A controversial topic that attracts current research, “mindfulness” has been associated with a state close to that achieved by meditation, however, applied in another context.
The “mindfulness” – in English the junction of the words “mind” = mind + “fullness””=total” – or mindfulness is actually a state reached by a certain type of meditation where awareness and focus are “sharpened” longer.
That is, after a certain practice of meditation, it is possible to make the attention very developed, fully connected to everything that happens around it.
Activating 100% attention is difficult in the face of all the distractions of our daily lives, however, it can mean a greater interiorization in which your efforts are aimed at emphasizing the body's senses in order to perceive more the context in which meets.
How it works
Activating mindfulness is not easy. Just like the time of traditional meditation, entering this state of knowledge requires careful steps and even more difficult because they are a constant practice, so that you can keep the point reached within a routine full of other attractions.
Start by simply paying more attention to all your actions and movements. It is impossible to track all the activity of the brain, but it is possible to capture much that would normally go unnoticed.
For example, breathing. An almost automatic act, putting the air in and out is imperceptible to almost everyone. Try to identify the efforts and movements of the body while this action occurs.
The same can be done in other simple situations such as chewing, eye movement. The movement of the fingers, the swallowing of saliva, among others.
The perception of these initially cannot be performed in an unfavorable environment. Meditation should be carried out in silent places, with eyes closed, so that the interiorization is deep and the identification effective. Only after a certain period of practice is it possible to bring such activity to “real life”, this is the most difficult step of meditation.
Results
According to Western psychology studies, the mindfulness state consists, in practice, of noticing objects and situations differently. For example, looking at a common object like a book and seeing it with many other functions like a bookcase, door weight, support, etc.
It would then be a process of abstaining from standardized definitions through deeper and more creative thinking, sharpened by the senses of the human body. Thus, one who has mindfulness gives different value to each stage of the processes of his life. Instead of always visualizing results, he emphasizes the steps to get there and focuses on doing them mindfully, living fully. What philosophy calls “knowledge from experience”.
The benefits are numerous. Since concentration is high, performance in tasks is differentiated, attitudes are more rational and conscious. Thus, it is possible to control compulsions, make decisions more reasonably, better monitor your body in terms of food, activity and functioning, identifying for yourself what makes you better or worse.
- Written by Julia Zayas of Team Me Without Borders.
