Stop the Madness - Tips for Mindfulness

"Mindfulness" is a term that is thrown around quite a bit today. As we live and thrive in the western culture, we must realize how much stress that really puts on our bodies. The hustle and bustle of life has been impacting our mood, nutrition, and overall well being. Fortunately for us, there are so many people out there who are PASSIONATE about combating those effects (like you and me!!!).

Stress comes in many forms, it can be anything from lack of sleep to forgetting to start the dishwasher last night and realizing you have no clean coffee mugs to start your day (guilty). Or you may think those things in particular don't cause you stress!! We all respond to stress differently, but whatever that looks like for you, your body and all it's functions respond to stress in ways that are not conducive to every day living. In primitive evolutionary terms, we are getting chased by a bear that is causing us to flee, raise our heart rate, and our body responds...whatever that bear looks like for you, we MUST take proper protocol to bring our bodies back down. Our digestion takes a hit, we suffer from headaches, we become dehydrated, we can't communicate, and we don't have energy to nurture the relationships around us.

Our mental health is just as important to take care of as our physical bodies. Any form of stress puts our body in the sympathetic nervous system. When we are being chased by our bear, we are in fight or flight. There are definite nutritional protocols we can follow to address this, methods that help our bodies come back to parasympathetic nervous system, or rest and digest. Other than nutrition, it's important to find what will work best for you in order to keep your body functioning properly. There are many methods that will compliment nutrition in keeping us relaxed and mindful.

The UK National Institute of Clinical Excellence has endorsed Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy as an effective treatment for depression and the prevention of depression relapse (www.mbct.co.uk). How freaking cool is that!!! When we begin to make that connection between our minds, our bodies, and our spirit. We understand what it takes to be in the moment, to enjoy life around us and cherish the relationships we keep. This along with other positive influences in your life like your community, nutrition, fitness, and environment are all the foundation of wellness.

Mindfulness is the simplest sense is just focusing on your breathing and in turn being able to focus on your thoughts and the things around you.

Here are a couple tips to begin practicing mindfulness

> Breathing to relax: inhale 6 seconds, hold 2 seconds, exhale slowly 8 seconds.

> Understanding your own thoughts: It is important to recognize thoughts and sometimes just let them be, just as they are. Take focus on breathing without questioning thoughts or trying to fix them.

> Go for a walk! Undoubtedly an automatic stress reliever. But now exercise awareness of the environment you're in, when your thoughts begin to wander to worries of the day or other concerns, breathe and bring them back to the moment you're in and observing.

> Go "idle." When you're standing in line at the bank, the grocery store, or the coffee shop. Let your mind just go idle...use that time to be present without impatience.

> Practice mindful listening: Turn off your cellphone, or flip it down, and for 5-10 minutes either turn on relaxing music/tones or just listen to the world around you. This will make you really aware of the moment, this will also translate into having mindful conversations with others. You'll notice they become more meaningful and much more effective without distractions or rushing to respond.

> Feeling patterns: When we make a habit of observing our thoughts and emotions, we won't let them consume us and we will look at them more objectively.

> Try an app for meditation or soothing sounds! (Headspace, Calm, or Insight Timer)

When it comes down to it, mindfulness is a practice of awareness. Being aware and being present. It even comes down to bringing down stress level so the rest of your body can operate properly!

Start the journey NOW to become more mindful, not mind full.

"Don't worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Howard Thurman