I’m interested in Mindfulness, how do I start?
Practicing mindfulness can have benefits for both mental and physical health. By focusing on the present moment and accepting your thoughts and emotions without judgment, you can reduce stress and anxiety, improve mood and emotional regulation, and enhance cognitive functioning. Mindfulness can also lead to greater self-awareness and acceptance, improved relationships, and a greater sense of overall well-being. Recent studies have shown that practicing mindfulness has been found to reduce stress levels, increase emotional regulation, and improve cognitive functioning. One study published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research found that mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression in individuals with chronic pain. Another study published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology found that mindfulness practice reduced symptoms of burnout and improved job satisfaction in healthcare professionals. Additionally, practicing mindfulness has been linked to increased feelings of empathy and compassion towards others.
Through Mindfulness practice you can develop a deeper connection to yourself which allows you to better navigate your needs and make conscious choices based on those needs vs. being in unconscious and habitual reaction. Incorporating mindfulness into your daily routine can be a powerful tool for managing stress and improving overall quality of life.
Informal Mindfulness:
Any activity of daily living can be done mindfully. Washing the dishes, brushing your teeth, having a conversation with a partner or friend, driving, showering, chopping vegetables, tying your shoes! What if you placed your sole attention and focus on this one activity. In a culture of multitasking this can feel like a tall order. Choose one activity that you would like to start with. Let’s say making your morning beverage. In the morning, set your intention to focus on making your beverage. Don’t look at your phone or talk with your family member. Notice if you start to get distracted, notice if you become lost in thought and come back to your beverage. This is your anchor or focus of your mindfulness practice. Some mornings you may feel that it is easy to stay in connection to the process, some others may not. This is information about the state of your mind in that moment. We are not trying to change anything, just keep coming back to the anchor. Take an attitude of gentleness and curiosity about the experience. Think of it as an opportunity to slow things down and create a connection with yourself and your chosen activity.
Formal Mindfulness: Meditation:
Finding a physical space:
It’s helpful to find a quiet place without distraction. It doesn’t need to be a beautiful open studio with tons of light and alter with candles. If you have a busy household or your house is filled to the brim in every room, you can use the bathroom, or take a few minutes in your car. Put your phone on silence and turn it over or put it away. Give yourself the gift of being with yourself.
How long do I practice for?
This is up to you, but the most important part is to start. You could set a timer for 5 minutes and see how you do. You could try 10. If you are up for it you could try 20-30 minutes. Choose your time in advance and stay committed to it. You may want to get up and leave, you may feel distracted, you may encounter states of mind that are uncomfortable, you may be bored out of your mind! It’s all ok! This is the practice. Being with whatever comes up and building capacity to stay with it and just notice. It will shift and change. The more we can see this for ourselves in our meditation practice, by not getting hooked on every thought and feeling, we can bring it into our lives off the cushion and have more capacity to be with discomfort and stability in our minds.
Set an Intention:
It can be helpful to set an intention before practice. This could be a simple reminder of why you are choosing to sit down and meditate. It could be an intention to focus on a certain anchor of practice (breath, body, thoughts, feelings, loving kindness).
How to start:
Sit or lie down and focusing on your breath. Pay attention to the sensation of your breath moving in and out of your body and try to bring your attention back to your breath whenever your mind starts to wander. You can start with just a few minutes a day and gradually increase the amount of time you spend practicing mindfulness.
Apps and Podcasts:
There are many guided meditations and mindfulness apps available that can help you get started. Insight Timer, Headspace, and Calm are quite popular. You can also check with your employee benefits to see if any of these apps are offered as part of their wellness package. There is no problem with using an app if it supports you to practice! You may want to start with a short, guided meditation in the morning or in the evening. If you are having a particularly tough or overwhelming day, you could use a guided meditation as a tool for reconnection and reset. Please see below for more resources.
Community, Groups, and Sanghas:
Meditation in community can be supportive and powerful. You may want to explore if there are any meditation or mindfulness classes, groups, or sits that you can join.
