5 reasons why mindfulness is so important.
A daily meditation can have a profound positive impact on your mental health journey.
As online C-DBT therapist in California, I make it a personal mission of mind to help people consider how mindfulness might help them reach their goals more effectively.
What the heck is mindfulness and why do I need it in my life? And can mindfulness help me get closer to a life I want? It is absolutely worth a try and millions of people use mindfulness to help them navigate this messy thing called life.
How does mindfulness work? The short answer: it trains your brain to have a different relationship with thoughts and feelings. Keep on reading to learn about 5 reasons why mindfulness is important and hopefully I can motivate you to consider developing a mindful habit or two to help you reduce stress.
Before we get to those five reasons, I just wanted to fully disclose that mindfulness is not easy. Even though, as a certified Dialectical Behavioral Therapist practicing online in California, mindfulness is like my favorite pair of jeans. It just works and never disappoints. Now don’t go thinking I am like a super zen yoga master, in fact I am far from that. I have had an interesting journey with mindfulness and meditation, and I am here to tell you that just a small daily practice can go a long way. I have seen it in my own life and more importantly every client who I have had the pleasure of working with.
It is not your fault that mindfulness is hard, our brains have just been trained to go go go. Our world is set up in a way where we are rushed and often pulled into so many different directions. Whether it is rushing to get the kids to school, preparing for that presentation at work, or trying to find time to get in a workout- we are often just so jammed pack.
Think about how often you read or watch someone on a quick 10 minute workout to change your life or 20 minute and under dinners for busy weeknight type videos and blogs. That is a sign that our world is far too stressed. And though mindfulness can’t cure all the worlds problems, it can definitely help you manage which more kindness towards yourself.
So how does mindfulness work? How can mindfulness help my get closer to a life I want? The short answer it trains your brain to have a different relationship with thoughts and feelings. Keep on reading to learn about 5 reasons why mindfulness is important and hopefully I can motivate you to consider developing a mindful habit or two to help you reduce stress.
Reason One
One reason why mindfulness is so important is that mindfulness teaches us to be observers to our thoughts and our feelings.
Whether you are taking a walk in the park, washing the dishes, or sitting on your yoga mat for a 20 minute meditation, mindfulness gives us an opportunity to slow down and think about what we are feeling.
I have definitely found myself pissed off and on the brink of tears and not realizing what the heck I was feeling, I just knew I was over it. If you found yourself smiling saying yup me too, believe me you aren’t alone. We were not taught feelings and emotional regulation in school, and I don’t know about you, but I also did not come from a home where I was taught these skills. Call it culture, generational, or just society. But we did not have a feelings table where we would talk it out.
Mindfulness can help us slow down and pay attention to that little annoyance that if not taken care of will bud into something larger and harder to tame. Bigger emotions are not bad but they can be harder to name and manage. And naming is the first step to taming an emotion. Name it to tame it.
Reason Two
The second reason that mindfulness is so important is that mindfulness can teach us to slow down in a world that is constantly on the go.
We have all been there, you have to get ready, maybe get little ones ready, you walk into the kitchen and don’t remember what you went into the kitchen for, and you are just dreading the fact that you have to be at work in an hour. Oh and you have to swing by the post office and grab the office bagels on your way to work. Take a breath. I know writing that out made my heart beat just a bit faster. Breath.
Mindfulness can help us tap into the fact that I only have control over what is directly in my vision, my present moment in time. I can’t go back and not press that snooze button one too many times and I can’t jump forward to the moment I am done with that presentation I have to do. All I can do is breathe and put one foot in front of the other.
Mindfulness can help us when it feels like life is too much and when we are just about to have a meltdown. And with daily practice it can help us be more mindful of what we decide to take one. Maybe we could ask for help, plan the night before, and learn to do my favorite thing lately…say no.
Third Reason
The third reason that mindfulness is so important is that it gives our nervous system time to respond to the environment in a way that will be more beneficial.
Feelings and emotions are not just words, they take up space in our bodies. For me anger is in my hands and my face. Sadness is in my throat and my chest. And happiness is in my belly and my eyes. Mindfulness can be a crucial tool for exploring what you are feeling and where you are feeling it. This way of noticing can help you slow down just enough to maybe not do something you wont be happy about. Like sending that nasty text or eating a bag of chips as you numb out to the TV.
Fourth Reason
The fourth reason that mindfulness is so important is that we can dive deeper into why we do the things that we do.
Mindfulness is something that I stress nearly everyday with all my clients. I truly believe that if I can help people with just one thing and one thing only, is that they develop a bit more mindfulness into their daily lives. Why? Because it will help you know yourself better. Only you truly know yourself. It can help us identify the feelings and thoughts that drive our behaviors. By taking the time to notice that you feel unsupported or jealous, can help you come up with a plan on what you would like to do with these feelings.
I work a lot with couples in my online therapy practice in California and in relationships being mindful can help support better conflict management and more shared feelings of trust, love, and security. Mindfulness is something that can help you slow down the conversation that you are having with your partner, family member, or friend (even that coworker who drives you up a wall). When we slow it down and be more mindful we are able to figure out how best to get what we want and that often isn’t with a screaming match. It is like that saying goes, if you want to get the flys you'll have more luck with honey than a fly swatter.
Fifth Reason
Does this sound familiar?
Do you ever feel like you don’t have enough time in the day?
Do you want to read more, exercise more, or finally learn that second language?
Do you want to create a life that brings you more happiness?
I am telling you, mindfulness!
The fifth reason that mindfulness is so important is that it can help us build better habits. See if the following feels familiar:
Do you ever feel like you don’t have enough time in the day?
Do you want to read more, exercise more, or finally learn that second language?
Do you want to create a life that brings you more happiness?
So even though all those wonderful goals seem completely unrelated to mindfulness, believe it or not, mindfulness can support you in achieving just about any goal that you have, big or small. A daily practice of just 5 minutes of meditation translates into a commitment with yourself. You choose to put yourself first in a loving way, now that right there is powerful. That will set the groundwork for future goals. Also being mindful as you go about your day will benefit you so much in the long run. You’ll find yourself finding the time that you thought you didn’t have. You’ll learn to be more mindful with your time.
As a certified Dialectical Behavioral Therapist practicing online in California, I preach and preach about mindfulness. It is something that I use every single session, just in the way that we have our conversations. I have seen it do wonders for the lives of my clients and I hope it does the same for you! I hope you either establish a daily meditative practice or that you choose to go about your day engaging in mindful activities. Either way, I hope that it brings you more emotional wellbeing and peace.