Mindfulness Practices: Be Here Now
Being mindful is understood to mean being present or attentionally aware in the current moment without judgment or assessment. Although that sounds rather rudimentary, it can be more challenging than it sounds, but also more well-being-enhancing than one would imagine. Dr. Richard Davidson, an esteemed researcher, professor and Founder of The Center for Healthy Minds, explains that our minds wander approximately 47% of the time, further emphasizing that a wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Research demonstrates that high levels of mindfulness are associated with reductions in stress, depression, anxiety, inflammation, pain, and sleep disturbance, while mindfulness improves immune function, cognition and health behaviors such as exercising and fruit and vegetable intake.
The practice of mindfulness essentially involves bringing your mind and with it your awareness to the moment that is “now”. Some simple ways to positively practice this include pausing to observe something beautiful in nature (sky, greenery, blooming trees, breeze, gentle rain) or closing your eyes and connecting with the air that gently moves in and out of the nostrils (fortunately gentle breath is always available as we live). The more that we practice these minnie moments of awareness, the more adept we become at guiding our attention back to the present moment. We can create neuropathways in our brain that become like a well-traveled road that we can drop into more readily with practice.
Sounds easy—well, not necessarily, as many feelings/thoughts run counter to being present in the current moment without judgment, such as worry, anxiety, assessment, projection, future problems, historical problems, and uncertainty. To make space for instances of mindfulness, we can press into the moment mentally or even verbally with reminders such as be here now. If we are enjoying a moment of positivity, should we be concerned about when it might end or if it happens again? No, we should be here now. It is almost as if we permit ourselves to just experience the moment without clouding it with “other” moments. Similarly, if in the present moment we slide into concerns of what might come, or change, or the prospect of being challenged in subsequent moments, we can utilize another great mental or verbal cue—not today! Whatever it is, it is not now (not today), so be here now. Another powerhouse that can be activated if distraction/worry creeps into your present moment is practicing gratitude. If we pause in the moment and rest our attention squarely on the identifiable blessings in that moment, anything from enjoying safety and freedom to receiving kindness or a smile from another, we train our mind to be here now and dose ourselves with health-enhancing, emotion-boosting gratitude.
In Christianity’s over two-thousand-year-old document (the Bible) it reads: So, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself, each day has enough trouble of its own (be here now) and who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life (not today)! Perhaps they had a bit of an inside track on the mind/body/spirit benefits of being mindful.