Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a non-judgmental, sustained attention to your immediate experience.
Most cultures have some form of mindfulness practice, the most common of which is mindfulness breath meditation.

Mindfulness breath meditation involves non-judgmentally observing your breath by redirecting your mind to refocus each time it wanders off to other thoughts. Typically, your mind will wander off numerous times per minute.

Each time you redirect your focus back to your breath, you are improving your ability to regulate your emotions and stress response and increasing your tendency for positive moods and overall positive disposition.

BENEFITS

Recent research studies indicate that regular mindfulness practice can be helpful for a number of physical and mental problems, including chronic pain, skin conditions, cancer treatment, immunity, depression, anxiety, ADHD, bipolar, panic, eating disorders, substance abuse, and other stress related disorders.

Preliminary brain research indicates that after as little as 8 weeks of mindfulness practice, there was a sustained increase in activity in centers of the brain associated with positive mood and disposition as well as immune system functioning. Thus, after a relatively short period of time, there are measurable changes in brain and body functioning.

Current theories and brain research indicate that regular mindfulness practice can increase compassion for others and oneself, resulting in improved self-esteem and relational functioning.