Mindfulness is about being fully awake in our lives. It is about perceiving the exquisite vividness of each moment. We also gain immediate access to our own powerful inner resources for insight, transformation, and healing. Jon Kabat-Zinn
Jon Kabat-Zinn is credited with being one of the first to integrate mindfulness meditation into mainstream medicine. Mindfulness has become a term in self-help books, blogs, magazines, and television as a result of his work.
There are smartphone applications that guide meditation, as well as notepads developed specifically to foster mindful thought. But why is it significant?
Well, mindfulness is the ability to be completely present at the moment, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not too reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.
We may step out of our current condition and notice the ebb and flow of our emotions, thoughts, and feelings when we conduct our lives with mindfulness.
Meditation enables us to develop control over feelings like anger, impatience, and sorrow, which have a propensity to sweep us away.
Mindfulness is being hailed as a mental workout with advantages ranging from increased attention and happiness to greater self-awareness and memory, not just by writers like Jon Kabat-Zinn, but also by scientific researchers and medical experts.
While these are the most talked-about consequences, there are several other interesting benefits of mindfulness that are often overlooked. Keep reading to find out 3 powerful benefits of mindfulness that you probably haven’t heard about…
1. Cultivating Courage
Fear is frequently fueled by a small voice within our heads that rattles off all of the possible outcomes.
We avoid taking risks, become loss-averse, and lose out on the fun and pleasant experiences when we listen to this negative inner voice. When we see other individuals who are having fun and taking risks, we wonder what makes them so different from us.
Overthinking may have a significant impact on our everyday lives as well as our mental health. It might cause us to lose out on opportunities that we will later regret, or it can keep us from progressing and reaching our full potential at work or in other areas that we like.
It may be disastrous to love or friendship relationships since others who care about us don’t understand why we always imagine the worst.
Adding mindfulness to the equation allows you to focus on the current moment without worrying about the future. Living in the present helps you to enjoy life, with all of its chances and wonderful uncertainties, without being surrounded by what-ifs.
When you stop allowing your negative thoughts to hold you back, you have the strength to face your worries and act without hesitation.
After all, who wants a life that is monotonous and predictable? Accept the bravery that comes with living life thoughtfully and embrace the opportunity.
Live your life without regret!
…and remember, just because something doesn’t serve you, it doesn’t mean you won’t learn from it.
2. Getting to sleep
Mindful meditation can help you with your energy levels in two separate ways. To begin with, introverts are supposed to get their energy from spending time alone and thinking about their own thoughts.
Though this may be counterproductive when trying to sleep, it’s excellent news for people who prefer to replenish their batteries on weekends by engaging in some basic self-care activities.
Second, we often go to bed thinking about work and worrying about what will happen the next day. This type of anxiety keeps us up at night and stops us from feeling refreshed.
In fact, 85 percent of American employees report missing sleep on a regular basis as a result of work-related stress. Bedtime is the time of day when having a clear and calm mind is most essential.
Even a brief time of mindfulness meditation can help quiet our busy thoughts and enhance our sleep, according to research. Aura, Calm, and Headspace are all apps that offer guided meditation to help you relax and sleep better.
The same research study shows that in as little as two weeks, someone who starts practicing meditation can improve his or her sleep quality and sleep duration. With this kind of turn-around, there’s no reason you shouldn’t give it a try!
3. Story-Editing
It is almost unavoidable in life for everyone to fail and make mistakes at some point. However, how we frame our failures determines how we pick ourselves up after them and, as a result, how we go on with our lives.
We are more prone to negative reactions like regret and self-doubt when we are unaware of ourselves, our emotions, and our coping strategies.
We may start to reconstruct our perspectives in a more positive way if we utilize mindfulness as a technique to learn these things.
The basic ideas you have about your intellect and capacity to bounce back from mistakes are closely connected to how your brain responds to making mistakes, regardless of when they first appeared. The good news is that this response can be unlearned.
Mindfulness helps you to see mistakes in a new light – not as a failure that leads to self-doubt or anger, but as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to discover something new about yourself.
Learning more about personality qualities we may not have previously experienced, such as how we handle under pressure and the breadth of our ability to do great things, begins with becoming aware of ourselves, where we are, and what we’re doing.
Slow down the next time you make a mistake, become aware of what happened, and use the chance to figure out what you can learn from it.
Then consider all of the various (often better) ways you may respond more effectively to similar circumstances in the future. There’s no stopping you once you start looking at your errors as opportunities for progress.
When did you begin your journey to a more mindful way of life, or are you inspired to do so today? Do you have a personal experience where the benefits of mindfulness were clear, giving you the ability to turn a negative situation into a positive one?