The term mindfulness has been seeing a lot of use in modern psychiatry. It describes the process of removing yourself from the frantic pace of the world. Doing so requires detaching yourself from it and focusing on a calm center. Successful use of this process has led to reports of reduced anxiety. These results can happen almost immediately and have many benefits. Adults and children alike have shown better learning ability as the result of being mindful. It has also been shown to help children with ADHD manage their symptoms. It’s been so successful they’re even teaching about it in public schools.
Teach Your Family To Use Mindfulness And Reap The Benefits
Mindfulness has also been shown to help families manage stress. It can develop a sense of togetherness and maintain it over time. We’re going to provide some tips you can use with your family to achieve mindfulness.
- Take A Listening Walk – This can take place anywhere, even in your backyard. During this walk, you encourage listening for sounds often drowned out. Pine cones falling from trees, the rustling of leaves, birds singing, even the sound of your breathing. You can even add paper cups to help amplify quieter sounds. This kind of walk can happen as quickly downtown as it can in the woods.
- Savor What You’re Eating – We often consume foods and focus on their taste. We don’t often focus on the textures, undertones, and temperature of foods. Rather than wolfing down your meal, spend a little time experiencing it. Feel the way corn kernels burst between your teeth or the way ice cream melts on your tongue. Experience the contrast of cold tomato against hot hamburger or crisp crackers and tuna fish.
- Explore Bodily Sensations – This kind of awareness focuses on listening to our bodies. Move your mental awareness through your hands and feet. Then focus on your breathing, the pressure on your hands, and individual hairs. See if you can identify the way it feels or points of tension in your body. There’s so much to discover that we often ignore.
- Enjoy The Silence – Trying to sit in silence is an uncomfortable experience for many. Our minds will often fight against it in the first moments. Stray thoughts, mental babble, and other distractions will try to filter into our thoughts. If we can get past this and enjoy the quiet, a sense of peace may fold over us. For many, the mental noise never really stops; it just quiets.
These are just a few techniques, but there are countless more you can discover by speaking to your mental health practitioners. Everyone offers a new opportunity to experience the world in different ways.
Learn More Mindfulness Techniques From Your Mental Health Care Provider Today
If you often feel overwhelmed by the noise and frantic pace of the world, mindfulness may help. Your mental health provider can help you discover a suitable method for you. With just a little quiet time and awareness, you may begin to experience the world in a new way.
