What is Mindfulness?

Maybe you’ve heard of “mindfulness” already, but we often think we are too busy to spend time with those “spiritual” things. In practice, this means that we still enjoy or post meaningful quotes about mindfulness, kindness or happiness, but it doesn’t affect our daily life.

But if I tell you that being mindful doesn’t require extra time investment and will have tremendous benefits for you, it might change your point of view in an instant.

What does “mindfulness” mean?

“The practice of mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now!”

It sounds easy but is not made easy for us if we consider our environment: Eating while watching TV, wasting time flipping through Instagram while calling your friend, worrying about the future, dwelling on the past or not noticing people around us is exactly the opposite of being mindful, it’s mindless and – unfortunately – very common.

If you want to change something in your life to become happier and healthier, the practice of mindfulness is a great beginning. For an easy start, you could try one of the following ideas.

• Listen to the person who is talking to you with your full attention (not checking your phone)
• Switch your TV off when you call your mom to really listen to her and connect with her.
• Focus on your meal when you eat, enjoy the taste without any distraction from any media.
• If you start to worry, try to detach your thoughts and come back to the current moment. If you have to do that 15 times, that’s ok. You can focus instead of something positive you are looking forward to.
• When you go for a walk, enjoy the moment, recognize the birds, the clouds, and the sun.

Benefits of Mindfulness

Science shows that being mindful more often helps us to perform better, feel happier, be healthier, calmer, less depressed and stressed. In addition, it facilitates the adaptive response to daily stressors [1] and produces less avoidance and more approach coping as a response to stress than other techniques such as relaxation [2]. On the physical side, it is proven that a state of relaxation, which can be achieved through mindfulness, can lower blood pressure, increase awareness, lower anxiety levels, improve the feeling of being connected and calm [3].

Watch a short Video, with a nice explanation of Mindfulness:

• What is Mindfulness (4:30 min)

If you want to read more you find it here:

• Why mindfulness can help you to finally lose weight.
• Mind, Body, Health! How Mindfulness will make you happier and healthier.

Sources and reading recommendations:

[1] DONALD, J.N., ATKINS, P.W.B., PARKER, P.D., CHRISTIE, A.M. & RYAN, R.M. (2016): Daily stress and the benefits of mindfulness: Examining the daily and longitudinal relations between present-moment awareness and stress-responses. Journal of Research in Personality, 65, 30-37. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2016.09.002

[2] DONALD J. N. & ATKINS, P. W. B.  (2016): Mindfulness & Coping with stress: Do levels of perceived stress matter? Mindfulness 7, 1423-1436. doi: 10.1007/s12671-016-0584-y

[3] Positive Psychology Program. The 23 amazing Health Benefits of Mindfulness for Body & Brain. https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/benefits-of-mindfulness/