M is for Mindfulness!

How often do we actually take the time to notice that things are going well, or to appreciate the good things in our lives?

Not as often as we should! Our lives are so fast paced that we don't give our minds enough time to properly experience and acknowledge the positive things that are going on in our lives.

The human brain has a "negativity bias" - a tendency to focus on negative experiences, and minimise the positives. So if we are moving so fast that we don't notice any positives in life, then we will only ever see the negatives!

This gives us a distorted perspective on life, and this can have a bad effect on our mental health. By slowing down and noticing the positive moments and events in our lives, we develop a more balanced and realistic viewpoint of life.

Mindfulness is about tuning into what is happening around us in a conscious way; by 'savouring the moment'.

Savouring the moment can intensify our enjoyment of experiences, and help reinforce the positive aspects of that experience. 

It is about noticing the small, simple things in our daily life that make life good - watching a favourite show, eating food, smelling nice flowers, having fun with your friends.This means slowing our mind down so that we can pay full attention to the good things in life.

Mindfulness is also about finding the balance between the past, present and future.

Always looking to the past, or dreaming of the future can mean that we forget about the here and now, and that leaves us feeling stuck in one place. 

Finding that balance means changing our perspective on things, so that we can reflect on the past positively while having realistic hopes for the future, but remaining fully in the present and building a path to follow for ourselves.

Exercises and activities to try:

Savour the moment - Try being mindful during an activity in your day. A perfect time to try this is while eating your dinner, but you can do it during any activity. There are 5 key steps to fully savouring something:

1. Slow down
2. Pay attention to what you are doing
3. Use all your senses
4. Stretch out the experience
5. Reflect on your enjoyment

If you try this while eating your dinner, you find that you actually pay attention to your food, how it tastes, feels, and smells, how much you enjoy the meal, and you feel more satisfied afterwards because you ate more slowly and savoured every bite. This brings a positive experience to something that we usually don't think twice about!

Guided mindfulness - Have a look on YouTube for a 5 minute guided mindfulness video - these are great as an introduction to the world of mindfulness. The focus is on relaxing, breathing deeply and feeling present, and even after 5 minutes you will find yourself feeling more relaxed and mindful!. Give it a go and see how you feel! Here's a link to one to try: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEzbdLn2bJc