The immediacy and excess of information in everyday life have made us live more automatically. With the high amount of stimuli, we end up feeling immensely difficult to focus – and this is where Mindfulness comes in.
In 2010, two psychologists from Harvard University conducted a study that found that our mind is dispersed 47% of the time . In other words, it’s like we spend almost half of our time thinking about the past or the future, and not living in the present.
We know that talking about “living in the present” may seem cliché and silly, but the truth is that we start to overload our head with information that steals all our attention , even when we are already carrying out an activity.
For example, do you know when we brush our teeth and let our mind wander to our next tasks and worries? It’s as if we were repeating this behavior with other activities, even less simple than oral hygiene.
And this overload is directly impacting our mental health, and, consequently, reflecting on our relationships, routine tasks and even on work.
In this sense, the Mindfulness technique can be a great ally when working on the ability to focus.
It is worth remembering that excessive thoughts can be a symptom of anxiety, burnout, and even depression, and therefore, psychological and psychiatric follow-up is always advised . After all, Mindfulness does not replace professional monitoring in any way, but it works as an auxiliary tool.
So, check out now what Mindfulness is and how it can help optimize your mental health !
After all, what is mindfulness?
In summary, the term Mindfulness unites the English words “mind”, which means “mind”, and “fulness”, which means “complete”, being translated as Full Attention . Therefore, it is a self-control technique that seeks to optimize our ability to fully focus on the present moment.
In this sense, this practice encourages the intention of being 100% aware of our body and emotional state during routine activities. Connecting thought with action, we start to discipline our mind in another way.
With that, we begin to condition ourselves to keep our attention on what we are doing, and thus learn to deal with our flow of thought .
This pursuit of focus comes from the Middle East and Buddhism. Although it is not a meditation technique, its practice uses some similar elements, such as focusing on the breath, for example.
Therefore, we can understand mindfulness as a powerful mental health support tool. So much so that, when combined with psychological and psychiatric follow-up, it can help treat anxiety, burnout syndrome , and even depression .
After all, the more we train focus, the more self-knowledge we develop, physically and mentally .
What is the difference between Mindfulness and Meditation?
What are the benefits of this practice?
The practice of this technique helps with mental health in general. Among the benefits we can mention:
– Collaborates in reducing anxiety, regulates emotions and helps to alleviate the impacts caused by negative emotions
– Improves sleep quality and allows a conscious evaluation of thoughts
– Can be used in treatments for depression, mood disorders anxiety, burnout syndrome and even in cases of post-traumatic stress, associated with conventional medicine treatments
5 tips to start practicing
How to apply Mindfulness in the workplace ?
In the professional field, this technique has been evaluated, recognized and even used in the professional development of employees, enabling an increase in productivity and improvement of leadership in companies.
Now that you know a little about this practice and its benefits, you can start your process of exercising mindfulness, which can provide satisfaction and improve your personal and professional quality of life.
