Guest blogger Rachael Bull from edit33.com is a mindfulness convert, find out what it can do for you
‘Mindfulness’ is the buzzword de jour. Much has been said about the impact that mindfulness meditation can have, whether it’s success at work, improving your performance at the gym, or generally just helping you switch off. They’re even teaching it at school to help kids with exams, for gawd’s sake.
I completed an 8-week course in mindfulness last year in my latest attempt to tackle my decades-long insomnia problem. Having tried DOZENS of approaches over the years, none have made half the impact that that course has had. To boot, it improved not only my sleep but my entire perspective of life. A grand statement, I concur.
Intrigued? Read on…
1. It makes the ordinary things in life awesome
Think of a time when you were blown away by a gorgeous view, or were in hysterics with mates and had a moment of overwhelming happiness and just thought ‘wow, I’m so bloody lucky. This is ace.’ Well, that’s being mindful. You’re being present and aware in the moment and as a result, your experience becomes more vivid, more fulfilling and more enjoyable.
I’d walk the same route to the tube every day, earphones in, eyes down… Then during my mindfulness course, I started looking up and noticing things I’d never spotted before. Cheesy as it sounds, I literally found joy in the ordinary – clouds, streets, even rain. It was weird but brilliant.
2. It makes crappy things less crappy
Mindfulness is not a distraction technique, it’s about being open to your thoughts and feelings and bodily sensations and accepting them for what they are
Mindfulness is not a distraction technique; you’re not avoiding anything. Instead, it’s about being open to your thoughts and feelings and bodily sensations and accepting them for what they are.
Take my chronic earache, which last weekend was really bad. I followed a technique I’d learnt on my course and directed each in-breath towards where it hurt, then in my mind I ‘breathed out’ from the pain. Earache – gone. It was insane. And every time it reappeared, I’d do the same and it would go.
The next day, I had a pretty shocking headache, which might possibly have been pinot noir-related. I followed the same technique, this time channeling my breathing to my forehead, and hey presto! Headache vamoosed. I had a drink to celebrate.
3. It makes food taste AMAZING
My mindfulness coach made me spend 15 minutes concentrating on one raisin. 15 MINUTES!
In my first session, my mindfulness coach James made me spend 15 minutes concentrating on one raisin. 15 MINUTES! I was unsure of what the point was at first, but focusing closely on that one raisin made it the best darn raisin I’d ever eaten in my life. I’d never noticed before how wrinkly raisins were – they really are quite odd-looking – or how weird they felt between my fingers. And when I bit into it and all the raisin juice spurted out – it was magical!
This got me thinking. If that one raisin could taste so good, how much delicious food had I hoovered up absent-mindedly? I discovered that by eating mindfully, every single morsel of food tasted incredible. It can help you lose weight too – you’re savouring every mouthful rather than eating on autopilot while surfing the net or watching TV and being oblivious to how much or how quickly you’re eating.
4. It takes you out of autopilot
Ever started a song again as you hadn’t listened to it? Or realised that you’d been driving and not concentrating on the journey? During my course it became apparent that I spent my life on autopilot, very rarely living ‘in the moment’. I had a deeply entrenched habit of distractions, whether it be a wandering mind when trying to fall asleep, glancing at my phone during meetings, surfing the net while on the phone.
I procrastinated a lot less and achieved SO much more
Through regularly practicing mindfulness, I became far more present and focused on whatever I was doing. As a result, as well as enjoying everything, I procrastinated a lot less and achieved SO much more.
5. It takes time and practice, but ultimately saves you time
My mindfulness coach described it as similar to gardening – you prep the soil, plant the seeds, water them and then wait patiently for the results
Mindfulness can change deeply established mental patterns that you’ve probably had for years. It’s not going to happen overnight. My mindfulness coach described it as similar to gardening – you prep the soil, plant the seeds, water them and then wait patiently for the results.
I did an eight-week course, with 40 minutes of practice six days a week. Yes, I struggled to fit it in, but I prioritised it and it paid off – for all the reasons that I’ve talked about.
It’s not just about doing long stints of meditation sitting cross-legged, it’s also finding ways to weave it into your day-to-day life – mindfully eating, taking in what’s around you when you’re walking along, what your body is doing when you’re exercising. You’re doing these things anyway so it’s no extra effort.
The beauty of mindfulness is that all it takes is practice. That’s it.
6. It really doesn’t matter how many times your mind drifts off when meditating
When this happens – and it will, a lot – all you need to do is just return back to whatever you were trying to focus on in that practice and give yourself a pat on the back for realising that you had drifted off – that’s being mindful. #winning
How to try mindulness yourself
The App: Headspace – for 10-minute meditation sessions.
The Book: Mindfulness: a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world RRP £13.99. This follows an eight-week course and includes a CD of different practices to follow.
The Spotify Album: Mindfulness meditation with Mark Williams (co-author of the book above). A series of audio meditation practice guides.
The Course: I completed my course with James at Embrace Mindfulness. I’d go as far to say that it’s the most valuable course I’ve ever completed.
The Pinterest Board: Get inspired with my favourite quotes about mindfulness and meditation
There’s a load more info on mindfulness at www.franticworld.com
Check out Rach’s blog at www.edit33.com
