3 Brilliant Reasons to Add Mindfulness to Your Life
By now you’ve probably heard about people practicing mindfulness on the job. Thus far you’re not ready to give it a try yet. If you’re wondering what could be in it for you, let me give you a list of my top three reasons for using mindfulness when I was working the day job in an awful cubicle environment.
Reason #1: Focus on the Present
That meeting with the people you don’t particularly like is scheduled for this afternoon, but you start thinking about it as soon as you wake up. And it begins to cloud your day before you even begin the commute.
Practicing mindfulness helps you to overcome those tendencies as you develop your thought muscles to focus on the present moment only. It takes just a bit of time and practice, but eventually when a thought enters your mind you will automatically have it float right out as you regain focus.
This helps reduce stress and helps ensure appropriate level of cortisol in your body. Research has proven high levels of cortisol over time contribute to poor health outcomes like high blood pressure, blood sugar imbalances and lower immunity.
Reason #2: Helps You Master Your Attention
Scientists have proven that the ability to manage your attention is like a muscle. The more you work on managing and paying attention, the better you get at it.
Being able to be attentive means you’re a better listener and a better leader. Mastering your attention leads to better self-regulation and more effective decision-making capabilities.
Reason #3: Reduce Reactiveness
Learning to manage your thoughts and become more mindful gives you the ability to reduce being reactive. I remember when I used to think people could “make me mad.” If you feel like that about a person or situation, then you are being emotionally reactive. No one or thing can truly make you mad.
Learning mindfulness helps you better manage your emotions, or as the scientists refer to it, ” enhancing your emotional regulation.” Basically it means you can control yourself even when people pluck your last nerve.
Not sure about you, but as a person who used to waste time being mindless and just letting any old thoughts and issues take up space in my brain, learning to be mindful has been amazing. Learning to deep breathe and control my brain and body rather than have outside influences impact me has made me healthier, happier and more courageous.
If you want to take a 3 minute mindfulness break, click HERE.
