Why Be Mindful?

We go through life day by day almost as if we are on autopilot. We wake up, go to work, come home, cook dinner, go to sleep and do it all over again the next day. Maybe your daily routine changes through out the day but the basis for your day is still the same. All of the stress, worry, anger etc. associated with our daily activities can lead to numerous health-related problems. Anxiety and depression are just two conditions that more and more Americans are starting to unfortunately become familiar with. Just because our days seem more and more worse off by the minute doesn’t mean your anxiety and depression has to as well.

In a recent article researchers found that mindfulness for the treatment of anxiety and depression was as effective as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which is one of the most frequently used psychotherapeutic modalities. It has also been used worldwide as a stress reduction technique. But what does it mean to be mindful? Mindfulness is becoming aware to what is happening to us moment by moment. In other words mindfulness is all about being present. In order to practice mindfulness you must pay precise nonjudgmental attention to all of your experiences both physical and mental. This means that instead of rejecting a feeling because it is bad or good you learn to cope with this feeling by not labeling it. Mindfulness teaches us to be present for all of our daily activities instead of being on “autopilot.”

With the craziness that the holidays bring into our already stressful lives try looking into meditation techniques that might help reduce some of the stress this holiday season. Also use mindfulness to enjoy the happy moments and be present for all the joy the holiday season may bring into your life.