What Is Mindfulness? 7 Benefits And Exercises To Obtain Full Attention

There have been numerous studies where it has been shown that having your mind wander continuously, and more specifically, thinking about something different from what you are doing at that moment creates anxiety and discomfort, and that on the contrary, people who maintain full attention in the present moment they have a greater sense of control, they are happier and less anxious. That is why currently the mindfulness meditation It is practiced more and more, since it helps us to be in the here and now.

What is Mindfulness?

He mindfulness or mindfulness meditation It is a discipline or tool that comes, among others, from Zen Buddhism, and although there is no literal translation in our language, the closest would be “Full attention“, since Mindfulness is the intrinsic ability of the mind to be present and conscious in the specific moment in which we find ourselves.

Buddhism speaks of “the monkey mind“, referring to the metaphor that the mind is like a monkey, which jumps from branch to branch, without stopping anywhere, like in the scene that I showed you at the beginning. This mental level can occur in any of us In fact, it is common not to have the mind trained to calm down, but above all it is shown in disorders such as OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), rumination (obsessive worries), depression and anxiety problems. Mindfulness Therefore, it is very useful in the disorders that I have indicated before, but it can help us all feel more well-being in our lives, be more productive and, above all, happier, since we are mentally and physically in the present.

In it mindfulness or full attention , can be divided into two parts: attention and acceptance. Therefore, to practice mindfulness we must go through these two states.

As we have said the meaning of mindfulness It is precisely focusing our full attention on the present moment. To practice mindfulness is about directing our consciousness in breathing, thoughts, sensations and the feelings we are experiencing. The key to mindfulness meditation is precisely to observe these feelings and sensations without judging them. That is, we must analyze them to take note of them and let them go.

Benefits of mindfulness meditation

The mindfulness practice It provides us with a series of benefits that we can notice from the first day we start doing it. According to psychologists, the main advances of being conscious and its meaning are found in the following.

1. Greater well-being

By having greater awareness of our thoughts and emotions, this helps us feel better about ourselves and everything around us. This happens since the mindfulness and its meaning around mindfulness allows us to be more aware thanks to introspection, openness, reflection and self-acceptance.

Various investigations regarding the mindfulness meditation or even applying some of the mindfulness techniques have shown that there is strong evidence that correlates mindfulness with greater satisfaction in life and more general well-being.

Furthermore, it is also related to mindfulness method with decreased stress and anxiety, as well as a lower risk of suffering or developing cancer and other physical illnesses.

2. Improves memory

Working memory is memory that temporarily stores information in our mind so we can remember and process it in the future. According to various investigations, mindfulness relaxation o The practice of mindfulness not only allows us to be aware of the full meaning of this word, but also implies that there is a greater capacity to retain the information we collect in our mental activities. In addition, the ability to improve our memory through the practice of mindfulness also allows us to make more and better decisions.

3. Less likely to suffer from depression

Various research around mindfulness and full attention have observed a decrease in depressive symptoms due to the practice of these methods of mental concentration. In this way, studies revealed that the more aware people were of the present, the less depressed they were. Therefore, apply a mindfulness therapy or any of the mindfulness techniques allowed us to experience a series of advantages associated with preventing the appearance of depressive states.

4. It allows us to improve our strengths

There are numerous studies regarding the mindfulness meditation which suggest that this type of practice helps people to better express the strengths of their character in a more effective way.

“Keep attention alive in the present reality. And this ‘vitality’ captures both the self-regulation of attention and the focus of curiosity.”

Ryan M. Nuemiec, Psychologist

Thanks to experiencing the mindfulness and its meaning We can experience greater curiosity about the world around us, something that also allows us to focus on opportunities. Through mindfulness we are able to make better use of our strengths, since we focus on our surroundings as well as on the feelings, emotions and thoughts about the present.

5. You experience more happiness

As you well know, our brain is divided into two hemispheres: the left and the right. In many cases, our right prefrontal cortex is very active when we are depressed or anxious. On the contrary, when the left prefrontal cortex is activated we experience happiness and energy. In this way, the balance between the two is what allows us to live a life full of happiness. Thanks to research on the mindfulness meditation It has been proven that through the practice of mindfulness people can balance this balance in favor of the most positive side.

6. Greater resilience

Resilience is an individual’s ability to recover from the setbacks that life can give us and better adapt to change. He mindfulness It allows us to improve a specific area of ​​our brain occupied with self-regulation and learning. Therefore, by learning to use mindfulness we can improve our resilience in the face of adversity, since we have better control of our emotions.

7. Reduce stress

In many cases the mindfulness meditation achieves positive effects in reducing the stress and anxiety that our standard of living generates. This happens because when we get stressed, a small part of our brain called the amygdala takes control. The practice of mindfulness through mindfulness meditation can give us the ability to control the mechanisms that trigger the activation of the amygdala and thus reduce our stress.

These are some of the benefits we can obtain from mindfulness and establishing mindfulness techniques in our daily lives. In many cases, the practice of mindfulness meditation can give you many advantages for your daily life.

How to practice mindfulness?

To put into practice the mindfulness relaxation or mindfulness meditation There are a series of principles that we must keep in our minds. These principles of mindfulness practice are based on the following.

• Intention

The mindfulness practice It requires time, training, and the way to learn is by practicing. Especially at the beginning, the practice of daily mindfulness will be essential (2 minutes twice a day is enough), in which, being in a comfortable but dignified position (it is useful to think that we are being pulled up by a thread) that comes out of the back of our neck), we will train the mind to focus on breathing, and, when a thought comes to mind, being aware of what the thought is and accepting its presence, we will return gently and with “dear“the mind and attention to breathing as anchoring to the present moment.

• Attention

You must intentionally maintain an attitude of attention to the experience throughout the day, which involves focusing your attention. full attention to the senses when the mind begins to wander to gently return attention to the present experience, and observe the moment, what is happening to us and the thought we are having without identifying with it. We have to pay attention, even to what we want not to be there, since everything we discard and resist persists (another exercise: don’t think about a white bear. Have you done it?). It is not therefore that we have to “run away from thoughts“and not confront them, but on the contrary, be aware of what thought we have, give them attention, accept it and return with affection to the present moment. We can differentiate the discomfort that prevents us from practicing full attention into two:

1. clean upset (inevitable suffering): Anxiety on the plane, on the train, the end of a relationship, among other unpleasant experiences.
2. Avoidable discomfort : it is the previous one adding resistance, which is everything we do to avoid feeling bad (avoidance, dissociation…). This avoidable discomfort causes feelings of frustration, anger, feelings of inability, helplessness, insomnia…, which end up being more serious than the consequences of the initial discomfort.

During the mindfulness practice We have to focus on stopping avoiding what is happening to us, paying full attention to our actions, diverting ramblings about non-real events, past or future, and practicing the third point, acceptance.

• Acceptance

One of the principles of any mindfulness meditation or mindfulness techniques is that you should not enter into a trial with your thoughts. Become an observer of yourself, your habits, your routines, the moment your autopilot starts, where your thoughts take you, which ones are the most recurrent, and how you talk to yourself.

During mindfulness practice, do not make value judgments about your thoughts. They are what they are, accept them and let them go, let them go, don’t hold on to them. Value judgments mean thinking about whether you are a better or worse person for thinking this, giving an opinion on the consequences of what would happen if it came true, what kind of person you are for making a mistake that time. We must put aside dualism good bad in order to be successful in the mindlessness , the thought is what it is, accept it and do not try to change it or feel bad for having it. Let it go and focus on your breathing.

• Self-pity

Finally, comment above on a concept closely linked to Mindfulness practice : Self-pity. We must begin to practice meditation with the attitude that we would have when starting to educate a small child, or as if we were talking to a good friend of ours. We often speak to ourselves in a much worse way than we speak to others, with whom we can be understanding, kind, flexible… but with ourselves we are demanding, rigid and punishing. That is why we must, when returning our mind to breathing, be kind to ourselves and show ourselves the respect, compassion and understanding that we deserve. Fundamental steps:

1. Observe it
2. Be aware of it
3. Allow it to pass
4. Apply compassion and kindness
5. Let it go, don’t hold on to the thought
6. Come back to the present

Practicing mindfulness routinely will give you the ability to see life with different eyes. Also, if you want to investigate more about this topic or go to a mindfulness therapy You can always consult our courses and our mental health professionals. With mindfulness you will see a change in the way you visualize everything around you and even inside you.