Benefits of Mindfulness

Something about the internet that we’ve simply become used to, is how quickly new trends pop up. Information can now spread around the world at a rate which would have been impossible just one generation ago. What this means for trends is that all they need to do, in order to spread like wildfire, is to catch people’s imagination.

And mindfulness managed to do just that when it started making the rounds online a decade or so ago. Not that it popped out of nowhere, of course. Buddhist practises and teachings began spreading to the US as early as the 50s, and mindfulness really started to pick up popularity in the 90s. Which meant there were plenty of people ready to write articles promoting the practise as the world began to be increasingly connected online.

If I’ve managed to retain your attention this far into the article, my meandering intro may have convinced you that I’m winding up to do a lengthy slam on mindfulness. However, the truth is that this is one of those articles promoting the practise. Because, as I said, trends appear and disappear from the public consciousness, but mindfulness has plenty of scientifically supported benefits which shouldn’t be forgotten.

But, before we get to those, we really ought to go over what, exactly, mindfulness is. Posting an article online does allow you to reach a much wider audience, but the trade-off is that you can’t make many assumptions about what your audience does, or doesn’t know. Mindfulness is an activity where you focus your attention on the current moment, and what you’re experiencing in that moment. You don’t judge or question what is happening, you just experience it. Traditionally, this is done via meditation, but this is not the only way. In fact, any number of non-complex tasks can be used as a basis for mindfulness, as long as it’s something you can exclusively give your attention to. A common way to encourage mindfulness in children is via colouring in. This is already a popular activity for young children, so it can make for a more accessible route into mindfulness practise for them.

That’s what mindfulness is, so we should move on to what the point of mindfulness is. After all, not every trend has much depth to it once its moment of popularity has passed. But, as I mentioned earlier, mindfulness provides a number of scientifically supported benefits. To begin with, mindfulness is a way of bringing our minds to a resting state. Throughout the day, you are constantly pondering the past, or worrying about the future. And both of those are things we can do little, to nothing, about. We certainly can’t change the past and while preparation for the future is important, we shouldn’t obsess about it too much. Unsurprisingly, reducing the amount of time we spend dwelling on things which make us uncomfortable, has significant benefits for our mental health. For example, mindfulness has been shown to significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. Related to this, mindfulness also teaches us how to better manage our emotions by having us learn to put intrusive thoughts aside. And, because mindfulness is built around focusing yourself on one thing in particular, it’s also very effective for improving your concentration and attention.

Now, like most lifestyle trends, people sometimes approach mindfulness as if it’s a cure-all for all your problems. Not to mention, not everyone starts practising mindfulness with the long-term in mind. When you get down to it, mindfulness can be considered exercise for the brain. It won’t magically turn you into a better, more enlightened person; and it certainly won’t do so overnight. Like physical exercise, you won’t see results immediately. You’ll find your attention wandering to what you’ll be making for dinner tonight, or your frustration that Tom from accounting keeps booking meetings with you when you’re swamped with work. But, if you stick with it, you’ll find it easier to maintain a good mood, as well as better able to focus your attention on what you need to get done.