This Is Why Practicing Mindfulness Makes You Happy
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What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a mental state that involves focusing your complete attention on the present moment – without judgment, analysis, or concern. It sounds a little strange, doesn’t it? Our daily lives commonly consist of rushing from one activity to another while we worry about how we’ll respond to an email, pay the next credit card bill or deal with that client who needs something right now. But is this the healthiest way to approach life?
Mindfulness is a method of facing the events of our everyday life with both extreme focus and equanimity. While this may seem like new age mumbo-jumbo – and you may be telling yourself that you thrive on the challenge of multi-tasking; there are some real-world benefits to practicing mindfulness that are hard to ignore.
Whether you’re the head of a large company or a working mom, keep reading to discover the benefits of facing life’s challenges with a whole new outlook.
Mindfulness Defined
According to mindfulness expert Jon Kabat-Zinn: Mindfulness is simply paying attention to the present moment with intention while removing all judgment as if our lives depended on it, with the knowledge that the present is the only real moment we have. Strangely enough – our lives may literally depend on taking advantage of this unique mental state.
Beat Stress with Mindfulness
Studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of mindfulness practice in reducing stress and anxiety levels in test subjects. By teaching an individual to focus on the present, mindfulness prevents people from obsessing on concerns that they can’t resolve by always worrying about them. Mindfulness is a way to prioritize your thought processes so you can deal with issues pragmatically – without obsessing on the problems that have no immediate solution. Many serious health problems have their origin in chronic stress.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that sudden emotional stresses — particularly anger — have triggered heart attacks, cardiac arrhythmias, and even sudden death. While this most often occurs in people who already have heart disease, most people don't know they have a problem until acute stress causes a heart attack or stroke.
Relationships Can Be Improved with Mindfulness
Studies have shown that the ability to be mindful is an accurate predictor of relationship satisfaction – defined as the capacity to respond well to relationship stresses and also to be able to effectively communicate your emotional state to your partner. There is evidence that mindfulness mitigates the adverse effects of conflict between partners in a relationship and is frequently associated with the ability to successfully navigate a range of social situations. Dealing with people can be difficult at the best of times – mindfulness practice is a proven way to stay calm and get the most out of your personal interactions.
What about the Workplace?
It’s true that mindfulness reduces stress and eases the emotional strain of human interaction – but does it help you at work? Research done by Taylor and Millear in 2016 shows that employees can benefit from mindfulness training. They discovered that mindfulness helps workers to construct a buffer between themselves and their work that can prevent “burn out” and reduce turnover. They also found out that employees who demonstrated higher levels of mindfulness are much less likely to leave their jobs for any reason.
Mindfulness is an excellent way to keep your head straight not just under stressful working conditions but in your everyday life.