Mindfulness, also known as mindfulness training, is a concept that has become very popular in recent years. The term is used to describe exercises addressed to people struggling with negative emotions and stress. It is also used to treat depression, eating disorders, and addictions. What exactly is mindfulness?
Mindfulness comes from the English word mindful, meaning mindful. It’s translated as mindfulness or mindful presence. Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, is considered the creator of mindfulness. He defines mindfulness as a state of awareness that is the result of non-judgmental, intentional directing of attention to what we are experiencing in the moment.
Mindfulness can be described as intentionally directing attention to what is happening in the here and now, without going back to the past or looking ahead to the future. Here, we don’t think about what it means, but instead, we quiet our emotions and push our mind aside in such a way that it is able to focus on receiving incoming information without emotion. Mindfulness involves appreciating every moment, enjoying life, paying attention to small pleasures, feeling gratitude for small things, filling each day with as many positive moments as possible, and living in harmony with yourself, other people, and nature.
Mindfulness is used to treat depression, addiction, trauma, chronic pain, low mood, and anxiety. How does mindfulness affect our health? People who live a peaceful life in tune with themselves are calm and difficult to get out of balance. The low level of stress they have translates into lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of heart attack, tachycardia, arrhythmia, and various types of cardiovascular disease. People who know how to appreciate small, everyday pleasures are able to maintain mental hygiene with ease. They do not struggle with mood swings, insomnia, anxiety or depression.
What are the main goals behind mindfulness? Many people focus on events from their past or, on the contrary, worry about the future. In this way they forget about the present, which results in an emotional imbalance and the development of anxiety states
Mindfulness training is a proven way to master the art of relaxation, concentration, coping with stress, calming down and reducing nervous tension. It teaches how to draw energy from life and enjoy all, even the most trivial things that happen to us. Mindfulness is a proven way to live a peaceful, harmonious life.
We can deal with 2 types of mindfulness training. One of them is MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction). This training was created in the seventies of the twentieth century by Jon Kabat-Zinn of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in the United States, in the state of Worcester. This program can be encountered in medical facilities as well as personal development, meditation or training centers and universities
The second type of mindfulness training is MBCT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy). It is an extension of the MBSR described above and is a method of preventing the relapse of depression. This training is dedicated mainly to patients with a history of several depressive episodes who are currently in remission.
