Four ways mindfulness can help to improve your wellbeing

Mindfulness is a practise which involves focusing your attention on the present moment to help improve your wellbeing and mood. By simply adding daily mindfulness practice into your routine can see you reaping the rewards of being calmer, more relaxed and even improving your sleep. So, how else can mindfulness help you?

Allows you to be in the moment

Practising mindfulness enables you to be more aware of the present moment, instead of dwelling on the past or future. Being in the present moment allows you to appreciate day-to-day life more. The first step to being more mindful is to take notice of your thoughts, feelings and sensations in your body without trying to change them, in a non-judgmental way. The concentration and focus will allow you to feel more connected with your mind, body and the world around you.

Helps to increase awareness

Mindfulness helps us to become more aware of our thoughts and feelings. It’s easy to slip into unhelpful thinking patterns, so much so that you do not always notice them. Daily practice will heighten your sense of self-awareness. By becoming more aware of your individual signs of stress, anxiety and low mood earlier, you will be better placed to manage your mood.

By tuning into your body, you may pick up on sensations such as a racing heartbeat or a butterfly feeling in your stomach, you may begin to notice this as ‘I feel anxious’. Studies show that practising mindfulness can help to manage common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.

enables you to Be kind to yourself

Life can be fast-paced and our minds often get crowded with worries and frustrations. Mindfulness is not about stopping your thoughts and more about increasing your awareness of your thinking patterns and noticing them without judgement. By noticing your thoughts, you may discover that they do not define who you are and that you can let go of them.

Recognising your thoughts without judgement helps us to practice self-compassion. In turn, being kinder to yourselves will help to change the way you view yourself. By simply increasing self-compassion you will not only improve your thoughts of yourself, but enhance the relationship you have with others.

Sharpens your attention span

When you are stuck in the pattern of dwelling on the past or ruminating on the future, your attention span can take a negative hit. You may find it hard to concentrate on day-to-day tasks at work. When practicing mindfulness, you will increase your concentration skills. This will sharpen your attention span by allowing you to focus on the task at hand, instead of letting thoughts of the past weigh you down.

Mindfulness at TALKWORKS

Interested in taking the first step into being more mindful? At TALKWORKS, Devon's NHS Talking Therapies service, we have a number of trained mindfulness practitioners who can teach you more about mindfulness and how to apply the benefits of it to your everyday life. To access our mindfulness offer you must complete an assessment with a TALKWORKS practitioner. Self-refer online or call us on 0300 555 3344.