Happiness: How Mindfulness Can Boost Your Happiness
The term mindfulness has become increasingly popular in a very short space of time. Mindfulness comes from a Buddhist concept of being aware and giving attention to the present moment. It is not a religious practice but a form of focusing. For many, mindfulness is synonymous with meditation, which can put people off, but here we hope to show you what mindfulness is and how it can make you happier.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a mental training technique, originating from Buddhist practices, which is used to allow us to be more aware of what is around us. It focuses on the sentiment that thoughts and feelings are transient (meaning they come and go and don’t control us). Mindfulness teaches you to be non-judgemental; just to be aware and curious of yourself, your thoughts and what is happening around you but without reacting or dwelling on a particular notion.
The Principles of Mindfulness
The basic principle of mindfulness is to sit quietly and peacefully, focusing on your breathing. When a thought enters your head you acknowledge the thought and choose whether you want to address the thought or whether it can continue to float away, allowing you to return your attention to the present and refocus.
This practice allows you to connect with the thoughts and feelings you are experiencing but giving you the control as to whether you feel the need to address them or not. Often when a person feels anxious or sad it can overwhelm them and control all aspects of the person’s life. Mindfulness explains that although you may feel sad or anxious, this feeling does not have control over you and it will pass. With the practice of mindfulness techniques, you can train your brain to notice when feelings start to take over and allow you to redirect your focus back to the present moment.
In short mindfulness teaches you;
- not to let feelings consume or overwhelm you
- not to dwell on the past
- not to worry about what may or may not happen in the future
- to have present moment awareness
Four Ways Mindfulness Can Make You Happier
1. Get That To-Do List Done
Practising Mindfulness allows you to push out the negative and unnecessary thoughts so you can concentrate on the important matters. When a thought enters your mind, you must ask yourself ‘do I need to action this?’. If you don’t then it is irrelevant. You may notice there are irrelevant tasks on your to-do list which do not need to be done. For the tasks on your list that are important, you now have more focus to complete the tasks without being distracted by other unnecessary tasks and you have more control on your attention to stop your thoughts from wandering.
2. Have more confidence
Mindfulness teaches you to be more accepting and less judgemental of others and yourself. This, in turn, will give you more confidence to explore channels you were previously too nervous to consider. By not dwelling on the worst things that could happen by doing x or y, you are allowing yourself to explore that channel in the present. Mindfulness also teaches you not to focus on past mistakes, so even if your venture did not give you success, you do not need to relive it, instead, you move on and use the experience to channel your next venture.
By reminding yourself that we are all humans and that all humans make mistakes, gives you the confidence to try new things. With a non-judgemental, mindful outlook, you would not judge another human for their efforts, so why would anyone judge you? As soon as you stop judging yourself, you open the door to so many possibilities.
3. Reduce Your Anxiety and Sleep Better
We all know what a terrible mood you can feel when you’ve had a bad night’s sleep. Usually caused by worrying about the next day or replaying a bad moment in your head. You may have a restless night when you are asleep because you’re tossing and turning with negative thoughts. Mindfulness helps you to address the thoughts that are worrying you, questioning whether you need to worry and how worrying will help you to solve the situation. By accepting a feeling of worry but understanding that it won’t help the situation you will feel much calmer about the issue. This will allow the issue to pass with your acceptance or allow you to action the issue with focused energy. Therefore giving you less worry and, in turn, a more restful night’s sleep.
4. Better Relationships
By allowing your attention to focus on the present, you are allowing yourself to focus on those in your presence. By not allowing your thoughts to wander – whether that is checking your phone, thinking about your tasks for the day or staring out of the window or at the television – you can give your time and attention to your loved ones. You develop better listening skills and can connect with the person and how they speak. Rather than feeling duty-bound to ask how their day was, you can care about their day. By listening more and without the usual distractions you can really improve your relationships with your children, partner, friends or colleagues.
I don’t have time to meditate!
Meditation or mental training of mindfulness does not have to take much time out of your day, but it does require regular practice. It may also create time for you – by giving you the space to focus on the things that matter, you may find that you rethink what you have time to do and scrap the things that are not worth your time.
There are many books, podcasts, videos and apps that can help you develop your mindfulness. As there are many techniques and exercises in mindfulness, it is worth exploring different avenues to find out what suits you (and in the time that you can commit) to practice mindfulness.
A brand new journey awaits you.
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