Mindfulness helps you in living in the present moment. Instead of constantly worrying about your past, your future and stressing over the tasks you have to do, it allows you to slow down and focus your attention at the existing moment and accepting it. Constant stress and multitasking in today’s busy environment leaves negative effects on your body and mind. Mindfulness helps in relieving the stress and pressure you experience and enhances your overall health.

Benefits of Mindfulness

Practicing mindfulness has numerous social, psychological and physical benefits. Some major advantages you can enjoy are as follows:

Regular mindfulness practice enhances your positive emotions and decreases the negative ones. It helps in managing stress and has been reported as an effective antidepressant.
Mindfulness meditation helps in fighting and preventing various illnesses and helps in boosting your immune system.
Mindfulness also promotes compassion and selflessness. Studies have shown that regular mindfulness enhances understanding and encourages the individual to help others as it helps you understand the problems and sufferings people are going through.

Not only this, mindful eating helps you in developing healthy eating habits and helps in maintaining your fitness. It also enhances the ability of focusing on positive things and practicing gratitude.

Mindfulness Exercises

There are numerous mindfulness exercises that you can do to become more mindful and enhance your overall lifestyle. Here are five easy exercises to help you get started:

Breathing – Start with breathing mindfully by focusing on your breathing. Begin by slowly breathing in and out for a minute. Make sure you notice the air entering and leaving your body, your chest rising and falling.
Observing – Select on object present before you. Notice its shape, size and other features like its color, and what it is used for. Look more closely at the finer details of the object, like the curve, corners, or design printed on it.
Awareness – This helps you in being in the present. Avoid multitasking and focus on one task. Focus on how you are executing that task. For instance, walking; notice how your hands move, how your legs move, each step you take, what comes in your path, look at the surroundings, people passing by, flowers and plants that come along your way.
Listen – Mindfully listening is another amazing exercise. You can either do this with any conversation you are having with people, look at their face, their expression, things you never notice about them, what are they saying, how they are saying. You can even select a song and start listening to it with an open mind and a new perspective.
Appreciate – Start with yourself. Identify five things about yourself and be thankful. Look around and notice five things that typically go unnoticed and appreciate them.

Mindfulness meditation doesn’t necessarily means you have to spend one or two hours sitting crossed legged in a room chanting ‘om’. It’s more about being aware of yourself, the things and people around you, being thankful and appreciating life. It is one of the most effective ways of reducing stress and enhancing the overall quality of your life.

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