Mental Health Week Awareness 2024 is celebrated this week. Under the motto “Move more for our mental health”, this week, aims to help everyone who struggles to move enough. In previous post, we talk about how we can include more movement in our routine, all the benefits that a more active live provides to our lives and the impact of the hormones in our mental health. Today, we would like to focus this article in how mindfulness might impact in our mental health.
Mindfulness is a technique that consists of paying attention to the present moment. There are different ways to achieve this, such as meditation, breathing and yoga. The basis of this technique is to be aware of everything that is happening, outside and inside ourselves. The main aim of this practice is to be able to recognise our thoughts and feelings. In this way, we will be able to manage them and not feel overwhelmed by them.
The most important part of mindfulness is reconnecting with our body and the sensations it experiences. This means paying attention to the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the present moment. We live in a world full of inputs, so it is difficult to pay attention to the world around us. And not only around us, many people are not able to recognise what they feel and enter into uncontrolled, looping thoughts that determine the way they feel and act.
How many times have you thought that you are not able to fully enjoy the present moment? Surely the frenetic routine of everyday life has disconnected you from everything that is happening, to a higher or lower level. With the practice of mindfulness we can become more aware of the present moment, enjoy the world around us more and understand ourselves better.
It is not only about being aware of actions we do out of habit, but also about our thoughts and feelings and the importance we attach to them. This external look at our thoughts allows us to analyse them and recognise them when we start to repeat them in a loop. We can often feel overwhelmed by feelings and thoughts and being aware of them can help us to see them in a clearer perspective.
For example, it can help us to recognise signs of anxiety or stress and know how we can cope with them. But there are many techniques that can be used in this way. As we have said in previous posts, our mind and body are connected, so having a healthy diet or exercising our body is a good way to help us to have more mental clarity.
Even so, it is important to remember that psychological help from a professional is key to work and heal our mind.
Now that we know what mindfulness means, it is time to start knowing how we can practice mindfulness in our daily routine. The first step, although it may seem obvious, is to recognize our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations and the entire world around us.
A good way to apply this in our daily lives is by becoming aware of things, the foods we eat, the air that passes through our body when we walk. Maybe having lunch without any distractions (like watching your favorite series) or taking a walk without music, just listening to the noise of the street could be good ways to achieve this.
Creating habits is essential for the technique to work. It is simpler than it seems, we can include it even in the simplest actions such as showering, simply being aware of this moment or at night, when we go to bed, letting our body relax so we can sleep well.
Changing our routines could also work. Maybe take a different route on the way to the office or try this new restaurant on our list. These small changes can help us perceive the world in a different way.
For some people, practicing mindfulness can be very difficult. When they leave the task at hand, they are affected by many problems and concerns. It’s important to remember that the focus of mindfulness is not on making our thoughts go away, it’s just seeing them as mental events that come and go. This may be very difficult at first but it is possible if we work at it. A good way is to name the steps: “Here is the thought that I may fail at work” or “This is anxiety.”