Trying to forget or blocking out these issues will not help, the objective is to accept your current situation and focus on the circumstances of the moment you are in.
How often do you walk submerged in a whirlwind of your imagination? Unaware of the present moment you are in. Stuck in endless thoughts of useless anxieties, and apprehensions. If you think about it, are you reacting to situations around you or making decisions based on them?
Practicing Mindfulness
Guided mindful meditation is gaining popularity and becoming more accessible thanks to plans like buddify Workplace Mindfulness. It’s no surprise since attention has become a scarce commodity – we are often in multiple places at once, having 10 different conversations at the same time. Watching life as we film it on our smart phones.
A great way to begin practicing mindfulness is through meditation or other progressive relaxation techniques. Dr. Edmund Jacobsen created Progressive Muscle Relaxation to help monitor and control the state of muscular tension. It uses verbal cues and a focus on breath to increase awareness of ones own body. Start with 10-20 minutes at a time and grow from there. The idea to start small is because you cannot accept your existence and everything that comes with it and be in a constant state of enlightened mindfulness if you can’t relax for 20 min focus and learn to control every breath you take. Through mindfulness meditation you internalize your universe and listen to the state of your body and mind.
Why Mindfulness Is Important
While the increase in communication and information has many benefits on developing society, everyday effects on the individual get overlooked and disregarded, accepted as collateral damage. This over stimulation can lead to an increase of stress hormones. High levels of these stress hormones (cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine) decreases the immune system and have a link to a treasure trove of very serious degenerative health issues. Everyone is fully capable of counter acting these negative effects through mindful meditation. You will activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which increases your immune function and your body’s ability to recover.
If you play sports or participate in skilled activities mindfulness is key to performance. No matter how strong you are, how good your endurance is, you may even have flawless technique, if you can’t focus on what must be done moment by moment to achieve a goal you will never succeed to your full potential.
Mindfulness is something that grows over time. One should not work to become a supremely mindful being, but only work to increase their mindfulness a little bit each day.
Get started with your own mindfulness routine by selecting a guided meditation habit.
