How Can Mindfulness Improve My Mental Health?

In today's fast-paced world, it's crucial to focus on our mental well-being just as we do with our physical health. One powerful tool for achieving this balance is mindfulness. In this blog post, we'll explore what mindfulness is and how it can positively impact your mental health.

What is Mindfulness?

To grasp the essence of mindfulness, imagine it as maintaining moment-to-moment awareness of your thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and the world around you, all through a gentle and nurturing lens (Berkeley Good Science Centre).

Picture this: You're engrossed in an important task, attempting to concentrate, but suddenly, your phone distracts you, leading to a bout of social media scrolling. The ensuing self-critique, "Why am I so easily distracted? I need to focus!" couldn't be further from the essence of mindfulness.

For someone well-versed in mindfulness, the response would differ: "I've distracted myself. I wonder why I reached for my phone just then. Well, back to the task at hand."

Mindfulness doesn't demand a flawless mind; it's about embracing your thoughts and feelings without judgment.

A Mindful Example

Shehrina Rooney provides an insightful example of mindfulness in The Big Book on Borderline Personality Disorder. She recounts a moment of holding a stone and focusing her thoughts mindfully. Her thoughts during this exercise included observations about the stone, planning a grocery list, and pondering dinner options. This demonstrates that mindfulness isn't about emptying your mind but enhancing your ability to focus it.

“This stone is hard and it has a very smooth surface. It feels cold to my touch. When I put it to my lip, my lip tingles. I forgot to buy milk earlier. I might have coffee when I get home, so I’ll stop at the shop first. My mind just wandered. That’s okay, I will just bring it back to the stone. The stone feels quite heavy. It is slightly more curved on one side and has a little point on the other. What time will my partner get home tonight? Shall I cook chicken tonight or something else? I feel like a salad… I’ll get some salad at the shop too. I might get some fish as well. My mind has just wandered again. This stone is a light shade of gray but has some darker speckles on it too.” (Rooney).

Mental Health Benefits

Mindfulness offers a multitude of mental health benefits, including:

Decreased Stress - Mindfulness aids in stress reduction by enhancing emotion regulation, resulting in improved mood and a better capacity to manage stressful situations. As Viktor Frankl wisely stated, "Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response." Mindfulness creates that vital space for us.

Decreased Depressive Symptoms - Mindfulness has proven effective in treating depression by bolstering emotional regulation. It equips individuals with tools to step back from intense negative emotions, identify them, and accept them rather than battling them. Remarkably, mindfulness can even assist those with suicidal thoughts, allowing them to observe, question, and contemplate these thoughts without getting consumed by them.

Neuroplasticity - Neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to change and adapt, is essential for learning new skills, acquiring new knowledge, and altering behaviour. With practice, we can reshape our thought patterns and perspectives. Mindfulness supports this innate process, signalling to our brain that we handle everyday stressors more effectively when we're aware, observant, and non-judgmental.

For instance, regular meditation practice has been linked to an increased cortex thickness, a region vital for cognitive functions such as attention and sensory processing (Lazar et al., 2005).

Incorporating mindfulness into your daily life can lead to transformative improvements in your mental health. It provides a valuable tool for navigating the challenges of modern life while fostering resilience, emotional balance, and self-awareness.

Remember, just as you prioritise your physical health through exercise and nutrition, nurturing your mental health through mindfulness is equally essential. Start your mindfulness journey today and unlock its remarkable benefits for your well-being.

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