Think back on how you’ve spent your day so far. How much of your time has been focused on the future: planning for things or worrying about future events? How much of your time has been focused on the past: remembering, replaying, reliving, or even ruminating on those (usually negative) events? How much of your time has instead been focused on living in the present moment, without judgment or reaction? That last aspect is considered engaging in mindfulness.
Why be mindful? Why practice mindfulness skills? Worrying about the future or ruminating on the past can be draining: mentally and physically. Engaging in mindfulness training, or practicing being focused on the here-and-now without judgment, is associated with lower levels of stress and anxiety as well as lowered blood pressure.
The Your Plan for Health (YP4H) March challenge is related to mindfulness! Wexner has several guided exercises that you can access here.
If you are new to mindfulness training or want to try out a new approach, here are some recommendations from your wellness team:
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- Focus on your breathing. Sometimes when you find yourself overwhelmed with worry, shifting your attention to your breathing while you focus on taking slow, deep breaths, can help you focus on the present.
- Slow down and pay attention to the world around you. Experience the world around you utilizing all of your senses.
- Take a social media break. If you notice that your anxieties and worries increase when you are on social media platforms, give yourself a 24-hour (or more) holiday from them.
- Play with pets. Not only can playing fetch with your dog/cat shift your attention to the here-and-now, it can also lead to increased feelings of relaxation.
- Take a mindful walk. Take a 10-minute break to focus on your senses (sights, sounds, smells, etc) while walking outdoors. Not only does it focus your breathing, it also gets you moving!
If you have additional mindfulness tips to add, please send them my way to add to our Wellness page.