What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a state of mind that focuses on acknowledging what is felt in the present moment, without passing judgement. This involves bringing focus to the present moment, whilst accepting and being present with any thoughts, emotions and physical feelings.
Benefits
Practicing mindfulness may have benefits such as:
- Feeling better connected with oneself, physically and emotionally
- A greater emotional awareness of both the self and surrounding individuals
- An improved understanding of one's emotions and their causes
- A reduction in stress
Features and practices
Many human brain processes are not consciously attended to and thought about. Mindfulness is a process that involves bringing attention towards these experiences. This can include bringing awareness towards sensory experiences, such as listening to surrounding sounds. Automatic bodily processes, such as breathing, can also be focused on.
Another example of mindfulness is non-judgmentally observing what ones emotions are and how they physically feel in the body. This process can train the mind to become better at noticing feelings and thought patterns that might otherwise have been overlooked, allowing a greater understanding of oneself.
Exercises
It may take multiple attempts to find mindfulness through exercises, however repetition can help. It also helps to understand that mindfulness practices can vary from person to person, depending on which activities an individual feels most present in.
If the exercises listen below don’t work for you, try to take the principles of mindfulness and apply them to an activity you enjoy.
- 4-7-8 breathing exercise (4s inhale, 7s hold, 8s exhale)
- Walking meditation: try to stop thinking, instead focus on what it physically feels like to walk. Try to take your attention out of your thoughts and your mind and place it into your body.
- 5 senses exercise (list 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste)
- Place your attention in a particular part of your body. Once you have done that try to move your attention to different parts of your body.
- At the end of the day think through the different emotions you felt at different times. How did they physically feel? What prompted them?
Resources
Mindfulness Apps
- Headspace meditation (innovative mediation methods)
- Insight timer (5 million mediators & resources)
- Smiling Mind (manage stress and anxiety)
Mindfulness Indonesia
- For individual, schools, parenting, hospitals, workplaces, prisons (https://mindfulness.id)
Mindfulness Retreats
- A variety of yoga and mindfulness retreats in Bira/Canggu/Ubud – Bali (https://www.bookmeditationretreats.com/all/s/mindfulness-meditation/d/asia-and-oceania/indonesia)
Mindfulness Websites
- Mindful, healthy mind, healthy life (https://www.mindful.org)
- Freemindfulness (http://www.freemindfulness.org)
