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Beat Stress With Meditation: Mindfulness

by Naomi Ozaniec

Mindfulness simply means paying full attention to the present moment. As a meditative form its simplicity is deceptive, yet mindful awareness produces changes in brain activity. Mindful meditation takes four subjects, the breath, the body, the content of mind and feelings. These personal subjects mean that mindfulness is an accessible and immediate form of meditation, the instruction is quite simple: pay attention, maintain focus and be aware. Harnessing attention in this non-judgemental way is a powerful tool for emotional, psychological and mental health. The conscious act of repeatedly capturing attention develops intent and motivation, using the mind as a tool of self-observation places awareness in the present moment and applying attention to specific subjects defuses potentially negative thinking patterns. Brain imaging technology shows how sustained attention is received in the brain. Research has shown that this simple act of sustained attention has been found effective in helping to treat chronic physical pain, emotional distress, depression, stress and anxiety, eating and personality disorders. The entirely personal encounter of mindful attention releases us from false labelling, social conditioning and negative patterning and thereby provides a deeply restorative healing balm. Mindfulness provides an antidote to negative self-belief and low self-esteem; it is a way of controlling persistent troubling thoughts, a means of rebuilding an optimistic self-view and a moment-by-moment guide to authentic emotion.

These are the psychological and spiritual tools which bring wellbeing and health, peace of mind and happiness; this is the power of mindfulness, the experience of life rooted in spontaneity, creativity and authenticity.




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