By: Meaghan Orellana, Student in Nutrition and Dietetics
We live in a fast-paced society that can make it difficult to really give our brains a break. When we find a free moment, it can be hard not to run through your mental to-do list, find yourself daydreaming, scrolling through media or responding to never ending texts and emails. Taking time to deliberately slow down the mind can help calm yourself and stay present in the moment.
What Does Being Mindful Mean?
Mindfulness is defined as focusing on one’s awareness of the present moment while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations.
How Can I Implement Mindfulness in My Day?
This can be practiced in structured mediation, a body scan, or just focusing on your senses while completing a task. Meditation can be done while sitting, lying or while taking a walk. You can spend this time focusing on your breathing, visualizing a calm environment like the beach, or listening to a guided mediation. A body scan can be done by focusing on the sensation of each body part from your toes up to your head and trying to relax any points of tension you may feel. You can also focus on your senses while completing a task such as cooking, doing chores, enjoying a hobby, spending time with family, reading, eating or sipping your morning coffee / tea. Focus specifically on what you smell, see, taste, hear or feel during this time to bring your mind back to the present. Since this can be done while completing your regular daily tasks, you don’t need to find extra time in your already busy day. Just taking 5 minutes a day increases the white matter in the brain which improves the communication between different parts of the brian. This improved communication helps us regulate our emotions and improves mood.
Benefits
These practices help to slow the mind and relax the body and don’t have to take extra time out of your day. This break for our brain and body can be very beneficial in relieving stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, pain, high blood pressure and much more!
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