I maintain that mindfulness is the best stress management tool. Here's another reason why this is so.

Listen to the podcast:

Or, read the blog:
In my first blog post (and podcast episode 1), I explained that being mindful of what’s happening without judging it gives you a little bit of time in which to get control over your own reactions. Instead of automatically reacting with a stress response, you get to choose to respond in some other, less stress-out way.

Well, there’s another way in which mindfulness helps us deal with stress. You’ve likely heard someone say that mindfulness is all about being in the moment. The practice is to focus your attention on whatever is happening right here, right now.

If you think about it, right here, right now is the only place you can truly live. You can think about the past, but you can’t live there. The past is gone. It is only a memory. Similarly, you can think about the future, but you can’t live there, either. It’s a fantasy.

Yet, how often is your mind dwelling on the past or the future? Many of us have a strong habit of trying to re-live what’s happened in the past. We fret about bad things that happened to us, or imagine how things could’ve been different, or focus on good things and wish life could be that good again. And many of us worry a lot about the future, too, wondering what’s going to happen, anticipating bad things, or planning over and over again for something that may or may not come to pass. Much of this thinking it automatic. All the while, we are not fully living in the present. We’re not really experiencing the life that is happening to us right now.

This dwelling in the past or the future can generate a lot of tension and stress. Anticipating problems or mentally reviewing unpleasant or unsatisfying situations generates negative feelings. If, however, we focus our attention on the present moment, those negative feelings don’t come up.

Simply put: Living in the present is less stressful.

I want to be clear, though. I am not telling you never to think about the past or plan for the future. Just, when you do these things, do them deliberately, with your full attention. That’s living in the moment.

I’m also not telling you to avoid negative experiences. In fact, mindfulness practice involves embracing negative experiences, putting your full attention on them. I’ll address this in more detail in future posts.

And, there’s another benefit to being mindful of the present: When you focus on the present moment, you get to fully experience it. Life becomes richer and more satisfying.

Of course, it takes practice and persistence to bring mindfulness to your daily activities. I recommend meditation as a practice tool and I recommend you do a little meditation every day. Just a few minutes a day is all it takes.
Let’s practice together now.
The following 10-minute guided meditation focuses on being with the body in the present moment.

 

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