Everyone’s heard of mindfulness these days. For most of us who practice yoga, mindfulness is an integral part of our practice. After all, being mindfully aware of our body as we move through the sequence of poses is what really allows us to deepen our practice. But did you know that mindfulness can be just as useful when practiced off the mat?
For me personally, I’ve found there were five main ways that mindfulness affected me once it became part of my daily life. If you’re already practicing mindfulness, you might find you can relate. And if you’re not, they might inspire you to give it a try!
Here’s my list of five reasons to practice mindfulness:
1. Helps Deal with Criticism Better
Not a lot of us openly embrace criticism, in fact, most of us loathe it. The reason for this is because we just don’t want to hear any negative feedback – it makes us feel bad, and it can even make us panic. However, being more mindful helped me to ground myself and to respond with the right presence to any kind of criticism. Essentially, it assisted me with bypassing that ancient ‘fight or flight’ reptilian brain response. Instead of stressing about it, I could just take it all in and keep moving along with my day as normal.
2. Improves Listening Skills
I’ll say it: sometimes I plain suck at really listening to what people are trying to tell me. I mean sure, I hear them, but I’ve found myself (more than just a few times) letting information in the one ear and right out the other. I’m betting you can relate. The problem is that when we’re distracted, we don’t give others the attention they deserve. Mindfulness helped me focus on doing ONE thing at a time, and giving it my all, even if it was just listening to a friend talk about her holiday plans or let off steam about her job.
3. Boosts Relationships
With the enhanced self-awareness I was cultivating thanks to mindfulness, I was able to be a better team player, which meant that I started getting along better with the people around me. (Even the ones who’d always rubbed me the wrong way before.) I started being more patient with them and just kinder in general. I guess what I’m trying to say here is that I finally started understanding what the term ‘compassion’ really meant.
4. Leadership
Well not a leader of thousands per se, but it greatly enhanced my leadership skills, and that’s something that we all need to work on if we want to help others. By being more mindful, I was able to recognize toxic patterns and negative thoughts. By recognizing them, I was able to choose healthier beliefs instead of automatically believing the old, limiting ones. This helped me become more confident in myself, which is vital for leadership.
5. Controls Stress Levels
Stress is a massive issue, and one that easily turns into full-blown nightmares. Simple techniques such as closing my eyes and just focusing on my breathing are what helped me deal with my stress at work. This helped me control the effects that stress was having on my mind and my body. In fact, it not only managed them, it helped me reverse the effects.
Final Thoughts:
I just showed you a few great benefits of mindfulness and how it transformed me personally, and I sincerely hope that this post has encouraged you to start your own mindfulness practice. It’s really simple yet very effective!
Megan is a DIY health & beauty enthusiast and yoga addict. When she’s not trying to master the perfect headstand, she loves to write. You can find her work at Gold Mountain Beauty, where she is responsible for the blog, Instagram and Pinterest.
