Palejovo ABC - CONSIDERATION

Mindfulness exercises include breathing techniques, visualization, or focusing on the body to relax tense muscles, calm the mind, and help reduce perceived stress.

Mindfulness training, by focusing on the here and now, on what is happening in and around a person at any given moment, helps shift attention from planning, looking ahead or dwelling on failures to what is happening now.

It would seem that focusing on our breathing, relaxing our muscles or doing an exercise of some kind is nothing difficult. However, we quickly find that our thoughts gallop away, running into the future or rushing to the past to dwell on failures or wrongs suffered. By practicing mindfulness, we return to our body, to what is happening to and in it, and let the thoughts drift away.

Meditation is increasingly becoming the subject of clinical research. Findings from studies conducted on several weeks of mindfulness training are encouraging and confirm its effectiveness. Regular meditation can bring relief and serenity and complement other forms of therapy for depression, anxiety disorders, chronic pain. It makes it easier to fall asleep, deepens sleep and can even lead to lower blood pressure.

However, practicing mindfulness intensively, just for example during 8-week mindfulness programs, does not serve everyone. While most people will benefit and notice an improvement in their well-being, those who experience panic attacks or struggle with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may experience a worsening of their condition. In this case, it is worth being extra vigilant and reacting quickly to alarming symptoms. Sometimes a change in exercise is enough, and sometimes it is necessary to abandon it altogether and replace it with other methods.

Mindfulness can be trained on a daily basis, at virtually any time of the day. There are many simple to apply exercises, such as:

Mindful eating: in a busy world, it's hard to slow down and notice things. Try to take some time to explore your surroundings with all your senses - touch, sound, sight, smell and taste. For example, when you eat a favorite dish, take some time to smell, taste and enjoy it. Focus on your meal and during this time, don't use the phone, TV or radio.

Mindful walking: when you walk from room to room, or walk down the street, pay attention to your body. What's happening to it, how you feel it, at what rate your heart beats, how you breathe, how your arms and legs move, whether you feel the ground under your feet, etc.

Careful bathing: during your daily shower, bath, or even when brushing your teeth, pay attention to the temperature of the water, the smell of the soap, the sensation of your body pouring water on yourself. Feel the taste of toothpaste carefully, pay attention to the way you move your toothbrush - maybe too hard, too weak, or maybe just right.

A source of knowledge and inspiration:

de Vibe M., Bjørndal A., Tipton E., Hammerstrøm K., Kowalski K. (2012) Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for Improving Health, Quality of Life, and Social Functioning in Adults, Campbell Systematic Reviews