By Mindfulness
The lack of attention in the present moment is something constant in our routine. We are rarely 100% attentive to the tasks we are performing or what someone is saying. Part of that blame is the many stimuli we receive, but what you’ll see here is that mindfulness can help you make changes in this behavior. From mindfulness therapy clinic in London, in the following article we will discuss about mindfulness in detail.
Studies point out that our mind is scattered and distracted in our thoughts for practically 47% of the time. That is, it is as if half of our lives we were thinking about the past and the future, and leaving aside the present.
Not having a calm mind can affect not only the personal life, but also the person’s professional life. Therefore, more and more companies are investing in a complete employee experience, with actions that take care of the mental health of employees.
Furthermore, this lack of focus can cause other symptoms and problems related to well-being, such as anxiety and stress, in addition to harming our happiness with achievements and present moments.
Mindfulness sounds complicated, but it’s already talked about a lot at work or in groups focused on emotional well-being. So let’s explain how this scientifically proven practice works and how you can apply it in everyday life.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness , or full attention, is the practice of being in the present moment as consciously as possible. That is, you focus your attention on each movement, situation, breath.
Therefore, it is for you to put aside distractions, external thoughts and previous feelings, to intentionally feel, listen, fully live the present situation.
This is an intentional exercise, as each person needs dedication and self-regulation to achieve results. So, we can say that mindfulness techniques are basically activities that connect action and thought.
Furthermore, Mindfulness is also known as the Psychology of Mindfulness. That is, where the psychologist works to discipline the mind with the aim of increasing focus.
What are the benefits of mindfulness?
But, after all, what is mindfulness for? Check out the top 10 benefits of Mindfulness for your health and your daily life:
- Helps develop emotional intelligence and empathy ;
- Deepen your self-knowledge ;
- Increases your ability to concentrate;
- Contributes to the control of stress and anxiety;
- Reduces the risks of insomnia ;
- Improves your personal relationships;
- Reduces brain aging;
- Increases your memory capacity;
- Decreases the impact of negative thoughts;
- Encourages your creativity.
All this can be applied both in personal and professional life. Therefore, it is very common among professionals and students who are looking to improve their performance and performance.
Mindfulness and psychotherapy
In addition, it is worth remembering that Mindfulness can also be recognized as a strand among the types of therapies .
That’s because many of the benefits we’ve listed that come from practice can help treat disorders like anxiety, Burnout syndrome and even depression.
However, Mindfulness does not replace any treatment step, it is just another tool accessible to psychology and psychiatry professionals .
Who is Jon Kabat-Zinn?
When you search the internet about Mindfulness, you will no doubt find references to Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Kabat-Zinn is an American physician and professor, founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic in Massachusetts, and one of the pioneers in the development of research for the experimentation of Mindfulness meditation.
The importance of talking about Kabat-Zinn, in addition to his reference as an expert on the subject, is that many people are prejudiced against Mindfulness because they believe – wrongly – that the technique is associated with religion, such as Buddhism.
Kabat-Zinn and other scholars seek to understand the technique and do not present mindfulness as a common meditation of religious practices, but rather as a way of preventing and reducing stress. His theory, teachings and studies can be deepened in his book “Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life.”.
There are other renowned authors and specialists who present the reader with more details on the subject as well, such as Mark Williams, Phd and professor at the University of Oxford, and Tiago Tatton, Brazilian Phd and pioneer in the country.
7 tips for practicing mindfulness
We separate a step-by-step with seven exercises so you can experience Mindfulness:
Pay attention to your breathing
Here the idea is that you can understand how the air comes in and out when breathing. With this exercise, which can be done as soon as you wake up and throughout your day, you will be able to understand how it changes and how it interferes with your actions. The encounter with your breath is also an encounter with yourself.
Exercise your listening skills
How many times have you not agreed or disagreed with something someone is saying, before that person has even finished speaking? Mindfulness proposes that you listen, absorb and think about what is being said, before issuing a shallow or superficial opinion.
Fix your way of eating
Eating is not just the act of satisfying some desire or staying alive, so take it easy when eating, notice the smells and textures of what is feeding you, take care of your chewing and notice the work of your body during the meal. snack.
notice how you walk
Have you noticed how you walk? And how do you run? During this routine activity, we are not even aware of how we are stepping, breathing, walking or running. The act of walking seems simple, but it involves different parts of your body, so how about realizing what your attitude is?
routine habits
Everyone pees, takes a shower and brushes their teeth every day, but have you noticed where your thoughts go while doing these actions? And why not just focus on performing these activities, without thinking about other past tasks or those that haven’t even happened yet?
Understand the environment you are in
Life is daily coexistence with multiple personalities, moods and states of mind. So feel what’s being vibrated around you and have more assertive responses.
take short breaks
We run so much that we forget to absorb the sensations and benefits of what we’ve just done and we’re already on to the next one. Being proactive helps to be more dynamic, but it also makes us blind to celebrate small achievements or learn from possible mistakes.
Mindfulness at work: how to practice?
After the more general tips, which can be applied both in your personal life and in brief moments at work, let’s now understand more assertively how you can improve at work with this technique.
Keep your personal life outside of work.
It’s hard to separate personal problems from the time we spend at work, and vice versa. But it is extremely important to keep your full attention in the present moment, that you momentarily push these thoughts away, to rescue them only when you can really decide or act, that is, after working hours.
Breathe deeply
Before starting your activities, take five to ten minutes to breathe and to understand how your breathing is. This will help you to bring calm and concentration to start tasks.
forget the distractions
If you know that your cell phone and social networks interfere with your concentration, try putting your device aside. If the task is really difficult to accomplish, just turn off notifications while performing your tasks and resume your digital addiction in moments of pause.
Plan your schedule and tasks
Doing a lot of tasks at the same time does not make you a proactive or competent professional, so before starting work, make a list of your priorities, check your emails and your appointment book.
More about emails
Our email inbox seems endless and often the task of always checking can distract us from other activities that we need to perform at that moment. Experts say that separating just two moments a day to update emails is enough, but if this does not apply to you, try to create a periodicity routine to read and respond.
More productive meetings
How many times have you not heard the phrase “this meeting could be an email”, and this happens due to people’s lack of focus and strategy when setting up these meetings. Make your time easier and make meetings more productive by establishing priorities, responsibilities and topics to be resolved.
recharge your energies
Every hour or two, or even when you’ve finished a tiring task, take short breaks of three to five minutes so you don’t overwhelm your body and mind. Here it is worth redoing the exercises of focusing on the quality of your breathing that we mentioned above.
How to start practicing mindfulness?
In addition to the more immediate techniques we’ve brought here as a tip, we can also indicate that you seek help from your therapist so that he can guide you to adapt this practice in the best possible way into your routine.
