Thousands of thoughts flow through your brain at a million miles an hour but what if there was a way to slow those thoughts down, to focus on what’s happening right in front of you, using a scientifically proven method?
Mindfulness is the process of noticing the thoughts you’re thinking and feeling without judging them. Sound easy? Don’t worry there is a process to help, It’s called mindfulness. In mindfulness, the breath becomes can become the focus instead of the brain chatter. That’s just one method of mindfulness. There are many other mindfulness methods including mental, physical and a combination of both. To keep it simple let’s look and the mind and breath to start.
You can start your mindfulness practice by sitting for one minute. Close your eyes and as you breathe in say “I am breathing in. As you breathe out repeat, I am breathing out. Repeat that practice for one minute, just 60 short seconds and the journey of mindfulness has begun. How did you go?
Did you notice what’s happening while you were breathing? How did you feel after the minute? Amazing? Good? Blah? Or not much at all?
Any and or all of these feelings are completely normal! Especially when you’re starting something new. As you keep practicing your mindfulness you might stop telling yourself off for not having mowed the lawn, for thinking I must clean the house, I need to call Mum. Whenever that happens just gently return to focusing on your breath.
The great thing to know as you start your mindfulness practice is it’s not just mumbo, jumbo, mindfulness and meditation have been proven scientifically to have benefits for the the mind and body. Here’s just a few to give you an idea:
5 Mindfulness proven scientific benefits
- Improves sleep – longer time asleep and improved Rapid Eye Movement REM) sleep
- Better attention and focus – greater mind process flexibility and less errors as automatic brain response slows
- Right & Left brain work better together – the creative right brain and the practical and process oriented left brain start working better together. That leads to better problem solving
- Improves heart health – mindfulness and meditation lead to a more well-balanced Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System
- Increases resilience to stress – when practiced long term mindfulness, has been shown to reduce the inflammatory response a person’s body experiences due to stress.
If you’d like to try mindfulness here on the Capricorn Coast, you can register your interest for an 8 week Mindlfulness for Beginners course with Nicky Way by sending an email to mail@nickywaywrites.com. The course will commence the week starting 15 July with an evening course and a mid-week lunch time option. For more information contact Nicky Way on 0409 615 118.
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