Mindfulness. Live the present

We could define mindfulness as follows: feeling like we are living in the present and being lucid about emotions, thoughts, and all the forces that pass through us, without judgment and in acceptance of what is. Mindfulness be achieved through meditation. Living the moment for what it is, feeling and accepting your emotions in the present is one of the keys to self-knowledge . It is a path opened to happiness through a reduction of stress and inner conflicts. Training to live in the present while mobilizing our psychic resources leads us towards clarity of mind. We then become resilient in the face of what assail our thoughts and handicap us in our actions. It allows us to understand our behavior and accept our life as it is.

How does mindfulness meditation work and what are its benefits? Here is what this article invites you to discover.

 

 

What is mindfulness?

In this mental process, two parameters are involved.

Self-knowledge , which allows us to mobilize our resources and become aware of our perceptions and the interactions we implement with our environment.

Acceptance of reality. In general, our thoughts, based on our personality, lead us to judge a situation as good or bad, beautiful or ugly, stupid or smart, etc. We draw this automatic thinking from our experience and our conceptions of the world. Often, this way of breaking down situations has the sole aim of not putting our opinions in danger and of remaining in our comfort zone.

 

An immemorial practice

Mindfulness has its foundations in Buddhist and Hindu teachings. It is traditionally practiced with Buddhist teaching (Dharma). The practice has continued for 2,600 years.

But the reality is more complex, because most religions have similar practices. Prayer for the Christian and Muslim world is similar to these practices. It diverts ordinary thoughts and concerns to focus on a divine purpose.

All the great influences in matters of spirituality, since the dawn of time, have sought transcendence through immersion in space-time. It is a journey towards enlightenment, around the concept of “sati”, which concerns attention, awareness and presence. The term “ mindfulness ” is a term translated from the ancient language “ Pali ”.

Like many alternative disciplines in terms of personal development and gentle therapies, mindfulness has become secularized since the 1970s.

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist monk who is expanding the teaching of this practice. He uses the term mindfulness for the first time. In 1979, Doctor Jon Kabat Zinn (professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center ) established a program for the clinical application of mindfulness practices. Under the name MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program), this program has spread quickly in North America and Europe. Currently, there is active research in this area. Psychotherapists Zindel Segal, John Teasdale and Mark Williams have studied the effect of mindfulness on depression. Following these studies came mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), which now treats many conditions.

What is the purpose of mindfulness?

The goal of mindfulness is to focus on our presence in what surrounds us in the present without passing judgment. It defines our relationship with fashion.

It is a mental search for greater inner peace, for better interaction with oneself and the outside world. The discipline enriches the range of therapeutic tools used in psychotherapy to treat stress, anxiety and the body which suffers from an imbalance. But, it also helps to extend techniques around personal development. Thus, in a softer way, it allows for better well-being in one's life.

 

 

How does mindfulness work?

From a scientific point of view, mindfulness meditation has explanations.

Our brain regulates our entire body by bringing into play neurological mechanisms that it becomes possible to analyze.

Certain behaviors that tend towards calm and serenity cause inhibition of the activity of the amygdala. This organ is responsible for stress, anxiety and anger reactions. It is in complex links with our prefrontal cortex which is the seat of reason.

Regular meditation practice regulates these interactions. The modification of neural circuits is lasting and participates in overall regulation of the person.

Most physiological and mental illnesses arise from an imbalance of energies. Mindfulness meditation reduces our internal conflicts and allows better control of our emotions in relation to our thoughts. It thus effectively fights against stress and cognitive conflicts which tend to cause psychological suffering or inappropriate behavior.

 

 

What are the benefits of mindfulness?

Certainly, this technique has an impact on physical and mental health. Although we do not know the exact process, scientific research in this area has proven the effectiveness of the discipline. It mainly helps relieve stress, which is the cause of many physical and mental pathologies.

The mindfulness meditation technique improves heart disease, including lowering blood pressure. It fights against chronic pain, facilitates sleep and relieves the intestinal sphere.

The effects of meditation are always beneficial to the body and the mind in parallel.

Those who practice this discipline become less worried about their future. They look at their past with more kindness, limiting regrets and feelings of failure.

Awareness of our fragility brings the desire for success and the excessive search for self-esteem much more in line with the experience of well-being, which becomes fundamental.

Meditating brings a better ability to live in society. Mindfulness improves well-being and develops self-fulfillment. The testimonies of those who have turned to this practice confirm this. They enjoy life in the present moment, without always wanting more. This allows you to face anything that may happen in life with serenity.

This discipline could also help people in difficulty to better cope with rejection and social isolation.

Mindfulness meditation also promotes acceptance of others with their differences.

Psychotherapists have in recent years turned to mindfulness to treat depression, addiction, and various disorders such as anxiety, eating disorders, impotence, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

 

 

Practice mindfulness

Learn to stay in the present!

The perception of a person's experience, present and past, tends to be subjective, because it is guided by their experience, their emotions, their traumas and all the extreme events that arise in their life. Fears and emotional or material insecurities make it difficult to judge the present well.

Everyone tends to stay in their own sphere of interpretation without trying to better understand situations. Based on this observation, we can imagine how difficult it can be to situate ourselves coherently in what surrounds us.

Meditation and mindfulness

Participating in meditation and reflection sessions has an extremely beneficial effect on the perception of our acting person.

To practice meditation, start by sitting comfortably and taking a deep breath. Then focus on the sensations in the moment, such as sounds, smells, temperature, and the feeling of air moving in and out of your lungs. Start by paying attention to all the sensations in your body. A calm then gradually begins to invade you.

When you feel good, focus on the emotions you are feeling. Eliminate stray thoughts to focus on your perceptions and what they give you.

You can then test the feeling of the present moment. If you experience serenity, grant yourself kindness regarding your errors, your irrational reactions, which until now made you suffer and posed a problem for you.

Keep these thoughts in mind, even if they provoke an emotional reaction. This is the first step to cultivating the effective and unhidden presence of those ideas or memories that are confusing your life.

Recognizing them and giving them space in your mind can help you better understand your real position in your life. The goal is to become more attentive to your existence.

These personal meditation sessions also have a beneficial effect on your positioning in relation to those around you. They give you good physical sensations and contribute to your good mental and physical balance.

Cultivating acceptance avoids judging too easily and pushing away thoughts that bother us and yet need a response.

A tip to keep in mind: if your mind wanders and daydreaming takes over, or if negative thoughts continue to pollute you, gently redirect your mind towards the sensations of the present. Know that it takes regular and diligent practice to achieve convincing results. Don't despair, time is your ally. In addition to formal meditation, you can also take action throughout the day by paying attention to your behavior and perceptions. The method is simple, give yourself the objective of giving all your attention to a single task, and let yourself be penetrated by the emotions and sensations that result.

Does Mindfulness Really Work?

Many scientific studies are being carried out on Mindfulness in many countries.

In the field of academic research, there has been a notable increase in the number of theses on the subject and, currently, more than 500 communications are published in scientific journals each year.

According to the Mindful Nation UK in England, mindfulness is not a cure-all, but it offers valuable benefits in a wide range of therapeutic practices.

The Mindfulness All-Party Parliamentary Group (MAPPG) has initiated a survey to assess the potential benefits of mindfulness for a range of political issues. This practice has a role to play in the current mental health problem which affects almost one in three families in the United Kingdom.

There is no universal therapy. MBCT, a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, is recommended for the treatment of recurrent depression by NICE (National Institute for Health Care Excellence).

The development of neuroscience and psychology sheds light on the mechanisms inherent to mindfulness. It therefore seems obvious that the discipline of mindfulness is useful. Future research in this area should reveal, as with other meditation techniques, the physiological mechanisms at play.