– 2. Mindfulness Promotion

What is Mindfulness? 

Mindfulness Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster 

mindfulness 

noun 

mind·​ful·​ness ˈmīn(d)-fəl-nəs  

Synonyms of mindfulness 

1: the quality or state of being mindful 

2: the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis 

also : such a state of awareness 

What is the purpose of mindfulness exercises?  

Mindfulness is a type of meditation that involves paying attention to the thoughts that enter and pass through your mind. The intent is not to label or make judgement about what or why they are there but simply acknowledging them and observing any patterns that arise.  

For some more examples of mindfulness exercises check out the resource given by Microsoft Bing COPILOT if you have not already. It gives some other exercise options other than mindfulness. Mindfulness exercises – Mayo Clinic Not a bad read and it gives great advice not just on what to do but how to do the practice and ways to help you be successful while practicing.  

Therapeutic Art Making 

Mindfulness – Important things to know about brain function 

When I talk about mindfulness it is hard for me not to cover the natural brain process and how it plays apart in the stress and overwhelmingness we can sometimes feel when we are not able to practice mindfulness.  

We have learned our five senses help tell us what is going on around us. As we progress as a society that gets busier and busier we have less and less time to take out to really process everything our brain stores after it has gone through the input stage of evaluating and analyzing the stimulus that comes through our auditory, visual, touch and smell processes. There can be information that gets captured, organized, and prioritized as not needing to be used in the current moment. It is also important to take into consideration that the information that is gathered can also get mismatched. In a fast paced and unbalanced lifestyle, not taking the time to evaluate the stored low priority items of the day can feed unconscious feelings of unprocessed emotions that have developed. This can lead to anxiety, depression, and unneeded stress.  

Have you ever had that dream? The one you blame on the heavy late dinner you ate. It is just one example of your subconscious letting you know how you felt about having that late dinner and helping you realize why you made that decision. Maybe, you had a dream about something you overheard while you were working on something and were too busy to confront the emotions that you had due to them being filed as not important, but throughout the day you keep having this nagging feeling and later that night you dream about that person or event. Depending on the amount of attention you were able to give it and how the information was gathered and stored can determine the type of dream you have. We have a natural self-protection system that is triggered when we hear someone saying something that can pertain to us, our interest, or other situations where we or people we know are involved. When in a busy environment we are focused on what we are doing and that information does not get our full attention and we do not openly respond, but it still gets processed and filed. This is especially seen in people who have hyperesthesia or hypervigilance.  

Why is this important to mindful practices?  

Understanding the input, storage, and output process the brain goes through helps us to know why mindfulness practice should be done with grace and kindness to ourselves. Not every thought that comes across your mind comes from you. Not every feeling you have is based on fact. They are fragments or parts of an event that has at some point come across one or more of your senses and you are processing them at a time when you are feeling safe enough to do it. Looking for patterns that arise during mindfulness meditation and recognizing where the thoughts and feelings may have come from should be done with patience and without judgement. The reason not having an opinion or judgement during this time is due to the emotions that can arise based off an incomplete picture of what was captured by the input stage of a moment in time. The reaction may lead to a feeling of being unsafe causing us to become emotional and blocking the completion of processing of the event.  

Coloring whether electronically or by using paper and coloring mediums such as crayons, colored pencils, markers, or a combination of them is an excellent mindfulness exercise. It is a wonderful way to find focus and be in the moment. Utilizing the information of how and why to be gentle and kind to yourself when certain thoughts arise as your mind naturally wanders can aid in the step of returning to the moment you are in while coloring. As you color and focus on your breathing, let go of the thoughts that are bombarding you with the events nagging you either due to misfiling or not yet having all the pieces in place to process the emotions. Give yourself ‘space’ to separate from the stress and nagging emotions that want to be processed in an incomplete state and allow for your brain to calm and your body to relax.  

Mindfulness practices help with attention, stress, self-acceptance through grace and patience, and responding to emotion rather than reacting to them. 

It is also important to note that one mindfulness session will not drastically change your life. Mindfulness is a practice and should be done daily if possible. Give yourself time to see results and do not create expectations that will have you comparing yourself to someone else and the time it took them.  

This week’s thesis was insightful also. Check it out. Teeter2016.pdf (uncg.edu)  

Next Week: Stress Relief