Stress is a major health problem faced by global society. A common symptom that indicates someone is experiencing stress is dwelling on negative thoughts or feelings. This is counterproductive which will drain physical and mental energy, in extreme cases it can affect resilience characteristics such as hope and harnessing.
Stress can also cause bodily health problems, such as muscle tension, headaches, hypertension, obesity, and others. There is one way to reduce stress which is known as mindfulness practice. This practice increases your awareness of the present moment, such as your feelings, thoughts, and activities around you.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the practice of increasing human awareness of the present moment, such as being aware of where you are and what you are doing rather than dwelling on the past or worrying too much about the future. This practice involves the ability to increase awareness of sensory stimuli in the form of breathing and feeling bodily sensations.
The main key in applying mindfulness is not to judge what is happening, you just need to be more attentive to your surroundings and not judge emotionally. So, it’s about you controlling your thoughts, not the other way around. That way, mindfulness can help reduce stress and anxiety.
Mindfulness includes the following elements:
- Awareness: You have full awareness of what is happening right now, such as sounds, news, tastes, sights, and physical sensations that you often ignore.
- Focus: Pay attention only to the present moment, not the past or future.
- Acceptance: Accepting whatever you are thinking and feeling without judging it emotionally.
- Observation: Recognize that unpleasant things will not last forever and will quickly pass without reaction or judgment.
Mindfulness Practice In Daily Life
Start mindfulness by reminding yourself to observe things that are happening right now, such as thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and the world around you.
The following are tips for practicing mindfulness in everyday life:
Paying Attention
The practice of mindfulness is about paying attention. Be aware of the various sensations that exist in everyday life, from the air you breathe, the things you see, the food you eat, the objects you touch, to the sounds you hear.
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Focus On Breathing
Mindfulness training can start from the simplest activity, mindful breathing. You can take a few minutes to focus on your breathing. Focus your mind on feeling the incoming and outgoing breath as it is without trying to change it.
Body Scan
Focus your awareness on one part of your body at a time, feeling the physical sensations you get without reacting or judging. Let the mind do a body scan to feel the texture of something touched by a part of the body, starting from the palm and then progressively moving to the rest of the body.
Eat Mindfully
Even when eating, you can practice increasing awareness. Eat slowly to experience sensations that you often ignore, such as holding objects, tasting, smelling, and swallowing.
Pay Attention to the World Around You
When you are somewhere, pay close attention to the sensations you feel in your body and pay attention to the world around you from what you see and hear. For example, when you take a walk in the park, feel with full awareness your breathing, your body movements, the environment you see, and the sounds you hear.
Exploring New Things
Try doing something you’ve never done before. For example, trying new places to eat, new foods, different travel routes home, and new shopping places. That way, you have a new view of the world in which you live.
Pay Attention to Your Thoughts
If something is distracting you, return your focus to what you are doing. There’s no need to judge this, you just need to be sure that there’s nothing to worry about right now, whether it’s the past or the future.
Meditation
This technique for increasing awareness can be done by sitting comfortably in a chair, on the floor, or the grass. Focus your mind on feeling your breath and becoming aware of the sensations around you. When you feel distracted and your focus has broken, simply return your attention to your breathing.
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Consistent
Consistency is the most important thing in mindfulness practice. Practice mindfulness at regular times, for example when going to the office in the morning, at lunch, when going for a walk in your free time, or whenever you have the determination to be aware of the sensations around you.
Doing these practices can increase our awareness of our mind, body, and self. It’s best to practice mindfulness every day, or 3 to 4 times a week for 10 – 15 minutes per day.
Conclusion
The goal of mindfulness practice is not to remove worries from your mind, but rather to recognize them as something that can come and go. This may be harder than it seems, but you can get there just fine if you do it with patience and persistence.