Practicing Mindfulness is starting to become trendy.
According to the official Merriam-Webster definition, Mindfulness is “The practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis.”
Essentially, you are trying to stay hyper-focused and aware in the present moment.
The practice of mindfulness has shifted my life in many profound ways.
The idea seems simple enough; just stay hyper-focused.
How hard can that be?
Well, when you struggle with anxiety, depression, and obsessive, wandering thoughts, it can be extremely hard.
I have found that when you first begin to practice being mindful, it takes a lot of effort.
Your thoughts will wander, you’ll ruminate about the past, you’ll worry about the future, but the key is to keep coming back to the present moment by:
- OBSERVING YOUR THOUGHTS WITHOUT GETTING CAUGHT UP IN THEM
- LETTING THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS FLOW THROUGH YOU LIKE A TRAIN CAR PASSING ON RAILROAD TRACKS
- FOCUSING INTENTLY ON WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING IN THAT MOMENT
MY PERSONAL MINDFULNESS EXPERIENCE
I first stumbled upon mindfulness when I was living in Los Angeles and was struggling with both anxiety and depression.
I was not happy with a new job I recently took, hated my small, dingy studio apartment, and was dealing with a major bout of situational depression. My cousin, a doctor of psychology, had mentioned mindfulness to me as something I needed to practice. He explained some of the benefits and how it would help with my depressed state of mind.
I was intrigued.
This is when I began to do some preliminary research on mindfulness. I had heard of it, but never gave the idea a second thought. Once my cousin informed me of the effects that mindfulness can have, I took notice. I began to slowly incorporate the practice into my life.
But as the months and years went on I began to slack – I wasn’t being as mindful as I should be. I would forget for long periods of time. I had slipped back into old patterns of anxiety and worry, and I was beginning to lose any progress I had made.
After experiencing another long bout of depression several years later, I finally made the choice to jump fully in on mindfulness and make it a cornerstone of my life.
Being mindful and creating a life filled with more impromptus and joy, and less worry and rumination was the driving force behind my new lifestyle change.
Ever since then I have made strides.
Mindfulness has taught me a great amount about myself including:
- NEGATIVE THOUGHT PATTERNS
- UNCONSCIOUS HABITS AND ROUTINES
- EMOTIONAL TRIGGERS
- AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT
- AREAS OF STRENGTH
- GROWTH ACTIVITIES
- SLEEPING PATTERNS
- DIET & EXERCISE
- INSECURITIES
Upplifter’s theme is based heavily on the positive effects of practicing daily mindfulness.
In every activity, we perform throughout the day, mindfulness and being present plays a large role in whether or not we are productive, efficient, and ultimately successful. Going through your daily tasks unconscious and unaware of how your subconscious thoughts turned emotions turned actions are affecting you is costly in the long term.
Below is jotted down some ways practicing mindfulness can limit stress and anxiety.
MINDFULNESS HELPS YOU BECOME MORE AWARE OF YOUR UNCONSCIOUS PATTERNS
I started to focus on my daily thought patterns and emotional triggers to see what was causing me to go into negative states of mind more often than normal. These unconscious thoughts can wreak havoc on your state of being. When you go through life on autopilot it’s easy to miss out on the obvious; the unconscious thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that keep you stuck. The only way to get unstuck is by taking yourself outside of yourself.
What do I mean by that?
You need to view your thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and daily habits and routines as if you are an observer watching from outside of yourself.
Then you want to become aware of anything that is causing you unneeded emotional pain or suffering. Most of the time you will find that it’s not the actual person, place, or event that causes you the pain, but the thoughts and emotions associated with those people, places, and events. This is a critical discovery because it then gives you the power to change those thoughts.
But remember as you are going through this process not to judge yourself. Have a little self-compassion, and give yourself time to heal and make the appropriate changes.
MINDFULNESS CUTS DOWN ON RUMINATING ABOUT THE PAST AND WORRYING ABOUT THE FUTURE
When you become stuck in automatic thought patterns that you are not consciously aware of, you become their prisoner. They now have the power of you and your feelings and actions. They influence every area of your life without you even realizing it. You fall victim to their every want and need and you go along with it because your body and mind have been conditioned to do whatever they tell you.
When you begin practicing mindfulness you begin breaking this pattern of unconscious living. You now see how you were duped by your own negative and fear-based thoughts into believing ideas about yourself and your life that weren’t true nor helpful.
After journaling about topics, people, and situations from my past that caused me the most rumination and worry. I also saw my own thought patterns as clear as day; I could predict when I was going to be in a bad mood, or have a more worry-filled day, or feel down and depressed. This eventually forced me to either shit or get off the pot; either do the work to change, or keep suffering in constant fear, anxiety, and depression.
MINDFULNESS HELPS YOU RESPOND INSTEAD OF REACT
One of the most helpful lessons I learned through practicing mindfulness was the difference between reacting and responding.
I was in a therapy session and I was telling my therapist about a recent incident that I had had. It was a rainy summer Sunday evening and I was driving back home with a buddy of mine from a local beach. Up until that point, the day had been one of those ideal summer days. My mood was happy and joyful, I was winding down the night and I got home and plopped myself on the couch as the rain splashed off my roof.
Then…
A text message popped up on my phone. It was from a few friends of mine and it was about politics. My mood immediately changed from relaxed and calm to angry and irritated. I then was thrown into an hour-long cycle of negative based thoughts. I wanted to text angry thoughts back at my friends. This text had essentially ruined my peaceful night, so I thought.
My therapist thought differently.
“You were reacting instead of responding.”
She went on to say that even though I may have disagreed with what was stated in the text, and though it may have stirred up emotions within me, it certainly didn’t have to ruin the next hour of my night.
That was my choice.
Instead of immediately reacting and going into a state of anger and rage and wanting to respond angrily, I could have let the initial emotions and negative thoughts pass on through me, and then let them go like a passing car on the highway.
Instead, I got caught up in them for an hour and almost sent a text back that I surely would have regretted.
MINDFULNESS ENHANCES FOCUS AND BRINGS MORE JOY
When you are mindful, you are fully living in the present moment. There is no time for worries and stress. You are too busy living.
The truth is that mindfulness not only helps lessen worry and stress, but it also brings a level of focus that is beyond average awareness. When you are living in your unconscious patterns, often-time you aren’t aware of what you’re thinking about. You’re just thinking without thinking.
What does that mean?
It means you are letting any and all thoughts come through your mind without evaluating them for relevance.
Is this a thought that I need to keep firing in my brain?
Is this thought of mine helping or hurting me?
Those are a few questions to ask yourself. Chances are, there are many thoughts that slip into your mind on a daily basis that are not beneficial, and that causes you suffering in some form.
When you are practicing mindfulness, you become aware of what you’re thinking about and eventually begin to change those thought patterns to healthier thoughts, which then lead to healthier emotions and healthier behaviors.
This is a critical lesson I learned through mindfulness while dealing with anxiety, obsessive thoughts, and depression.
Another added bonus of practicing mindfulness is the feeling of joy. Joy becomes more and more present in your life because you aren’t as strapped down with worry and fear-based thoughts and emotions. You become freed to experience the higher emotions of life, joy being one of them.
IN REVIEW
Mindfulness is a journey.
You won’t wake up all of the sudden and never have a negative or fear-based thought ever again. Part of being human is experiencing a range of emotions and that is healthy and normal. But when you are consumed with anxiety, fear, obsessive thoughts, depression, and other negative thinking patterns, that’s when it becomes a problem. Mindfulness is an excellent step forward in the fight against those unhealthy thought patterns.
If you have any questions or would like a free anxiety coaching consultation – contact me at brad@upplifter.com!
Although we strive to provide accurate general information, the information presented here is not a substitute for any kind of professional advice, and you should not rely solely on this information. Always consult a professional in the medical and health area for your particular needs and circumstances prior to making any medical or health-related decisions. For your health-related questions, please seek the advice of a licensed physician or any other qualified health care provider immediately.
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