According to Professor Mark Williams, former director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, Mindfulness is knowing and understanding what is going on inside and outside of ourselves at every given moment.
An important part of being mindful is connecting with your body, and the sensations your body experiences. This means working with your five senses, so that you live presently, making yourself aware of what’s happening in the moment.
In Covid-19 it is easy to lose touch with ourselves, with the way we feel mentally and emotionally, which means we end up living in our heads, caught up in our mindful thoughts, without stopping to notice how what we think, and feel is driving our outward behaviour.
Notice the everyday
We can all choose to notice the feeling of things, as we go about our daily lives. This includes the food we eat, the air moving past our body, as we walk. While this may sound very small, it has great potential to interrupt the 'autopilot' mode we live in, while we go about our day to day lives, and to give us a new perspective.
Keep it regular
It can be helpful to pick a regular time to be aware of the sensations of the world. For example, the morning commute or going out for a walk.
Try something new
Trying new things, such as sitting in a different place, or going somewhere new for lunch, anything you do that is a change to your normal routine, can help you notice the world in a new way.
Watch your thoughts
Not everyone understands how to be mindful, but it's something we can all tap into. Mindfulness helps us to stop worrying and concerning ourselves over things. Mindfulness isn't about making those thoughts go away, but rather about seeing them as mental events.
It's about being self-aware. For example, we imagine ourselves standing at a bus stop seeing 'thought buses' coming and going without having to get on them. It's about being able to recognise what they are thinking. This can be difficult to begin with, but with practice it can become easier.
It is important for us to become aware of what we think and feel so that we are best able to notice signs of stress and anxiety, which can help us deal with ourselves better.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends Mindfulness to prevent depression in people who have in the past dealt with, or continue to struggle with 3 or more bouts of depression. (Source: https://www.nhs.uk)
Conclusion
Mindfulness is something you don't think about, but in some ways it's more important than your physical health. Without a healthy mind, you may never stay physically well.
It's why I wrote about my disability in my book Cerebral Palsy 'A Story' Finding the Calm After the Storm. It's also why I wrote a second book about my 'spiritual and healing' journey. It is why I continue to write.
For anyone who cares about their their health, their longevity and themselves, they will choose to contribute to their health through mindfulness. They will take themselves on their own journey, so that they may stay well.
My Story may differ to yours, but we can all take a nose dive on mental health. What I have come to learn through my own mental health is that none of us are free of mental health issues.
If you’re looking for more info, or fancy grabbing your copy, check out this link – https://linktr.ee/Ilana_Estelle
I remember reading that our mind is actually not a good fit for how we live today and so practicing mindfulness can reconnect our bodies with our environment, by waking us up to the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the present moment.
Both your books and your blog, remind us why it is important to use mindfulness. Cerebral Palsy 'A Story' is the start of you discovering yourself, as you embark on your journey finding out about your disability. You continue in your 'Spirituality, Healing and Me' book. I would implore others to seek out and to buy your books.
I am going to take time out during each day try and practice this and see how it makes me feel.
Good idea. You'll have to let us know how you get on. Until I realised how my emotions made me feel prior to cerebral palsy diagnosis at the age of 46, I didn't tap into my emotions in any great way.
I am not sure we do. But if we were to think about our emotions and how we really feel, many of us would see elements of emotional struggle.
I had that and changed that. I think if more of us did, our world, the world, would look and feel better for all of us.
It's not hard to see in Covid-19 how we're all pulling in different directions. I would also implore others to seek out my books also. My words help with mindfulness.