The Practice of Mindfulness on Health and Human Flourishing

Being mindful is essentially an ability or perspective through which one can be aware of their own present-moment thoughts, experiences, or observations with a unique notion of nonjudgement or assessment. In this sense, there is an aspect of “watching” or “viewing” without a thought pattern that involves formulating, calculating, or responding. This type of flatline (peaceful, quiet, free) moment can lead to a pattern of less reactivity and stress in challenging moments or interactions. If we are observing our thoughts without judgment, there is an essence of “we are not our thoughts” or “we are not run by our thoughts” that allows us to potentially choose from there to move away from the thoughts or certainly not be held captive by them. Practicing mindfulness is a type of brain training that improves with repetition and can create new neuropathways in our brain perpetuating this pattern of awareness.

One of the more publicized methods for practicing mindfulness is through mindfulness meditation. This can involve a period of peaceful physical resting while focusing the attention on perhaps a physical sensation such as the movement of air in and out of the nose and mouth, or the gentle rise and fall of the chest as we breathe.  Releasing the physical body into a spot that permits the muscular skeletal system to disengage, allows for the breath observation to become quite dynamic. Slow, steady breaths can impact our nervous system reducing stress hormones, heart rate, and blood pressure, while during mindfulness meditation the movement of air provides an accessible focal point. There is no magic to breathing, our bodies are built to regulate how much oxygen we need and will act accordingly. It is remarkable to note, however, that our body toils pulling air in and releasing it 24/7 and we rarely, if ever, notice that.

Again, practicing mindfulness meditation is a type of brain training that is dose-response specific meaning the more one practices it, the more adept one becomes. As with any new type of activity, it is important to approach mindfulness meditation without benchmarks or expectations, rather to just feel your way through brief periods of practice. Engaging in five minutes of mindfulness meditation on most if not all days of the week could provide a non-threatening jumping-off point.

There are many applications for the awareness-oriented, pause and observe without judgment practice of mindfulness and this ability translates across experiences.  Mindfulness can help us if we are interested in changing our “feeding” practices. Mindful eating is a practice of observing how, what, why, and when we engage in feeding and can lead to improvements in weight management and ingesting more nutrient-dense foods. Applying this present-moment awareness to our environment can enhance our ability to see the beauty around us—whether people, places or things—and when these are pleasing, may lead to a greater capacity to participate in the health-enhancing practice of gratitude. Mindfulness practices support our ability to remain in the present rather than ruminating on the past or worrying about the future; this can free us to cherish every day. We can influence our lives for the better through scientifically-supported mindfulness practices as a means of brain training with myriad applications from reducing stress to improvements in aspects of health and human flourishing.