What Is Mindfulness? And What Does It Mean To You?
Have you ever driven your car somewhere and arrived at your destination only to realize you remember nothing about your journey? Or started eating a packet of chips and then suddenly noticed all you had left in your hands was an empty packet? Most of us have!
What is Mindfulness? Mindfulness is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. Practicing mindfulness involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress.
Spending too much time planning, problem-solving, daydreaming, or thinking negative or random thoughts can be draining. It can also make you more likely to experience stress, anxiety and symptoms of depression. Practicing mindfulness exercises can help you direct your attention away from this kind of thinking and engage with the world around you.
How mindfulness meditation works: For starters, meditation allows us to move from high-frequency brain waves to a lower frequency, which activates (and, potentially even more importantly, deactivates) certain areas of the brain.
For example, it can decrease neurological connections to the medial prefrontal cortex, or the “me center,” diminishing traits such as fear, stress, and anxiety. In turn, meditation can also build new pathways to the parts of the brain responsible for traits like focus and decision-making.
Mindfulness meditation can actually change the shape of the brain as well, a process known as neuroplasticity. Research shows that gray matter — the area of the brain responsible for emotional regulation, planning, and problem-solving — as well as the cortical thickness — responsible for learning and memory — both increase with regular meditation practice. Alternatively, the amygdala, which regulates how we feel stress, fear, and anxiety, decreases in size.
Check out this article for Mindfulness exercises and to See how mindfulness helps you live in the moment:
Pretty awesome stuff!
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