Mindfulness: Can It Literally Change Your Brain?

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No matter what you are doing in your life, you must learn how to do it. Someone taught you how to throw a ball, ride a bicycle, and drive a car, right? Sadly, when it comes to self-care, particularly when it comes to mental health self-care, people are not taught how to calm themselves.

Did you know that you tend to think like others you surround yourself with? It happens naturally because they are your influencers. You emulate the behavior patterns of the people you are around all of the time because you are learning how to think from them. If you wish to practice mindfulness and be a more positive person as a result, it takes practice. Have no fear if you’ve learned to be a negative Nancy, there is still hope for you.

You must commit yourself to learn new patterns and sometimes, this means ending the amount of time that you spend with those who think negatively. Mindfulness is simply a practice of being present in the moment and in tune with your body and surroundings. It’s not hard to learn.

SEE ALSO: Remaining Calm In Anxious Times – How Caution, Not Panic, Serves Us

Breaking old habits

Research has been performed extensively on the brain and how you can train it. Now, researchers are also learning, through the miracles of brain scans, that the density of certain parts of the brain can actually be changed through the power of meditation, also known as mindfulness.

This research is so strong that the results are being utilized by businesses to create more positive cultures within their corporate structure. Even those who have suffered brain injuries have been shown to improve their ability to focus and stay on task when they regularly practice some mindfulness meditations. These don’t even have to be long sessions. Simply a few minutes each day can make an enormous change in your ability to focus and remain calm, even under stress.

Rather than go directly to your old, better-known habits, you’ll begin to fall back into your mindfulness exercises to help you remain calm. This not only benefits your moods (and possibly your likeability factor around the office), but it can also improve your health. When you remain calm, your blood pressure remains normal, your breathing is relaxed and your body feels balanced in perfect harmony. You can add years to your life simply by breaking those old habits of responding and being reactive to situations, particularly in anger. You become mentally strong!

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Learning meditation

As mentioned before, learning how to think is not something that we’ve received training in most of the time. Being taught how to calm ourselves down is often referred to as ‘self-soothing’ when we are referring to babies. But what do adults do? Children beyond the age of 2? It takes practice to learn mindfulness and put it into action. You may take a class, read some books, watch some videos and begin to practice. The beautiful thing about mindfulness is that it is individualized to your personal time and situations. It can be done a few minutes in the morning, even in the shower. You may take a walk in the park and practice mindfulness as you walk.

Perhaps you prefer to sit in a comfortable place, with the lights dimmed, and listening to meditations guided on online apps? Whatever works for you is what you should do. Just simply get started as soon as you can and you’ll be able to reap the many benefits.

How can mindfulness improve your life?

Are you still unclear on the benefits? There is evidence that shows mindfulness can create specific changes in your life.

• Lower inflammation
• Improvement in chronic pain
• Amicability or decreased aggression
• Reduced anxiety
• A clearer mind
• An energy boost, or fatigue reduction
• Heart arrhythmia improvement
• Reducing IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)
• B12 nutrition
• Weight loss

As you can see, there are many health benefits. It’s also simple to put this into practice because mindfulness:

• Doesn’t cost anything to start
• Can be done anywhere
• No one even knows what you’re doing
• Requires no special clothing
• Doesn’t need any tools or equipment

Anyone can practice mindfulness. There’s evidence that children who are taught meditation practices will be better behaved and more focused in school as well. Student’s grades tend to improve and there are fewer problems with bullying and fighting too. No matter who you are, regardless of your age, you can learn how to practice mindfulness and put it to work in your life. You deserve a more enjoyable and full life. Mindfulness can help take you there. You’ll even become more productive and your boss will wonder what has come over you!

It’s a fact that people who practice mindfulness are more successful in their careers as well. They don’t let the office politics get to them and can easily let work go when they get home. Doesn’t it sound like a wonderful way to live? It’s within your reach!

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