Learn Powerful Meditation Techniques - How To Be More Mindful Mini-Course: Cultivating A Calm Mind

Starting point is 00:00:00 We appreciate your interest in today's meditation life skills podcast. We sincerely grateful for your support. Why is mindfulness so important? You've probably heard at some point in your life that being mindful is an essential part of a healthy and happy life. But you may be wondering just why this is. And this is because being mindful has the power to change many different aspects of your life. When you spend your entire life running around, worrying about all the things which may be happening in your life at present and in the future,

Starting point is 00:00:39 you're likely to run into mental health problems. When you aren't mindful of yourself and how you feel, you become stressed, which can have numerous effects on your mental health. To take care of your mental health and lower your stress levels, it's crucial to be mindful of your environment and how you feel and respond. This will help you be more at peace mentally, and keep your brain feeling fresh. Not only does mindfulness help preserve your mental health,

Starting point is 00:01:04 but it also nurtures your creativity. This can be especially important when you face challenging, in your life, as creativity is part of learning to overcome challenges. According to various studies, mindfulness has even been discovered to improve brain function and memory, which can also help an individual navigate the twists and turns of life more easily. And those who were more mindful in their everyday life didn't tend to suffer the same memory loss issues later in life as those who weren't mindful. Besides just mental benefits, mindfulness also has several physical benefits for your body. It works to improve immune function so that you can stay healthy

Starting point is 00:01:40 and fight off infections more quickly when you do get sick. One study even discovered that being more mindful increased enzyme activity in the body, which slowed down the aging process, accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress. This means that mindfulness is scientifically a part of leading a longer, healthier life. Mindfulness is an integral part of leading a happy and healthy life, no matter how you look at it. Mindfulness helps you keep mentally sane, boosts your creativity, and works in several ways to keep you physically healthy as well. So if you want to live your best life, it's time to start being more mindful today. What is mindfulness? You've probably heard someone tell you that you should be a little more mindful, but what exactly is mindfulness,

Starting point is 00:02:24 and how does it apply to your life? Mindfulness means you're fully aware of your surroundings and what is happening in the here and now, but it doesn't mean that you overreact, or become overwhelmed by what's going on. Instead, being mindful is being present in the moment. Sometimes you may drift away from the current time and place, but it's mindfulness that'll snap you right back to where you are now. Mindfulness is also acceptance of the person you are, just as you are. Although mindfulness is something that happens in your thoughts, it doesn't just affect your thoughts. Instead, it affects your entire body. Being mindful is checking in with your body to see how you're feeling. When you become more aware, you become more in tune with your body

Starting point is 00:03:05 and the natural processes which occur without you even noticing, such as your breathing and heartbeat. This can have a relaxing effect which can help you combat anxiety and physical pain, which may be the result of mental stress or anguish. Mindfulness is something that comes naturally to humans. Sometimes it may take some practice to embrace mindfulness, but this practice isn't anything complicated. mindfulness practice can simply be taking a moment to think about or spending a few minutes each day journaling or meditation. The best way to practice mindfulness is by pausing during your daily activities and doing a complete check-in with yourself. How are your thoughts? Are they where they're supposed to be? If not, adjust them.

Starting point is 00:03:46 Then take a few deep breaths while checking in with the different parts of your physical body. Do you have pain anywhere? Are you holding in stress? Now is the time to figure out why and take action to read your physical body. resolve these stresses in your body. Sometimes a few more deep breaths can be all it takes. Then you can resume your day in a more mindful state. Overall, mindfulness is the state of being present both physically and mentally in your life. It helps cut down on anxiety and bring awareness into everything you do. And best of all, it's not complicated.

Starting point is 00:04:18 Anyone can learn mindfulness with just a little practice. You've probably been told that embarking on a journey to become more mindful in your life will be very beneficial to you, but you may be wondering just what are the benefits of being more mindful. If you're like most people in this world, you live a busy life that's often full of stress, and stress has been proven to be both bad for the body and mind. When you work on being more mindful in your life, this will help reduce your stress. It'll also help improve other mental aspects, such as focus and efficiency, which are often impeded by the effects of stress.

Starting point is 00:04:54 Do you have trouble sleeping at night? Well, becoming more mindful can help you with that as well. Being more mindful helps reduce the number of ailments which cause problems sleeping, such as anxiety and stress. So once you become more mindful, you'll sleep more deeply and wake feeling more rested. It can be hard to maintain relationships in your life if you lack empathy, or are prone to emotional outbursts. Improving your mindfulness can help with both of these,

Starting point is 00:05:21 as in one study performed by the California State University San Marcos, It was discovered that instruction and mindfulness both increases empathy and emotional control, meaning participants were less likely to have emotional outbursts in the future. If you want less stress and anxiety, learn to empathize more. Stress is a killer. You might hear someone say, the stress at my job is killing me. They could be overstating the situation. In many cases, though, stress can quite literally kill you.

Starting point is 00:05:49 Chronic stress is related to the six leading causes of death. It's believed that more than 75% of all trips to the emergency room or doctor are stress-related. So the next time a friend tells you stress is killing him, you might want to take that statement seriously. Ask anyone you know and they'll tell you of a stressful situation they experienced recently. This is an unfortunate common occurrence. You might have too much stress in your own life. For a number of reasons, you can benefit from stressing less and relaxing more often. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, just learn to empathize. How Empathy leads to less stress and depression. An empathetic person can place themselves in the

Starting point is 00:06:30 emotional experience of someone else. That's the first part of empathy. The part of the empathic process some people forget is responding in a way that's helpful. You see a co-worker has a huge workload. She's stressing out and you know there's no possible way she can hit a proposed deadline. You communicate to her that even though her productivity is excellent and she's a great worker, you don't know how she's going to get everything done. You just paid her a compliment. You saw her emotions were frazzled and she wasn't in a good place mentally. So you said something nice about her ability on the job.

Starting point is 00:07:03 The next thing you can do after you identify with her situation is to provide assistance. Offer to help her tackle some of her responsibilities. When you do, your coworker will thank you. She'll experience less stress and science tells us that you'll also have less stress, anxiety, and depression. When you learn to recognize that someone else is experiencing negative emotions, you want to help. This is the response for most people. What also happens is you subconsciously recognize that you're not in that situation. You can understand your co-worker's emotional stress, but you aren't experiencing the same thing yourself.

Starting point is 00:07:38 Dr. Jamil Zaki is a psychology professor and the director of the social neuroscience laboratory in Stanford. He says empathy can help you see past the many differences people have. It helps you move past prejudice or bias. These are negative emotions. They can produce a stress response in your body. Empathy doesn't allow that to develop. Dr. Zaki also says empathy makes people happier in their relationships and even more successful at work.

Starting point is 00:08:04 Studies show us that an empathic person learns how to process his or her own emotions properly by being able to recognize the emotions other people are going through. That means being more empathic in your life can not only help others, but it can also give you a wonderful boost of less stress and more peace of mind. Mindfulness can help you feel happier and more fulfilled. This is because part of mindfulness is learning who you are and how to accept yourself in your life as it is. It'll also help you set more effective goals for yourself

Starting point is 00:08:34 and handle any difficult situations that may come your way confidently. This means you'll be less likely to be thrown off when something in your life doesn't go as planned, and you'll be able to move forward with your life with ease. Of course, these aren't all the benefits of mindfulness, as the list goes on and on, but when you take steps to become more mindful, the benefits you'll experience will transform your life in several ways, which will lead you to become a happier person who maintains excellent relationships with others.

Starting point is 00:09:03 Do you find yourself going through life with no idea what you're doing or how you got there, and then one day you realize you aren't even where you want to be? This happens when you lead a life that isn't mindful. Mindfulness is an awareness of where you are in life, and it is essential if you want to enjoy life truly. Negative thoughts can often send you into a mental spiral in which you begin to see the world or yourself in a negative light. Instead of thinking of all the things you've done wrong in your life,

Starting point is 00:09:31 block these thoughts with positive ones about all the good you've done, and then focus on being present in the here and now, rather than spending all your time on thoughts which may not be accurate. A significant part of mindfulness is learning to relax. When you're relaxed, you become, more present and mindful of your surroundings. If you're having trouble relaxing, it can help to simplify, pause what you're doing, and take a few deep breaths. You may also want to work on relaxation further by pursuing a tactic like meditation or journaling, which you perform daily. If you spend most of your

Starting point is 00:10:04 time in your thoughts, whether they're negative thoughts about yourself, or worry about future events which haven't happened yet, this detracts from you focusing on what's going on around you. And being present is truly what helps you lead a more mindful life. When you find yourself struggling to remain present, pause what you're doing and check in with yourself. Check in with your thoughts. Where are they now? Are they focused on what's going on around you?

Starting point is 00:10:28 Then check in with your body and take note of the sensations you feel, all the way down to your breathing and heart rate. This may seem dumb, but this is one of the best ways to help keep you present and mindful. Becoming more mindful can be a difficult task that requires time and practice.

Starting point is 00:10:45 So don't be frustrated if it doesn't happen overnight. Instead, just focus on not being too hard on yourself. Relaxing and staying present, and being more mindful will eventually come. Whether you're trying to improve your meditation practice or learn to become more mindful in your life, both of these things can help you achieve the other. Meditation plays a huge part in helping you stay mindful. Meditation gives you personal time.

Starting point is 00:11:10 If you struggle with finding time in your life to sit back and spend time with your thoughts, meditation will help with this aspect of keeping you mindful. Meditation is the best way to take a step back from your hectic life and get to know yourself, which is a huge stepping stone to a more mindful life. And even if you already engage in meditation regularly, practicing it regularly will give you that personal time each day so that you can truly grow in both your thoughts and actions.

Starting point is 00:11:36 Another aspect of living a busy lifestyle is that you may not take enough time out of each day to see how your body's responding, and this could lead you to overlooking what may become a big problem in the future. Meditation gives you the perfect time to evaluate how every part of your body feels, which will help you become more mindful of how certain things in your life affect you physically. And it's not enough to do this just once. Meditation should be repeated with frequency to help keep you in tune with your body,

Starting point is 00:12:03 as it is a massive part of becoming more mindful. Meditation relieves stress. On your journey to become more mindful, you know that a critical part of mindfulness is being present in the here and now, and not worrying about a myriad of stresses. It can be challenging to let go of your life's various stressors without using an outside tool, such as meditation. Meditation relaxes not only your thoughts, but also your body, making it an ideal way to manage your stress and help you lead a more mindful life. No matter how you look at it, meditation is an essential tool for keeping you mindful. It gives you time with your thoughts,

Starting point is 00:12:39 and puts you in tune with your body. It also helps you to relieve stress. which may impede mindfulness. So if you don't already, it's time to add meditation to your mindfulness journey today. You've probably heard of something called mindfulness and how it can help improve several different aspects of your life. But did you know that mindfulness can make you a better person? It's true. Mindfulness will not only have a positive impact on your own life, but it can also transform the way you see and treat others. When you spend more time considering how you think and feel, this makes you a more empathetic person as you can you. you begin to learn more about how thoughts and feelings are connected.

Starting point is 00:13:16 One study performed at California State University San Marcos found that people who received specific instruction in mindfulness practices were more empathetic when they noticed a stranger in need, and having empathy is an essential part of creating and maintaining meaningful, healthy relationships. In the same study mentioned above, researchers also found that people introduced to mindfulness techniques remained in better control of their own emotions. This means they were less likely to burst into anger,

Starting point is 00:13:42 at someone else because of a small perceived mistake. Anger or other emotional outbursts can drive a wedge between people when it comes to relationships and friendships, mainly because humans tend to respond to the emotions of those around them. Therefore, if you're prone to emotional swings, so too will the people in your life. If you're better at controlling your own emotions, you'll find people like to be around you more, and your relationships with others will improve. Stress puts a significant strain on your body, both mentally and physically. When you feel the pressure of stress, you're much less likely to think of others in your life. When you take steps to be more mindful, this will help lower your pressure and make you feel better. And when you feel better, you can bet that treating others will come naturally without you

Starting point is 00:14:27 even having to try. When you embark on a more mindful lifestyle, you'll transform how you perceive empathy and express emotions. This, combined with lower levels of stress you'll experience on your mindfulness journey will help make you a better person. This is one reason why it's so essential to become more mindful in your own life today. Five different ways to practice mindfulness. Want to become more mindful in your life but aren't quite sure where to start? There are several different ways to practice mindfulness. One, meditate. The best way to increase mindfulness in your life is by setting aside time every day to meditate. Meditation creates a space for you to spend quality time with yourself. It allows you to evaluate both your emotions as well as your physical feelings. It can also

Starting point is 00:15:14 help relieve stress and induce a calmer demeanor. If you want to become more mindful, you really must spend time in meditation each day. Two, spend time outside. Spending time outside in the fresh air can do wonders for your mentality. And the best part is, you don't need any special training to implement this in your life. Start by going for a walk in a park near your house and paying attention to all the scenery around you. 3. Start your day with a purpose. Another way to practice mindfulness is by starting all of your days with a clear purpose. This can be done by waking up early and having a morning routine that lets you start out

Starting point is 00:15:53 the day relaxed and prepared. This morning routine can be meditating when you first wake up, completing breathing exercises, or even going for a nature walk before work. 4. Watch what you eat. Watching what you eat doesn't necessarily mean you need to do. go on a diet. In this day and age, meals have become quick periods where you eat as fast as possible. Slow down, take each bite with purpose, notice all the flavors you're consuming, and then pay attention after you finish eating to see how different foods affect your moods and health.

Starting point is 00:16:24 You may be surprised by what you discover about your favorite foods. Five, take frequent evaluation pauses. Sometimes your life can be so hectic that you don't spend any time on yourself. No matter what your schedule is like, now is the time to work in frequent pauses. These pauses don't have to be long, just a few minutes to breathe deeply and evaluate how you feel and what you're thinking. You'll find these mindful pauses will do wonders for stress relief. Overall, leading a more mindful life isn't that difficult. Simply by trying one or a few of the items on this list, and you'll be feeling more mindful in no time at all. If you've recently started gratitude journaling, you may be wondering if you're

Starting point is 00:17:07 getting the full benefits from your daily ritual. And this is something which you must decide for yourself, but there are several things you can do to get the most out of your journaling. When most people think of journaling, they think of writing letters to themselves or simply writing sentences about their feelings. But this isn't the only format you can journal in, and the truth is, it may not be the most effective for you. Consider changing up your journaling format, or better yet, employing more than one format in your journaling. This will make sure you're getting the most out of your journaling time. Other formats when it comes to gratitude journaling can be lists, diagrams, or tables. Write yourself compliments. In gratitude journaling, people tend to write about

Starting point is 00:17:48 all the things or people they're grateful for in their lives. And there's nothing wrong with this. Just make sure you don't forget to be thankful for the most important person, yourself. It's best practice to write a few things you like about yourself each day as your journal. This way, you can reflect on how your day went and watch your transformation as you become. become a better version of yourself. Don't forget the lessons. No one's life is perfect, and when gratitude journaling, you may find that sometimes you have days where you make significant mistakes that you're embarrassed by, and this is okay, and even something you should be thankful for. Instead of approaching your mistakes as setbacks, include them in your gratitude

Starting point is 00:18:26 journaling as lessons, and approach them with an open mind and be grateful for the lesson you've had and the opportunity to learn. This will help keep you from making the same mistakes again. Wherever you may be in your gratitude journaling journey, you're most certainly benefiting from the practice. But if you want to make sure you're getting the most from it, try playing around with the format a bit. Don't forget to compliment yourself, and don't be afraid to approach your mistakes. After all, your gratitude journal is a safe space for you to express everything you're grateful for without any outside judgment. You may know that to live a fulfilling life, being mindful is an essential factor. But what you may not know is that there are several creative ways to

Starting point is 00:19:04 stay mindful besides just daily meditation. Slow down sometimes. In this day and age, it's common that most people live a fast-paced lifestyle, and while it can be fun to be busy sometimes, you must take life slowly to stay mindful. This can be as simple as listening to a podcast instead of responding to emails while on your commute. Or when you're at a lunch break while at work, resolve not to do anything work-related for the entire break. You can even slow down just by spending a quiet afternoon on a couch reading a book. Whatever you decide, just make sure you allow yourself time to slow down to be more mindful. Phones have come to be more constant companions than something we spend a few minutes on each day. To be more mindful, it's time that you put your phone away for various amounts

Starting point is 00:19:50 of time during your busy schedule. Try not to scroll through social media on your work break and spend time evaluating how you feel instead. Also, make sure to put your phone away while you're spending time with loved ones so you can be more present in the here and now. Make an effort to listen. Sometimes when someone's talking, your thoughts may tend to drift, or you may be scrolling on your phone instead. It's time to stop this habit and make an effort to listen to someone when they're speaking to you. Not only will this help strengthen your relationship with this person, but it will also make sure you don't miss something they may be trying to tell you. This will help keep you more focused on what's essential in life. Overall, it can sometimes seem difficult to

Starting point is 00:20:30 stay mindful. Make it easier on yourself by employing more creative manners of staying mindful, such as slowing down, putting down your phone, and spending time listening. All of these things are easy to apply to your life and will help keep you mindful. Are you currently living the life you want to live, or do you feel like your goals are constantly out of reach? Although goal setting and mindfulness aren't often spoken about in tandem, they have quite a bit to do with one another. Working on becoming more mindful can go a long way to helping you achieve your goals. What stops you from getting motivated? Innovation, creativity, and satisfaction are all dependent on motivation.

Starting point is 00:21:09 Motivation drives us to take action, and when we take action, we generate movement, development, and change. We feel needed, competent, and relevant. We feel empowered by seeing how we can make a difference in the world and produce more of what we like in our lives. All of this brings meaning and enjoyment. to our lives. According to very well-mind, when you're struggling with motivation, you'll likely come up with a long list of reasons why you shouldn't take any action. You might think it'll be too hard,

Starting point is 00:21:37 or I'll never get it done anyway. These types of thoughts will keep you stuck. Most of us have a single definition of lack of motivation, which means you're likely to believe you're dealing with the same issue any time you're unmotivated. The reality is that lack of motivation is a broad group of subjects with several variants. Lack of motivation is defined as a lack of commitment to act, and there are a variety of reasons why you could be in that situation. Fear. Even if you're approaching terrain you've decided to walk into, a part of you is driven to resist moving ahead when you're scared. Fear slows you down and makes you reluctant and cautious, which may be good, but your concerns are sometimes based on your thoughts rather than a realistic evaluation of the hazards in your environment. Stress and frustration.

Starting point is 00:22:23 Have you ever felt so frustrated, overworked, or under stress, that you instead give up, then keep going with whatever you're trying to accomplish? Whatever the source, one thing we all know about being overwhelmed or too worried, is that it saps motivation. You have no idea what you want. This primary cause is by far the most prevalent of all the reasons why you could be weak in motivation. Either you don't have any idea what you want, or you don't understand what you want. If you don't feel motivated in any aspect of your life, it's probably because you haven't chosen

Starting point is 00:22:56 exactly what you want. We can't concentrate on anything if we don't know what we're trying to achieve. Lack of self-determination. We thrive on independence. Our brains all contain a decision-making center, and this part of us has to be used. According to studies, persons with depression have a deficiency in this decision-making area in the brain. If you practice utilizing this portion of the brain and making decisions, your depression will usually disappear, and you'd be more motivated. Misery. We go through a period of wondering if we should or could keep things the way they were, and lamenting what we'll lose if we make substantial changes at the start of any shift. Confusion, self-doubt, suspicion of the world around us, and a sense of being lost are all frequent

Starting point is 00:23:41 symptoms, and the larger the change, the stronger these symptoms become, and the easier we lose our motivation. One of the main ways mindfulness can help you achieve your goals is just by changing how you set your goals. When most people set goals, they do so with the outcome in mind, but this can often leave them without a clear path to achieving said goal. Instead, when you use mindfulness to create effort-based goals, these are goals that take the process into mind. Keeping the process of your goals in mind can help you achieve them more easily.

Starting point is 00:24:12 For example, set without mindfulness, an outcome-based goal would be you saying you want to be fit. An effort-based goal created with mindfulness in mind would be that you want to visit the gym every day after work to improve your fitness. See how much more involved this sounds? Which goal do you think you're more likely to achieve? Whenever you set a goal in life, it is possible and probable that you'll face setbacks at some point. When you're mindful as you pursue your goals, this will help you conquer setbacks. This is because mindfulness helps increase creativity, lower stress, and keeps you focused on the present. So when you hit a roadblock, instead of panicking or catastrophizing, you'll be able to see a way around your problem easily. This will help keep you on the path to your

Starting point is 00:24:57 goal more effectively. When you're more mindful, you're aware of who you are and your capabilities. Thus, when you begin pursuing a goal with a mindful mentality, they'll spend less time questioning yourself and more time knowing that you can achieve what you want to accomplish in life. And mentality is everything when it comes to achieving your goals. No matter what your goals may be, you may think that mindfulness isn't part of them, but this isn't true. When you pursue a goal mindfully, you're more likely to achieve your goal and do so with confidence.

Learn Powerful Meditation Techniques - How To Be More Mindful Mini-Course: Cultivating A Calm Mind

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