How to Live Mindfully
The past few weeks have been a blur following the aftermath of Hurricane Helene hitting my area in Western North Carolina on September 27th, 2024. We are slowly making progress across the area and finding some level of “normalcy” again, but to be honest, it has been the most challenging event for my mental health I have ever experienced. Once my basic needs were met in that first week and I felt physically stabilized, my body was able to recognize that it was okay to feel emotionally safe again (to a degree).
There have been days I felt like no coping skill would even touch the level of grief, depression, or anxiety I was feeling. Any energy for self-care had been shifted to staying focused on surviving in the present moment. I started to lean into Mindfulness practices and working towards consistency with staying in the present moment rather than doom-scrolling for hours.
If you are unaware of the concept of Mindfulness, it is a practice that focuses your attention on the present moment with kind intention and nonjudgment. It is not about clearing your mind of all thoughts or just doing simple breathing meditations. It opens you up to building emotional awareness and giving yourself space to take in everything that is happening. I’m sure that you can imagine how this can feel overwhelming when you have just lived through a catastrophic event. It is important to initially focus on safety and stability before reintroducing coping skills.
Research has also shown that people who practice Mindfulness on a consistent basis experience significant neuroplastic changes within the brain. Not just small changes, but long-lasting changes within the brain functioning! Some of these changes include:
Improvements in attention & working memory
Improvements in cognitive functions
Improvements in long term memory
Reduction of age-related brain degeneration
Building Mindfulness as a coping skill helps you to feel less consumed with worry thoughts, more content while doing daily tasks, and engaged attentively within your relationships.
There are many different ways to practice Mindfulness and it’s important to start slow. You wouldn’t start lifting 150lbs on your first day in the gym without pulling a muscle or burning yourself out. Treat your brain with the same patience and persistence.
When beginning to practice Mindfulness, the main goal is to just start noticing. You can start with mindful eating, mindful walking, or mindful breathing. Just try to focus your attention for 30 seconds, then a minute, then 5 minutes, and so on. Bring every sense into your awareness and describe what you see, taste, smell, hear, and touch. You will notice thoughts still pop up in that short time you are beginning to practice. Acknowledge those thoughts, but do not dwell on them. Sometimes a visualization of picturing your thoughts like clouds floating by or a leaf floating down a stream help shift the attention back to the present moment rather than ruminating on the thoughts that surface.
Try Mindfulness in your daily shower routine:
-For 1 minute out of the entire time spent in the shower, use your senses and describe what you are smelling or feeling (i.e. smell of your shampoo, how your loofah feels, the hot vs cold water, etc).
-Notice how many thoughts surface in that time frame without dwelling on them. You do not need to restart your minute whenever a thought pop ups; that would defeat the purpose of Mindfulness.
-Track your progress with daily mindfulness practices. Recognize how your attention, memory, or mood begin to shift over time. Set goals to build on time spent practicing each week.
Being mindful becomes your superpower. You stop allowing your anxious thoughts, boredom, miscommunication, inattentiveness, or even chronic pain to hold you back in life. You start showing yourself compassion and kindness by seeing life with an open mind.
Start being mindful today with any task you have on your agenda and open yourself up to becoming more aware of the present moment!
References:
Lardone A, Liparoti M, Sorrentino P, Rucco R, Jacini F, Polverino A, Minino R, Pesoli M, Baselice F, Sorriso A, Ferraioli G, Sorrentino G, Mandolesi L. Mindfulness Meditation Is Related to Long-Lasting Changes in Hippocampal Functional Topology during Resting State: A Magnetoencephalography Study. Neural Plast. 2018 Dec 18;2018:5340717. doi: 10.1155/2018/5340717. PMID: 30662457; PMCID: PMC6312586. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30662457/
