Master Mindfulness to Enjoy a Happier Life and Relationships

Mindfulness is a state of being actively attentive to the present moment. 

Imagine enjoying your life to the fullest, being present to experience every moment of your life deeply. Envision not thinking about the past or future but simply and purposefully appreciating each moment of life without worrying about what has been or is to come.

The present moment is the only place where change occurs!

The Origins of Meditative Mindfulness

The power of mindfulness has been available to human beings for thousands of years, but the concept of mindfulness has only begun to be embraced more recently.

Historical evidence suggests that Buddha first widely taught mindfulness over 2,500 years ago. 

In his teachings, the Buddha talked extensively of sati, a special form of heightened awareness that promoted the end of suffering and fostered happiness and well-being for all. 

Sati is the Buddha’s word that we now translate into English as “mindfulness.” According to the Buddha’s teachings, it is necessary to eliminate delusion and see the world and ourselves as they truly are.

How Does Mindfulness Work?

Practicing mindfulness grounds you in the present moment. So many of us are very involved in work, family, social activities, social media, events, etc. Our lives sometimes feel overly full, complicated, and busy.

Mindfulness is a particular kind of awareness; it is a state of consciousness that places open attention on the present. When you are mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance without placing judgment on them.

You recognize that your thoughts and judgments are neither good nor bad. You accept reality for what it is rather than complaining about the way it is or isn’t.

Mindfulness puts you in a place of power to distinguish between what is happening around you and your story about what is happening around you. Instead of letting life pass you by, living a mindful life means grabbing life by the reins and LIVING each moment.

Mindful living awakens you to experience life in a whole new way.

Mindfulness for Mental Health

Most of the time, many people merely exist in mindlessness, a state of semi-awareness governed by habit and inattention. This state of mind causes us to suffer – probably more than we are even aware of.

Many of us miss being present in our lives because we are caught up in our thinking, literally lost in our own thoughts.

Research shows that we have 6,200 thoughts a day. Most of them are repetitive, and 80% are negative. We contemplate things that have happened long ago or have not even happened yet!

Do you ever feel as though your attention is being pulled in many directions at once or find yourself caught up in negative thoughts, leading to stress and almost debilitating anxiety?

This everyday mental condition is not unavoidable; there is a cure for it, and it’s called mindfulness.

Mindfulness is a skill that anyone can learn. Moment-by-moment awareness is the process of observing your experiences as they unfold, not from a place of victimization but rather from a place of consciousness. 

This process takes time; we are essentially re-training our brains to operate on another level by using practical techniques that bring us into the present moment to bring greater life satisfaction at any age.

Benefits of Practicing Mindfulness in Everyday Life

• Mindfulness teaches us to be more aware and present in each moment, enjoying life rather than simply living it.
• Awareness gives you better listening skills — which will help you grow closer to the people you love most in your life.
• Mindfulness helps us cope constructively with difficult emotions, learning to see them nonjudgmentally instead of avoiding or suppressing them.
• Rather than stay on autopilot, we learn to respond to each situation anew. It gives us the powerful opportunity to make different choices and reactions instead of acting like we always do.
• By becoming self-aware, you will see how your mind operates and responds to the world, then learn to create the life you desire for yourself.
• You will begin to see others in a whole new way. When you live intentionally, you start to recognize how many people live mindlessly!
• Learn to fully appreciate your life’s blessings, gifts, and abundant beauties. Running on auto-pilot often leads us to regret things after they have passed, thus perpetuating the cycle and creating unnecessary stress over things outside our control.

Physical Benefits of Mindfulness for Anxiety and Overall Health

Research also shows that practicing mindfulness helps people manage physical pain better. It can help prevent further episodes of depression in people who have already had depressive symptoms or periods of depression in their lives.

Mindfulness can improve overall emotional well-being and decrease anxiety in people of all ages. In contemporary medicine, mindfulness is often used in connection with stress reduction and overall health and wellness.

One study recently presented to the American Heart Association showed that patients who practiced mindfulness regularly reduced their risk of heart attacks, strokes, and death from all causes by one-half when compared to similar patients who were only given education about healthy living and diet.

Learn More About Living in the Present Moment with Inga Tara

While mindfulness has become more widely popular in recent years, its origins and promises date back thousands of years.

Kabat-Zinn is a famous mindfulness meditation teacher today and founded the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as “paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”

To learn mindfulness tips for busy people and explore short daily practice techniques, sign up for my Zen Professional: 5-Minute Mindfulness Techniques for the Workplace Video Series today or schedule an individual session!

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