Print Mindfulness and meditation are becoming increasingly popular. More and more people are discovering the benefits of mindfulness. Mindfulness involves exercises that bring your attention to the present moment and can make a significant difference in how you feel.
What exactly is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is about living in the present moment, with attention and focus. We often find ourselves lost in our thoughts, thinking about everything we have to do later or what we experienced yesterday. For example if you are stuck in a traffic you might have thoughts such as: what groceries should I get? What is the fastest route home? Will I be on time to make it to the gym class? Mindfulness means letting all these thoughts and bringing your attention to the present moment without judgment. You will observe the cars around you, the environment, listen to the sound of the engines, feel the bumps in the road, etc. Mindfulness helps you to live in the moment.
Where does mindfulness come from?
Mindfulness is a Western concept that has only been around for a few decades. It started with research on meditation in the West. Initially they were not taken seriously by their colleagues. They thought meditation was too vague. To gain credibility, these scientists combined the essential components of Eastern meditations and philosophies, such as Buddhism, under the name Mindfulness.
Effects of Mindfulness
Below you can find some scientifically validated benefits of mindfulness:
- Reduces Stress: Mindfulness activates the part of your brain that regulates stress, allowing you to effectively regulate stress, relax, and recover. Exposure to a lot of stress throughout your life can lead to accelerated brain aging.
- Effective Against Depression: Various studies consistently show a positive effect of mindfulness on depression and its prevention.
- Enhances Attention, Focus, and Working Memory: Research has shown that people who practice mindfulness can work on tasks for longer periods without distraction and give less negative feedback on these tasks.
- Increases Empathy and Compassion: Even a short meditation can influence the parts of your brain linked to empathy and compassion.
- Aids in Emotion Regulation: You react less emotionally to stressful events or images. You are less driven by your emotions, although the emotions are still present.
- Helps with Anxiety and Rumination: Regular mindfulness practice can help you cope better with anxiety, uncertainty, and rumination. However, this effect is not found in all studies.
- Boosts Creativity: It enhances your problem-solving abilities, allowing you to solve everyday problems creatively.
- Aids in Relationships: Mindfulness contributes to more empathy, better impulse control, and improved emotion regulation, potentially enhancing relationships. More scientific research is needed to confirm this.
- Helps with Pain Management: People who practice mindfulness have a higher pain threshold than those who do not.
What can you watch out for?
In addition to highlighting positive effects and benefits, it’s crucial to remain critical and to point out a couple of things to bear in mind while practicing mindfulness:
Be mindful not to practice mindfulness for the wrong reasons and manage your expectations about the healing effects of meditation. If you have unrealistic expectations for how you might feel after the meditation this can lead to disappointment afterwards.
Mindfulness cannot alter unpleasant situations, exhausting jobs, or unhealthy relationships. Therefore when you are observing negative thoughts during your meditation it is possible that you get caught up in the content of your thoughts which could potentially lead to an increase in negative emotions. Be careful of this.
Not everything works for everyone. While mindfulness has positive effects for some, it may not be helpful for others. Determine what works for you, and do what feels right. Mindfulness is very broad so decide for yourself what helps and what doesn’t.
Do you want to know exactly how mindfulness works in your body? Then read this article.
Sources
https://www.happywithyoga.com/mindfulness/mindfulness-uitleg/
https://www.happywithyoga.com/mindfulness/wetenschappelijk-bewezen-voordelen-van-mindfulness/
https://ftp.science.ru.nl/CSI/CompMath.Found/BrittaHolzel_LWS.pdf
https://www.trainingsbureauvoormindfulness.nl/mindfulness-op-je-brein-positief-effect/
https://www.vmbn.nl/wat-is-mindfulness/onderzoek/
Creswell, J. D. (2017). Mindfulness interventions. Annual Review of Psychology.
https://www.mindfulme.be/veerkracht.html
https://niceday.app/hoe-werkt-mindfulness/
https://growingmindfulness.nl/pas-op-voor-de-5-gevaren-van-meditatie/
