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vote4boat t1_j6kzh33 wrote

does "mindfulness" actually have a meaning? Am I being mindful by asking that?

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Blitzsturm t1_j6l0x8e wrote

> a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

Kind of a meditative technique. In short focusing on the "here and now" and putting anything outside of that out of your mind (work, debit, a loved one's health condition, etc.) It's associated with a lot of mental health benefits and therapies. Particularly in "the connected age".

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Chalkarts t1_j6l6b2t wrote

The “Here and Now” isn’t where relationships have trouble. It’s the “What was I supposed to do yesterday?” and “do we have plans tomorrow?” That make relationships hard. Now is easy, remembering yesterday is hard.

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Blitzsturm t1_j6ldrm2 wrote

That's a bit more of a generalization. The general premise is to have control over your own thoughts instead of having them pulled every which way.

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creamonbretonbussy t1_j6momis wrote

And if yesterday or tomorrow is relevant to now, then that's supposed to be included in your "here and now".

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Chalkarts t1_j6mxzf8 wrote

But I’ve slept since then so Yesterday is gone.

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vote4boat t1_j6l1ly5 wrote

That sounds a little vague for a science sub

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teadrinkinghippie t1_j6l26ef wrote

Mindfulness-based stress reduction and cancer: a meta-analysis, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19023879/

Mindfulness-based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder: a review of the treatment literature and neurobiological evidence, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5747539/

Mindfulness meditation and the immune system: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26799456/

This just a few. Mindfulness is a reproducible state with practice, it's well studied for the last 15 years. Where you been?

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waun t1_j6l283h wrote

You can find a good amount of clinical research on the benefits of mindfulness. It was enough for me to incorporate these concepts into my life.

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TrooperX66 t1_j6m2tnc wrote

The best technique I read was from a book called Active Relaxation in which it describes mindfulness as plugging into your senses repeatedly and can be practiced while doing anything awake. For instance, if you're washing dishes feel the temperature of the water, watch how it cascades over what it's running over, smell the fragrance of the soap, feel the weight of your body on your feet as you're standing up, inspect the wavy colorful patterns in the soap bubbles, etc. If you're taking a walk, listen to the birds, leaves & gravel crunching under your feet, feel the sun hitting your face, notice how shadows are cast across an object or intently study the silhouette of objects and inspect the shapes as though you were going to try to draw what you're looking at.

By repeatedly doing this you are grounding yourself in the present moment and taking yourself away from the eternal thoughts that can consume people's lives. The more you do it, the easier it is to stay present and the more relaxed I have found I become. I definitely recommend Active Relaxation if you can find a copy

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NyQuest14 t1_j6no78y wrote

So what happens if you are already mindful and are still filled with so much anxiety and stress that it doesn't matter? Because that's my life. I try to enjoy what's going on in the moment and I am aware of all that'd going on in the moment infront and around me. But I'm still always thinking about the rest of the stuff.

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TrooperX66 t1_j6nrsa5 wrote

Yeah, mindfulness isn't a catch-all, just another tool to help with mental health; daily exercise / walking is a big help, as are some supplements I've found (check out reviews for Ashwagandha (herbal adaptogen), Gabapentin (amino acid), and tryptophan (amino acid), calm magnesium powder (or other magnesium supplements); I take the last three of I'm having trouble sleeping and it wipes me out completely (I a good way).

Daily exercise/ walking was huge for me during my most anxious times, especially paired with mindfulness.

Another helpful tool is writing down everything you're anxious / stressed about and setting aside time to try to find solutions for those particular stressors. Writing it all down and giving yourself a future date / time to think about it helps unload some of the pressure so you can go about your day to day without so much weighing you down. And even if you can't find solutions to those issues immediately at least you're giving focused time to them and only within a specific window.

Part of mindfulness is that over time it relaxes your central nervous system and helps build resilience to stress. The more you can put time in the quicker you can get to that place (I did read this from a scientific study but unfortunately don't have the source off hand)

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DTFH_ t1_j6msn65 wrote

Yes Mindfulness Meditation is a specific form of practice that comes with a few key steps that separate it from other forms. Step one is drawing awareness to your breath (imagine a kid yelling 'your breathing right now!!!!' in order to become self-conscious of your breath) then step two would be 'observing what arises' which will be thoughts, feelings and sensations.

You will lose awareness of your breath as you get pulled into thoughts, feelings and sensations which then you are tasked with kindly labelling them all 'thinking' and returning awareness back to your breath. In time and with practice you will begin to experience a strengthened ability to maintain awareness but you will also strengthen your ability to come back and lightly disengage from thoughts. And then if you practice often enough, you'll be come familiar with your common thoughts that go through your head and maybe I'm doing so, Invite the opportunity for a novel response as opposed to your habitual response.

Source: Tibet house which is the dalai lama's organization, and Dharma Moon I just finished a 100hr course

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