How To Use Mindfulness To Relax? 5 Key Ideas

Stress is a natural and adaptive response of our body to all types of mundane tasks in which we need to be alert to cope. A little tension is ideal to be able to solve day-to-day problems, both family, work and social.

However, it is no mystery that sustained stress causes us discomfort, attracts mental disorders and makes it difficult for us to live a full life. If it is a high stress but manageable on your own, Mindfulness meditation can help us with this.

But, How to use Mindfulness to relax? Below we will talk a little about this issue and we will see five fundamental worldly actions to de-stress through mindfulness.

Keys to know how to use Mindfulness to relax

We live in a world where to (survive) and thrive we have to constantly go from here to there. The hustle and bustle of everyday life, together with the bombardment of the media in all kinds of messages that make us believe that to be successful in life you have to be busy 24 hours a day, makes us live stressed in everything. moment is the “life” style of this modern 21st century.

But in reality that is not living, it is bad living. Having a little stress due to work, family or the current world situation is a natural response of the body that prepares us to face issues in which we have to be wide awake in order to move forward and overcome them, if it is in question. our hands. Instead, having constant and meaningless stress for problems that we either cannot solve or that are part of life It can bring us discomfort on a mental and physical level

The causes of stress and what maintains it can be many, but among them can be something as simple and seemingly banal as the fact of not leaving time for ourselves, that is, not relaxing. In the same way that to have a toned body we have to exercise or to pass an exam we have to study, to not live so stressed we have to get down to work, and the best way we can do this is to use relaxation techniques, among them Mindfulness.

Mindfulness has been in vogue for years Also called mindfulness, it is a form of meditation that integrates Eastern Buddhist teachings with Western scientific evidence on relaxation techniques and emotional well-being. This technique arises from the combination between the scientific aspects of psychology with the more mystical and exotic aspects of the religions of the Asian continent. The effectiveness of science and the calm of the New Age manages to relax us.

The idea behind this technique is simple. Consider that our mind is a machine that generates constant thoughts automatically and without being reflected, which are increased in the society we live in due to the constant bombardment of stimuli coming from different media and channels. By being so aware of what is outside, which overwhelms and stresses us, we forget about ourselves and about stopping for a moment, making the machine rest even if it is just for a moment.

Mindfulness meditation reduces stress by becoming aware of our mental processes, helping us stop in our tracks thoughts that do us no good and that, if they become obsessions, could attract mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. It has many other scientifically proven benefits, among which is enhancing our cognitive abilities by increasing gray matter, improving working memory, verbal reasoning and even promoting creativity.

Mindfulness and relaxation: practical guide

Just by mentioning some of the benefits of Mindfulness, it is clear that it is a highly recommended tool for our emotional, physical and even social health. However, how to use Mindfulness to relax? They are a lot of small daily actions in which we can practice mindfulness. Some of these changes will bring benefits in the short and long term, but the important thing is to be constant and dedicate between 5 and 15 minutes a day because their effects are cumulative, making stress something increasingly easier to manage.

1. Breathing is key

The mantra in all relaxation techniques is to be aware of how we breathe It is not surprising, since breathing is key, nourishing us with oxygen. Although we breathe constantly, we almost never do it consciously even though it brings many benefits, including relaxing.

Just pay attention to the way you breathe for a minute. We only need that time to find the connection with our body, ignore any stimulus from our environment and focus on the activity we are doing.

A simple breathing exercise would be the following: breathe slowly and deeply through the nose, noticing how the air enters and reaches the abdomen Once the lungs are full, we pause, holding the air for about 8 seconds to slowly release it through the mouth.

Easy, right? Let’s repeat this same exercise as many times as we think is necessary, being aware at all times of the entry and exit of the air and the physical sensations it brings us.

2. Focus on an object

Both the oriental meditation on which Mindfulness is based and this tool itself aims to leave our mind blank to focus on the here and now. This is, in theory, the ideal, what we would like to achieve, but it is certainly very difficult if we do not have any tasks to do, such as cleaning the house, taking a walk or exercising.

Fortunately, there are other alternatives that help us both to stop the constant train of thoughts and to give ourselves a little calm and tranquility simply by focusing our attention on an object in our room or the place where we are. Let’s focus on the shape, color, position, where it was purchased and other aspects related solely and exclusively to that object

For example, let’s imagine that we have a ficus plant in our garden. Let’s look at what the leaves are like, the color of the soil, the type of pot in which it is found… all aspects that, no matter how banal and simple they may seem, will give us calm and serenity, a repellent of thoughts. negatives that appear in our consciousness at the minimum that we have nothing to occupy it with.

3. Identify emotions

This exercise is directly related to the previous one, although doing just the opposite. If in that case we were looking for an object on which to focus our attention to prevent negative thoughts from appearing, in this exercise we will do just the opposite: we are going to look for them.

Yes, it sounds counterproductive, but there is a reason for it The only way to get rid of negative thoughts and learn to manage them, preventing them from causing us the stress with which they are associated, is to actually keep them in mind. Do mental shock therapy.

Let’s find a time when we can be alone without any distractions. Let’s try to leave our minds blank. Difficult right? All kinds of thoughts come to our mind and with them associated emotions. Let’s identify them and write them down on paper, let’s be aware of what they are, what thoughts and what memories they evoke in us.

People experience a wide repertoire of emotions that place a burden on our daily lives if they are very negative and the product of stress, but this does not mean that they cannot be managed or eliminated. If they can be reduced or gotten rid of, We must take them into account, give them a name, analyze them and find a solution

Mindfulness is living in the present, just the opposite of thinking about the past and worrying about the future. However, we will not be able to live in the present if there are problems that can be solved but we still have on the to-do list.

In case they are problems that cannot be solved and that are part of the past, recurring thoughts that sprout in our minds like weeds, let’s get used to them. If there is no possible solution, why worry? Concern should move us to find a solution to something but if that something does not have it then that concern is neither adaptive nor functional.

4. Become aware of the body

Emotions can hide in the conscious but manifest physically through bodily sensations, some of which are unpleasant and uncomfortable. Mind and body are related and, if one is sick, so is the other.

Before reaching the extreme of mental disorders, our body already warns us that the stress we suffer is harmful, causing back pain, tremors, stomach pains, tingling, tics…

At the very least that we do any of the previous relaxation exercises, especially breathing, We will notice how these unpleasant sensations are reduced If this is the case, it will mean that our body was so tense that it has begun to psychosomatize and that in fact these sensations were the result of stress.

If they do not begin to subside even when you are calm and meditating, it would be appropriate to consult a doctor about what it could be. Also, we must understand that our mind and body will be healthy as long as we go to a psychologist and other health professionals, but that Mindfulness can be a good strategy to protect ourselves from organic problems.

5. Pay attention to the little things in everyday life

Finally, we are going to discuss some day-to-day actions in which we can apply mindfulness and that will help us relax. Basically, Any daily task in which it is not necessary to think too much helps us put Mindfulness into practice which is nothing more than being aware of the task we are doing and the physical sensations associated with it.

For example, while cleaning the dishes, instead of seeing it as another task to do or even something boring, let’s try to enjoy the moment. Let us feel the water between our hands, the touch of the sponge, the delicacy of the dishes, the cylindrical perfection of the glasses, the smell of the soap and every sensation that this very mundane scene of our lives can give off.

We can also apply it to personal routines, such as our beauty and sanitation ritual. While we shower, notice the changes in temperature, the smells of shampoo and body wash, the sound of water drops falling on the floor. Then, when we dry ourselves and begin to comb our hair, we notice how the comb changes the direction of the hair and massages our scalp.

They are all daily actions but what we have is so automated that, sometimes, it seems that we are not even doing them. Let’s give ourselves a minute to feel them, to savor them, to live them. It is true that noticing the shower or washing the dishes will not take away all the stress that we may feel on a normal day, but it will certainly reduce it.