Mindfulness and Health

Mindfulness is not only a technique for focusing attention on the present moment, but also a way of life for many people who use it with a specific purpose: to improve their health. In another one of my posts, I talked about what mindfulness is (see link), and today I’m going to discuss how and why the practice of mindfulness helps us improve health.

Mindfulness and health are directly related because its practice helps reduce anxiety and stress, which in turn lowers cortisol levels in our body. When we are stressed, cortisol levels rise, and if they are maintained over time, they can cause health problems such as metabolic disturbances, weight gain, increased blood pressure, intestinal issues, inflammation, diabetes, etc. It can also affect the functioning of our brain directly.

If I were to ask you: on a scale from one to ten, how would you rate your stress level on a daily basis? Most of us, due to our lifestyle, especially in big cities, rush from one place to another, seemingly without time for anything. It doesn’t help that we’re constantly being “sold” the perfect and successful lives of others through millions of impacts per minute on social media and on television, which creates anxiety because it appears that “what I do is never enough to be successful.”

Consistent practice of mindfulness offers many health benefits, including:

• Improving sleep quality

• Enhancing memory and helping neurons regenerate

• Reducing blood pressure

• Aiding in stress and anxiety reduction

• Improving cognitive ability

• Helping with better concentration

• Boosting our immune system

• Increasing activity levels and a desire to be active

  
  

When I talk about practicing mindfulness to achieve any kind of benefit, I’m referring to a continued practice. Like everything, practice is what gives us results. How to practice? Meditation is the most well-known technique, and when I talk about meditating, my coachees usually react by saying they don’t see themselves as a Tibetan monk sitting for hours on the floor. This is where we need to open our minds; there are many ways to meditate, and the best way to start is slowly, to integrate the practice into your daily life. In my post “Meditation: Myths and Realities” (see link) there’s a section explaining different ways to start meditating easily.

Some of my coachees who start practicing mindfulness in their daily lives report that after a couple of weeks, “I don’t know why, but I feel much happier, more active, more positive…” If my attitude toward life is more positive, I feel good about myself and what I do, my body reacts positively to this state of balance, which is beneficial for health and happiness.

As with life, everything is a matter of starting. You don’t need much time to see the benefits, as you might think. Go ahead and try it, live a healthier life for both your body and mind. It’s free, doesn’t require much time, and depends solely on you.

Image by Freepik

Melinda Sánchez Coach

www.melindasanchezcoach.com