How to practice mindfulness

Mindfulness is an English term that means mindfulness or mindfulness. Generally, people who start doing mindfulness exercises tend to give up easily, due to the lack of time to practice it. However, there are also very short exercises that can help the person to develop the practice and enjoy its benefits. See the benefits of mindfulness .

This technique, if practiced regularly, can help to deal with anxiety, anger and resentment and also help in the treatment of diseases such as depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

1. Mindfulness in day-to-day activities

Mindfulness can be practiced in day-to-day activities, and consists of paying attention to the movements performed while performing various tasks, such as cooking, performing other household activities, manual activities, or even while working.

In addition, the person can also practice this mindfulness, holding the objects and enjoying them as if it were the first time they looked at them, observing how the light falls on the object, analyzing its asymmetry, texture or even smell, instead to perform these tasks on "autopilot".

This mindfulness exercise can be practiced with simple tasks, such as washing the dishes or clothes, taking out the trash, brushing your teeth and taking a shower, or even outside the home in activities such as driving the car, walking down the street or walking. the way you work.

2. Mindfulness on the move

Most of the time, people only pay attention to the movements they perform when they are very tired, when they play an instrument or when they dance for example. However, being aware of movement is an exercise in mindfulness that can be practiced in any circumstances.

The person can try to go for a walk and pay attention to the way he walks, the feeling of his feet in contact with the ground, the way his knee bends, how his arms move, and even pay attention to his breathing.

To deepen the technique, the movements can be slowed down for some time, as an awareness exercise, in order to avoid making precipitated movements.

3. Mindfulness " Body Scan"

This technique is a good way to meditate, where the anchoring of attention is done on parts of the body, thus strengthening body and emotional self-awareness. This technique can be performed as follows:

1. The person should lie down in a comfortable place, on his back and close his eyes; Then, for a few minutes, one should pay attention to the breathing and sensations of the body, such as the touch and the pressure that the body makes against the mattress; Then you should focus your attention and awareness on your belly sensations, feeling the air moving in and out of your body. For a few minutes, the person should feel these sensations with each inhalation and exhalation, with the belly rising and falling; Next, the focus of attention must be shifted to the left leg, left foot and left toes, feeling them and paying attention to the quality of the sensations you feel; then, with an inspiration, the person should feel and imagine the air entering the lungs and passing through the whole body to the left leg and left toes, and then imagine the air doing the opposite way. This breathing must be practiced for a few minutes; this attentive awareness must be allowed to expand to the rest of the foot, such as the ankle, top of the foot, bones and joints, and then a deep and intentional inhalation must be made directing it to the entire left foot and when it expires, attention is distributed throughout the left leg, such as the calf, knee and thigh, for example; the person can continue to pay attention to his body, also on the right side of the body, as well as the upper part, like arms, hands, head, in the same detailed way as for the left limb.

After following all these steps, you should spend a few minutes noticing and feeling the body as a whole, letting the air flow freely in and out of the body.

4. Mindfulness of breathing

This technique can be performed with the person lying or sitting in a comfortable position, closing their eyes or staring unfocused at the floor or a wall for example.

The purpose of this method is to bring awareness to physical sensations, such as touch, for example, for 1 or 2 minutes and then to breathing, feeling it in various regions of the body such as the nostrils, the movements it causes in the abdominal region, avoiding controlling the breath, but letting the body breathe alone. The technique should be practiced for at least 10 minutes.

During the practice of mindfulness , it is normal for the mind to wander a few times, and you should always carefully bring your attention back to your breath and continue where you left off. These repeated ramblings of the mind are an opportunity to cultivate patience and acceptance by the person himself