Depression, stress, and anxiety are a part of our day to day lives in today’s fast paced society.
When feelings of anxiety, stress, anger, or sadness get in the way of us taking actions we desire to take, turning inwards can be a postitive first step.
Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention. When we are mindful, we are aware, attentive, and observe our thoughts and feelings from a distance without judgment. It has been associated with enhanced relaxation, attention regulation, emotion regulation, body awareness and cognitive re-evaluation.
Multiple studies suggests mindfulness may play a role in pain management, irritable bowel syndrome treatment, diminishing cravings, fatigue, and insomnia management. A study with 56 pre-hypertensive patients showed greater improvement in participant blood pressure who underwent mindfulness-based stress reduction exercises over an 8 week period. While another small 2013 study showed that diaphragmatic breathing and muscle relaxation promoted more weight loss in overweight, Greek women when compared to those who did not receive a stress-management program.
If you are ready to build self-awareness and take a step towards releasing internal barriers, consistently try one of the action steps listed below.
Action Steps ⇒
Journalling
Drawing emotions, thoughts, or feelings
Writing; Poetry
Time In Nature
Guided meditations such as those found in Insight Timer
Music; Singing
Dance
References
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24719001
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24461370
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24239587
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24127622
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23627835