Mindfulness

Image credits: Ben Lewis Giles

In simple terms mindfulness is paying attention on purpose in the present moment, non-judgementally. Attention is the faculty that allows us to navigate our lives, in one way or another. To actually know what’s happening or know that we don’t know what’s happening and find ways to be in a wiser relationship to the things that are going on in our lives.
 
Practicing mindfulness allows us to quiet the incessant chatter of our minds. After all we are constantly thinking, thinking and thinking and this race of thoughts can make life miserable. It is the natural tendency of the mind to wonder; from one thought to another and then to another. There is no thought process occurring by itself. This probably has something to do with entropy. What we call mind is the sum total of innumerable thought seeds jiggling and bouncing upon each other all the time. These seeds can quickly turn into full grown thoughts (and actions afterwards) only when they grab your attention for a sufficiently long time. 
 
Believing so many of these thoughts - that circulate our mind daily - as the truth that we end up in a very narrow band of what is actually possible for us in terms of our human experience. Which I think emphasises how potent our thoughts can really be and the impact they can have. If you tell yourself something,  whether it be true or false for long enough you will begin to believe it and therefore act upon that belief. 
 
Mindfulness is a good way to connect with life and yourself but also a good way to manage the inevitability of life.  
 
It can be difficult to contemplate where to start with mindfulness as there is so much information it can all be very overwhelming at first. When you first begin the journey to becoming more mindful you don’t want to overwork yourself or end up totally frustrated. Implementing small things into your morning routine can make all the difference; it can be things as small as when brushing your teeth, patting your cat or eating an orange you slow down the process and be fully present as it unfolds and involves all of your senses. Notice subtle body sensations such as an itch without judgement and let them pass.      
 
Mindfulness meditation is another brilliant practice. Once you become more familiar and consistent with it it becomes much easier. It consists of focusing on the sensation of breathing, allowing the parade of thoughts that inevitably arise to come and go, when the train of thought wonders bringing the attention back to the breath. Just like when you work out at the gym after a period of time your muscles strengthen, this is exactly the same with mindfulness the more you practice the stronger your ability to practice becomes.
There are many brilliant free resources out there that can be incredibly helpful when starting out. One I personally have used and would recommend for anyone first starting out is ‘Headspace Guide to meditation’, which can be found on Netflix and they also have a free app.
 
As far back as 1971 Robert Wallace and Herbert Benson found that meditation reduced activity in the sympathetic nervous system which controls “fight or flight”,  I think this is fascinating!
 
Whilst there are many positives associated with mindfulness there are also some negatives. A multivariate twin study suggested all humans have at least some natural level of mindfulness which is affected by genetic and environmental factors. This means some people are naturally more mindful than others.
 
Whilst exploring in more detail the benefits and downsides mindfulness has to offer I found some very interesting statistics on meditation.
It’s estimated that 200-500 million people meditate worldwide. Over 14% of Americans have meditated at least once. 7% of children in America meditate. But also that meditation improves anxiety levels 60% of the time. Since 2012 the number of people practising meditation has tripled!
 
Source: https:/www.thegoodbody.com/meditation-statistics/
 
Mindfulness can help with a variety of things including: reducing stress, improving sleep, improving mental health, becoming fully engaged in activities, a greater capacity to deal with adverse events and can lower blood pressure along with many other benefits.
 
Although there are many benefits there are also downsides which can include the following: feeling frustrated, over-exerting yourself, can become less creative, may cause a change in personal social relationships and can cause you to experience depersonalisation (a state in which ones thoughts and feelings seem unreal or not to belong to oneself).
 
Even though there are downsides to practising mindfulness, there are almost downsides to everything in life I think it’s about finding balance, what I find to help me be more mindful can be totally different to someone else.
 
When practising mindfulness it’s important to have a routine, especially a mindful morning routine. Every single morning represents a new beginning, a chance to start over. The first thing you do when you wake up in the morning will set the tone for the entire day, if when you awaken the first thing you remember is the trouble you had yesterday, you think about being at work, the email you forgot to send and you think about all the discomfiting things more thoughts like that will begin to flood your mind. You then find yourself feeling extremely worn out before the day has even begun. For those with high stress jobs it’s essential to take those extra minutes of the day to nurture yourself.
 
Hal Elrod who is most known for ‘The Miracle Morning’ , ‘SAVERS Routine’ and recovering from a fatal car accident where he died for six minutes and was brought back to life spoke in an interview where he said “Starting the day is life’s first opportunity. To start the day with procrastination, which is what hitting the snooze button is, is to start the day with resistance, we’re literally telling the universe ‘I know I say I want to create an extraordinary life and become the best version of myself but not as bad as I want to lay here unconscious for ten more minutes’”. 
So instead of resisting the day before it has even begun, plan a sequence of events to do in the mornings that make you feel good and ready for the day ahead.
 
Tim Ferris - lifestyle designer and a master at interviewing highly successful people - asks almost everyone he interviews “What’s your morning routine?” . He recently noted a common thread amongst the successful people he has interviewed, that they meditate or have some sort of mindfulness practice/s they do in the morning.
 
Some of the things I like to include in my mindful morning routine are: making my bed, writing gratitude lists, scribing, affirmations and meditation. Find what works for you as an individual.
 
I first came across mindfulness fully at the beginning of the first lockdown; it presented me with a chance to really invest in myself and to do some much needed reflection. So for that I am extremely grateful and I shan’t proclaim and complain I wish it never happened because I wouldn’t be who I am today or writing this now! 
 
Sometimes when you learn about so much information you’ve never been fully exposed to before it can be very overwhelming, I know I definitely at times felt overwhelmed by it all.
I do think it is a shame though that I was never taught anything about mindfulness or how to deal with emotions at school , because I truly believe being introduced to mindfulness during school could’ve had such a wonderful impact. I can only hope that as the years go on the education system decides to introduce it into the curriculum.
 
When I first began my journey into mindfulness it really had a big impact on me. It helped me to be more present, to let my emotions come and go without judgement or obsessing over them. Because I know personally , when focused upon feeling really low I only ended up feeling like that for much longer; which is not healthy nor beneficial.
 
I had to learn the importance of being present instead of living in the past, stressing over what cannot be changed or stressing over what’s yet to come. I learnt that I no longer have control over what has happened or went wrong yesterday nor do I have control of what is to happen tomorrow till tomorrow. I do however have control over the here and now. I began to want to make a conscious effort to be present every day which is where meditation helped. By no means is it easy, but by no means impossible. Only impossible if I believe it to be. For me meditation helped me to feel more at ease and at peace with what is.
 
I also realised the importance of having a morning routine, setting myself up for the day. 
If I wanted to have a good day it was important that I had a mindful morning, instead of checking my phone and notifications first thing to make my bed and brush my teeth. Implementing such small things like that can make all the difference. 
 
I shall not proclaim though that I have done this every single day, at times I have fell into ruts where instead of following through with my mindful morning routine i’ll stay in bed after my alarm goes off for much longer than I should, which in no way benefits me.  I don’t make time for myself yet I want to become my best self. But I know that owning and admitting that is the first step to getting back on track. I know in order for me to be the best version of myself possible I have to become much more mindful and conscious than I’ve been, notice and act straight away when I fall into a rut.
 
Make peace with what is and cannot be changed, live in the now. After all there is no better time than the present!