It is easy to be constantly “busy” these days. With a smart phone near us almost all the time, we have a constant source of distraction and about 8.1 million things pulling for our attention. Notifications, emails, texts, calls, apps. We feel like we are always supposed to multitask and be productive. It’s draining, it’s stressful, and it’s not the most effective way to use our brains.
Great relief can come from just… slowing down.
When mindfulness meditation was first becoming more popular in the mental health world, I had my doubts. I didn’t think it could really make much of a difference, and I didn’t think it was something most people could do.
I had tried what I thought was “meditating.” At first, I thought I couldn’t do it. I thought I had to sit in silence, clear my mind completely, and keep it clear for an extended period. For a beginning meditator, that’s nearly impossible, so it was easy to feel like a failure.
Then, I was exposed to some guided mindfulness meditations. I learned I could focus on my breath, and that it was natural for other thoughts to come into my mind. I could just let them come and go without getting wrapped up in them and return to focusing on my breath when I noticed my attention had shifted.
Now this I could do. And you can, too.
If you’re interested in getting started with mindfulness meditation and you are working with me, I will do some guided meditations with you, so you can get a feel for what it’s like and ask any questions you have.
There are also lots of great apps that can help you establish a meditation practice. I have tried Headspace, Aura, and Insight Timer. Insight Timer is my current favorite because it is free, has guided meditations of many lengths and topics, and has a very customizable meditation timer you can use when you don’t want a guided meditation.
Once you learn to cultivate mindfulness during the process of meditation, you will begin to see opportunities for an informal mindfulness practice in your everyday activities. You can practice mindfulness when you eat, shower, walk, do a chore, and even when you drive. You simply focus all your attention on the one thing you are doing at that time, and you eliminate all other distractions. When your attention shifts, you bring it back to the activity you are focusing on.
So how does mindfulness work, and how can it benefit you?
According to MRI scans, it looks like mindfulness practice can change our brains.
Scans show that mindfulness practice seems to shrink the amygdala, the “fight or flight” center in the brain. The pre-frontal cortex, responsible for decision making, awareness, and concentration, gets thicker. The connection between the amygdala and the pre-frontal cortex gets stronger, while the connections between the amygdala and the rest of the brain get weaker. This seems to suggest that mindfulness increases the ability of our rational, responsible pre-frontal cortex to help calm the amygdala down.
Research has shown that mindfulness can:
Reduce repetitive thinking
Lower stress
Boost working memory (your ability to temporarily hold information that will be used for reasoning or decision making)
Increase focus
Decrease emotional reactivity (uncontrollable emotional reactions)
Improve cognitive flexibility (your ability to observe yourself and recover more quickly when you are provoked)
Increase relationship satisfaction – improved coping with relationship stress and improved communication about one’s emotions
I can also tell you anecdotally that it is pleasurable to do things without distractions. You experience more of your food’s aroma, flavor, and texture when you are eating. You notice the warmth of the sun, the feel of the breeze, the sound of birds chirping, and the smell of the flowers when you are out for a walk. You find brief moments of peace and gratitude.
If you’ve never tried mindfulness meditation, or if you have and haven’t practiced in a while, I encourage you to try it today. I’m happy to help you with any questions you might have about it.