10 Ways Mindfulness Can Reduce Stress
10 Ways Mindfulness Can Reduce Stress
You may have heard a lot about mindfulness and meditation these days, but you may be wondering what all the buzz is about. As we weather the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic, rates of anxiety and depression are at an all-time high. According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control, 40% of adults in the U.S. report that they are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and/or depression in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19. Mindfulness is one of those “superpowers” that is available to us, but I want you to know exactly how it can help.
When consistently engaging in mindfulness practices, there are 10 ways that it can help fight stress. Mindfulness helps to form a protective barrier between you and the harmful effects of stress by:
Shifting Your Perception. Practicing mindfulness changes how you respond to your surroundings--everything from thoughts and feelings to sensory input. This allows you to be more thoughtful and logical in the midst of difficult situations rather than purely emotional and reactive.
Increasing Body and Situational Awareness. You will feel more in touch with your body and your physical environment with mindfulness. This physical awareness has many benefits, including being tuned in to the signal that your body gives you when stress is creeping in. The end result is that you will be able to step up your self-care early on
Forming Non-attachment. Maintaining a level of distance through mindfulness will heighten your ability to be objective and make it less likely that you will become deeply attached to material things, experiences, or ideas. This allows you to be more psychologically flexible and able to adapt to changing circumstances, resulting in less stress.
Changing Your Brain Function. As indicated by brain imaging studies such as a PET scan, practicing meditation neurologically alters the brain, as the number of neural connections in the prefrontal cortex increases and becomes stronger. The result is better emotion regulation, an improved ability to process new information, and the ability to maintain focus and concentration, among other things.
Finding Acceptance. Acceptance, or equanimity, is a part of practicing mindfulness, and it can improve your capacity to simply be content with the current state of your life. It is important to have goals and take steps toward improvement, but finding contentment is what ensures that we can find happiness in the present.
Increasing Spirituality. Greater spiritual awareness, often a key component of mindfulness practices, can build resilience and diminish feelings of loneliness. Spirituality also contributes to a broader life perspective and inspires deeper thought of your priorities.
Regulating Your Emotions. Emotional regulation is very directly improved through mindfulness, and is seen by some as the primary motivation for practicing. Being more conscious of what emotions you are experiencing or actively identifying and labelling thinking patterns or intrusive thoughts will have a great impact on your personal, professional, and social life.
Reducing Biological and Psychological Arousal. The ability to utilize conscious breathing has physiological effects that result in reduced heart and breathing rate, which hones your ability to relax and find calmness and cope with stressful situations.
Regulating Your Attention. Practicing mindfulness sharpens your attention skills, allowing you to tap into a deeper focus for longer periods of time. With an increased ability to focus, you are able to accomplish more each day.
Letting go. With the emotional distance established by mindfulness practices, the changing of circumstances in which losses occur, large or small, are considerably more manageable. Grasping a greater understanding of the transience of most things can allow for insight over despair in the face of troubling occurrences.
The sudden changes to our everyday lives brought on by this pandemic has caused a lot of damage, but it has also given us the time to reflect on our lives and ways in which we can grow. The opportunity to change has been gifted to us amidst the turbulence, making now the perfect time to make the choice to introduce mindfulness practices into your life. Seeing as the benefits of practicing mindfulness directly interrupt many of the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the ideal tool to have on hand as we ride out the remaining stretch of time with hope on the horizon.
Source: William Van Gordon, Ph.D., “10 Mechanisms of How Mindfulness Works,” PsychologyToday.com blog, posted on February 16, 2021.