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Why You Should Practice Being More Mindful (and How it Can Help You)

In a world that’s now more connected than ever, it can be too easy to lose yourself and simply go through most of your life on autopilot.

When this happens, your attention is absorbed. Your mind is wandering, you’re not really “present” in that moment, and as a result, you’re unable to appreciate the full beauty of what life has to offer.

You can easily end up becoming more anxious and stressed when doing this in the long run. However, there’s good news – you can start taking control by practicing mindfulness.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is simply “taking the steering wheel” of your attention. It’s the exact opposite of being on autopilot, where instead of simply being passive, you’re aware of your thoughts and feelings, as well as what’s going on around you.

Being mindful also has the following benefits:

  • It reduces negative and destructive emotions,
  • It helps you sleep better and improve your sense of well-being; and
  • It makes you less compulsive and less likely to form and addiction.

With mindfulness, you not only hold your attention consciously and more immersed, but you also observe and pay attention to your own experiences without judging or labeling them in any way. This gives you more freedom and opens up more options for you.

Mind as Muscle

Your attention is one of your most valuable assets. But when there’s no end to attention grabbers, you need to train your mind as a muscle to actively focus only on the things that matter right away.

The good news is it doesn’t take a lot to start training your mind to take more control of your daily experiences more fully, instead of simply watching them go by like a passive observer.

In fact, here are a few tips you can take to start being more mindful:

  • Write down the things you’re thankful for. Focusing on the positives instead of the negatives trains you to look for positive sides and solutions in the long term.
  • Take a few deep breaths. Concentrating on your breath sounds easy enough, but it can get really tricky if there’s something you can’t get out of your head. However, it does help you focus on the here and now.
  • Take ten minutes to do nothing. Take the first few minutes when you wake up in the morning to not do anything, but simply sit on the edge of the bed and be there in the present.

Conclusion

It’s true that you can’t change every situation to be in your favor. If you find yourself somehow struggling to get anything done, or simply feel burnt out and feel passive, being on autopilot sounds easy enough, and mindfulness difficult.

Consciously being more aware of yourself and what’s around you will take time and practice, but when you put in the effort to take control of your own life, the result will always leave you happier and change the way you see the world.

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