Mindfulness is another way of saying mindfulness training, or mind-body exercise, for people who cannot cope with stress and negative emotions. As it turns out, it can also be effective for depression, addictions or eating disorders.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the practice of exercising the mindwhich are performed to maintain good health, increase vital energy, clear the mind and develop compassion, patience and other desirable qualities. People who practise meditation see mindfulness as a way to reduce stress and calm down.
Mindfulness is consciously directing one's attention to what one is experiencing in the moment - the here and now, i.e. not looking to the future or revisiting the past.
Because a person often dwells on unsuccessful events in the past or worries about the future, he forgets about the present. In addition, he or she develops an internal emotional imbalance and often develops anxiety disorders or even depression.
Through mindfulness training, you can regain emotional balance, learn how to concentrate and relax, learn how to deal with stress. Mindfulness helps you to reduce nervous tension, to calm down, in the face of anger or nervousness, and at the same time to draw energy from life, to enjoy simple things.
How did mindfulness come about?
Jon Kabat-Zinn American neuropsychologist, writer, meditation teacher, and professor of medicine was a student of Zen spiritual teacher, Buddhist monk Tchih Nhat Hanh. At the same time, he also wrote a doctorate in molecular biology.
He discovered that it was possible to combine Buddhist philosophy with Western psychology and medicine. He placed his mindfulness principles in a scientific context, with positive results. As it turned out, under the influence of practising mindfulness, people suffering from depression began to feel better. Others, who were troubled by chronic pain, felt relieved. Even ailments such as chronic heart or digestive diseases became less troublesome for patients. In some cases, they disappeared completely.
The amount of research on mindfulness has been increasing at a very fast pace in recent decades. Regular mindfulness practice has been shown to reduce stress levels, improve mood, strengthen the immune system, facilitate positive self-perceptions and less emotional responses to difficult situations. An important element of mindfulness programmes, meditations include body scanning, breath mindfulness, mindfulness of thoughts and emotions.
Types of mindfulness training
The best-known mindfulness training was created in the late 1970s by Jon Kabat-Zinn of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. It was MBSR, or Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.
The second type of mindfulness training is MBCT, or Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. It is an extension of classic MBSR and was developed as a method to prevent recurrence of depression.
One of the easiest and most effective ways to start practising mindfulness is to observe the breath. The practice of mindfulness gives breathing a very symbolic meaning, as this activity accompanies us from the moment we are born until we die.
Alternative mode of mind
Mindfulness practice does not eliminate negative emotions and thoughts but allows them to take hold in our mind and body. It does this by switching off the so-called," autopilot mode". This mode influences the fact that we are rarely present "here and now". We live in the future or the past, and use the present as a means to achieve desired results.
Mindfulness helps us to switch into what is known as an alternative mental gear, or 'mode of being'. It is a state that gives us awareness of what is happening in and around our mind. It allows us to relate more constructively to what happens to us, instead of reacting to it automatically. It also allows us to accept our thoughts and feelings and let them go when we are ready for them. Mindfulness uses various meditation practices.
