Mindfulness: Why you need it!
If I could pick the most valuable tool I added to my natural wellness “tool kit” in 2019, it would be mindfulness, hands down. Mindfulness is defined as “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.” Learning and implementing these practices has totally revolutionized how I handle stress.
These days, I feel like our culture revolves around stress and even glorifies it. People’s conversations focus on how busy they are, they so easily complain and point out all the negatives and what’s going wrong in life. And yet sadly, in life stress is also inevitable. Stress—whether it’s physical, mental, or emotional—(or even what our bodies perceive as stress) will trigger our sympathetic nervous systems, or our “flight or fight” response. Having a body that’s constantly triggered by our fight or flight response greatly increases our cortisol levels, which throw off our hormone balance. Studies show that mindfulness helps decrease stress, anxiety, depression, ADHD, chronic pain, and more while also building our resilience to these things and making us more adaptable. What I love about mindfulness is that it helps us acknowledge our current situation and feelings, but shifts our focus on the positive. This, I believe, contributes to manifesting good things in our lives. Kinda counter-cultural, which is partly why I love it. (Any other enneagram type 4s feel me?)
Here’s some simple ways you can start implementing mindfulness practices into your daily routine. Pick what resonates with you, or try them all! There are TONS of other ways you can practice mindfulness, but these are my favorite.
Meditation
Meditation is growing in popularity in the US, although this is an ancient practice. Evidence shows that practicing meditation could impact GI conditions by reducing ulcerative colitis flare up or IBS symptoms.
My favorite way to mediate is much simpler than you may think. First, I find somewhere to be grounded and center myself. This could be on my yoga mat with my diffuser going and my salt lamp on, in the woods surrounded by trees, or driving on my way to or from work. I sit quietly, focusing my attention to my body and my thoughts. I picture my most calming, favorite spot along the Oregon shore and allow my mind to empty. I acknowledge thoughts but picture them washing away with each wave, especially negative ones or ones that don’t serve me at the moment (like my brain going down the rabbit hole of to-do lists). I notice my sensations and acknowledge what I hear, smell, see, and feel. I allow positive thoughts to fill me (the sky is beautiful, I feel good, I am happy) or I choose a specific thought or mantra to meditate on. My favorite is, “I am safe. I am loved. I am joyful. I am peaceful.” I will either think these words with each breath or say them out loud. There is SO much benefit that comes from actually speaking positive words over ourselves and our situations! All of these usually lasts just a few minutes for me. I’ve never tried to meditate for longer periods of time and just fit in what I can fit into my day. Always at the end of my meditation I feel more calm, grounded, and joyful.
Gratitude Journaling
One of my FAVORITE practices I started incorporating in 2019! The act of listing what you’re thankful for, either by putting pen to paper or voicing it out loud, automatically changes your perspective. I could be having the worst day, but reminding myself that I have a healthy body with lungs filled with fresh air, nutritious food in my fridge and garden, and loving snugs from my husband make my mood turn around. Gratitude can help build a mind resilient to stress. Studies show that those who participate in gratitude journaling improve their mental health, especially if it’s expressed verbally.
Deep breathing
Another favorite. Most people go through their day without taking proper deep breaths, even holding their breath without realizing! When we experience stress, our heart rate increases and our breathing can tend to become quicker, shallower, and less effective. 3 deep breaths is enough to switch our nervous systems from our sympathetic to our parasympathetic, or our “fight or flight” response to our “rest and digest” state. When our bodies are in rest and digest, our heart rate slows, blood pressure decreases, and our digestion improves. My favorite deep breathing technique is called box breathing. Inhale for a count of 4, hold your breath for 4, exhale audibly for 4, then hold for 4 and repeat for 3 rounds (or as much as you’d like).
Body Scanning
The best time to do this, in my opinion, is when you’re laying in bed at night trying to fall asleep (or maybe in shavasana during yoga). Starting with the top of your head, mentally work your way through your body, consciously relaxing each body part. For example, it may sound something like this: “Relax the top of my head, relax my forehead, my eyebrows, my eyes. Relax my cheeks, relax my lips, my chin. Relax my neck, my shoulders…” and so on! Sometimes I don’t even make it through my whole body before I fall asleep, but either way consciously focusing on relaxing muscles that I don’t normally think about helps my whole body feel at peace. It helps me feel more connected and aware of my body too.
What I love about each of the mindfulness practices I shared with you above are that they are so simple and can be practiced anywhere, anytime! They have helped me build a more resilient mind when it comes to stress, and they can for you too! Perspective is everything, and it’s important that we take care of our mental health so that we can not just handle our everyday stress, but CONQUER it!