Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation, only to realize that you hadn’t been listening to what the other person was saying? You completely “zoned out” as you might call it. This could also happen if you’ve been sitting scrolling TikTok, engrossed in a Netflix series, or on the phone with Brickworks Property Restoration. You completely forget your surroundings. Fortunately, this is where practicing mindfulness can intervene by bringing you back to the present moment.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is focusing on the present moment and being aware of your feelings, thoughts, and what you’re picking up through your senses. Practicing mindfulness can help you reduce stress, boost productivity, make better decisions, and increase your happiness while allowing you to enjoy and be present for the little things in life.
Increased Focus & Productivity
We live in a time where we’re constantly bombarded with distractions. With the constant ding on our phones from social media notifications, emails, and text messages – it can be hard to stay focused on what’s in front of us. Practicing mindfulness can help us become more aware of when we’re distracted and how to get our focus back when we realize it. In turn, this increases our productivity and focus. Instead of being drawn away from the task at hand, we’re able to recognize it, and easily return back to what we’re doing.
Better Decision-Making
Mindfulness also helps with decision-making by allowing us to observe our emotions instead of being run by them and think through situations with awareness before making any decisions. When our emotions are running high, it can be difficult to remain calm and nonjudgmental. Fortunately, mindfulness teaches us how to take deep breaths and evaluate our circumstances objectively before acting or making any decisions we might later regret. This allows us to make more conscious choices rather than rash ones based entirely on our emotions.
Better Self-Awareness & Emotional Regulation
Last but not least, practicing mindfulness can help us to foster self-awareness and regulate our emotions by allowing us to recognize our thoughts and feelings as they come in. Once we bring our thoughts and emotions to the forefront of our minds, we’re better able to treat them with compassion instead of judging or criticizing them. This is a powerful tool, as we learn to gain a greater, deeper understanding of ourselves and others. Instead of viewing everything as a threat, we shine a light on our thoughts and feelings, which inevitably leads to increased compassion and clarity.
Increase in Positive Emotions
One of the most important benefits of mindfulness is that it leads to an increase in our happiness and feelings of positivity. Instead of going down the stream of constant and compulsive thinking, we are able to pause and observe what’s going on inside of us before it gets out of hand. Mental health disorders, such as anxiety and depression, are often caused by thinking and emotions that take control over us. Research reveals that “mindfulness-based treatments have been shown to reduce anxiety and depression.” This makes sense as the practice of mindfulness allows us to watch our thoughts, release them, and return to our breath and the moment in front of us.
