1. Mindfulness is not a mystical in nature. Mindfulness is a practice – the practice
of paying attention in the present moment and doing it with non-judgment. Over
the last 30 years this practice has been thoroughly researched and successfully
implemented in hospitals, businesses, education and the military. Mindfulness
meditation practices refer to the deliberate acts of regulating attention through the
observation of thoughts, emotions and body states.
3. BENEFITS OF
MINDFULNESS
• The term "mindfulness" has been used to refer to a
psychological state of awareness, the practices that
promote this awareness, a mode of processing
information and a character trait.
• Several disciplines and practices can cultivate
mindfulness, such as yoga, tai chi and qigong, and
through mindfulness meditation — those self-regulation
practices that focus on training attention and awareness in
order to bring mental processes under greater voluntary
control and thereby foster general mental well-being and
development and/or specific capacities such as calmness,
clarity and concentration
4. BENEFITS OF
MINDFULNESS
• Researchers theorize that mindfulness meditation
promotes metacognitive awareness, decreases
rumination via disengagement from perseverative
cognitive activities and enhances attentional
capacities through gains in working memory. These
cognitive gains, in turn, contribute to effective
emotion-regulation strategies.
5. More specifically, research on mindfulness has identified these benefits:
REDUCED
RUMINATION
Several studies have shown that mindfulness reduces rumination. In one study,
for example, Chambers et al. (2008) asked 20 novice meditators to participate in a
10-day intensive mindfulness meditation retreat. After the retreat, the meditation
group had significantly higher self-reported mindfulness and a decreased negative
affect compared with a control group. They also experienced fewer depressive
symptoms and less rumination. In addition, the meditators had significantly
better working memory capacity and were better able to sustain attention
during a performance task compared with the control group.
6. STRESS REDUCTION
Many studies show that practicing mindfulness reduces stress. In 2010, Hoffman
et al. conducted a meta-analysis of 39 studies that explored the use of
mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.
The researchers concluded that mindfulness-based therapy may be useful in
altering affective and cognitive processes that underlie multiple clinical issues.
7. BOOSTS TO WORKING MEMORY
Improvements to working memory appear to be another benefit of mindfulness,
research finds. A 2010 study by Jha et al., for example, documented the benefits
of mindfulness meditation among a military group. The researchers found that
the non-meditating military group had decreased working memory capacity
over time, whereas working memory capacity among non-meditating civilians
was stable across time. Within the meditating military group, however, working
memory capacity increased with meditation practice. In addition, meditation
practice was directly related to self-reported positive affect and inversely related
to self-reported negative affect.
8. FOCUS
Another study examined how mindfulness meditation affected participants'
ability to focus attention and suppress distracting information. The researchers
compared a group of experienced mindfulness meditators with a control group
that had no meditation experience. They found that the meditation group had
significantly better performance on all measures of attention and had higher
self-reported mindfulness. Mindfulness meditation practice and self-reported
mindfulness were correlated directly with cognitive flexibility and attentional
functioning (Moore and Malinowski, 2009).
9. LESS EMOTIONAL REACTIVITY
Research also supports the notion that mindfulness meditation decreases
emotional reactivity. In a study of people who had anywhere from one month to
29 years of mindfulness meditation practice, researchers found that mindfulness
meditation practice helped people disengage from emotionally upsetting
pictures and enabled them to focus better on a cognitive task as compared with
people who saw the pictures but did not meditate (Ortner et al., 2007).
10. MORE COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY
Another line of research suggests that in addition to helping people become less
reactive, mindfulness meditation may also give them greater cognitive flexibility.
One study found that people who practice mindfulness meditation appear to
develop the skill of self-observation, which neurologically disengages the
automatic pathways that were created by prior learning and enables present-
moment input to be integrated in a new way (Siegel, 2007a).
11. RELATIONSHIP SATISFACTION
Several studies find that a person's ability to be mindful can help predict
relationship satisfaction — the ability to respond well to relationship stress and
the skill in communicating one's emotions to a partner. Empirical evidence
suggests that mindfulness protects against the emotionally stressful effects of
relationship conflict (Barnes et al., 2007), is positively associated with the ability to
express oneself in various social situations (Dekeyser el al., 2008) and predicts
relationship satisfaction (Barnes et al., 2007; Wachs & Cordova, 2007).
12. OTHER BENEFITS
Mindfulness has been shown to enhance self-insight, morality, intuition and fear
modulation, all functions associated with the brain's middle prefrontal lobe area.
Evidence also suggests that mindfulness meditation has numerous health
benefits, including increased immune functioning (Davidson et al., 2003; see
Grossman, Niemann, Schmidt, & Walach, 2004 for a review of physical health
benefits), improvement to well-being (Carmody & Baer, 2008) and reduction in
psychological distress (Coffey & Hartman, 2008; Ostafin et al., 2006). In addition,
mindfulness meditation practice appears to increase information processing
speed (Moore & Malinowski, 2009).
13. IMPROVES WELL BEING
Increasing your capacity for mindfulness supports many attitudes that contribute
to a satisfied life. Being mindful makes it easier to savor the pleasures in life as
they occur, helps you become fully engaged in activities, and creates a greater
capacity to deal with adverse events. By focusing on the here and now, many
people who practice mindfulness find that they are less likely to get caught up in
worries about the future or regrets over the past, are less preoccupied with
concerns about success and self-esteem, and are better able to form deep
connections with others.
14. IMPROVES PHYSICAL HEALTH
If greater well-being isn’t enough of an incentive, scientists have discovered that
mindfulness techniques help improve physical health in a number of ways.
Mindfulness can: help relieve stress, treat heart disease, lower blood pressure,
reduce chronic pain, , improve sleep, and alleviate gastrointestinal difficulties.
15. IMPROVES MENTAL HEALTH
In recent years, psychotherapists have turned to mindfulness meditation as an
important element in the treatment of a number of problems, including:
depression, substance abuse, eating disorders, couples’ conflicts, anxiety
disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
16. Choice is a fundamental power of human existence.
No one can make you choose to change. If you want to change the trajectory of
your life , the choice is yours.
17. According to Caroline Myss, these choices will
transform your life:
• Tell Truth (Not Lies)
• Share Wisdom (Not Woes)
• Take Risks (Not the Safe Path)
• Choose New Words
• Choose to Bless your day
18. These seven choices are not an exhaustive list, but
they will help you through the process of change. No
matter what you encounter on your journey towards
living your vision, these seven choices can help steer
you in the right direction, restore your confidence,
reignite your commitment and boost your energy.
CHOOSE TO EXPECT
MORE FROM LIFE
If you desire to achieve your dreams, your expectations must
rise. Don’t ever settle with where you are. As long as you
are alive there is more life for you to live.
People forfeit their vision because they expect little from their
lives. Don’t settle for less than you are capable of doing.
19. If you desire to achieve your dreams, your expectations must
rise. Don’t ever settle with where you are. As long as you
are alive there is more life for you to live.
People forfeit their vision because they expect little from their
lives. Don’t settle for less than you are capable of doing.
Even if you don’t achieve all your expectations, you will still
gain a whole lot more if you expect nothing at all.
20. CHOOSE TO FIND SOLUTIONS
TO YOUR PROBLEMS
I am not down playing problems. We all encounter problems
in life. Instead of complaining or gripping begin to seek
solutions.
Wasting time complaining and gripping does not resolve the
problem, they only magnify it and delay the solutions. The
best plan of action I discovered is to evaluate the problem,
write down possible solutions and implement a plan to
eliminate the problem.
21. CHOOSE TO BE YOUR
UNIQUE SELF
Refuse to be a carbon copy of anyone. God did not
meticulously design you to be an imitator. You are only
required to become the best you that you can be. It takes
less work and energy being you.
Don’t believe the media’s lies that you must look a certain
way or act like a certain person. Accept who you are and live
true to your uniqueness. You have more to give to the world
when you choose to be your authentic self.
22. CHOOSE TO WALK IN
COURAGE AND NOT FEAR
Fear attacks your life at different levels trying to persuade
you that living your vision is impossible. Fear’s job is to beat
you into submission with its negative and pessimistic voice.
Refuse to let fear win. Don’t enable fear to hold you hostage
from living your best. When fear shows up; don’t give in,
keep moving forward and let courage reign.
23. CHOOSE TO LINK WITH PEOPLE
THAT WILL HELP YOU GROW
Success doesn’t happen alone. You need trusted people
along the way. A strong support system will help you deal
with the pit falls of life.
Don’t surround yourself with a bunch of ‘yes men’ who
stroke your ego. Put yourself in the company of people who
will tell you the truth, support your efforts and help grow
your life.
24. CHOOSE TO FOLLOW CORE VALUES
THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU
To become effective in your life’s journey you must identify,
develop and prioritize clear and concise core values. Your
core values are central to defining who you are, what you do
and where you go.
Once you define and prioritize your core values, they should
guide you in every aspect of your daily life. When you make
a conscious decision to follow your core values you will not
allow anyone or anything to persuade you to live against
them.
25. CHOOSE TO TAKE
CONSISTENT ACTION
Your vision will not happen because you think about or pray
about it daily. It will not impact lives if you just write it down.
You must take consistent action for your vision to have the
effect it was designed to have.
Consistent action is not a one-time occurrence but it is a
reliable, dependable and coherent approach to daily living
that aligns with your unique vision.
If you are serious about making the necessary changes to
maximize your life (spiritually, relationally, physically, socially,
mentally, financially and professionally) these seven choices
will help take you where you desire to go.
