Who doesn’t love to eat, right?

We typically spend at least three times a day eating, some of us more, some of us less. Many of us center social gatherings, events, and plans around food. How many times would you say, however, that you could recall exactly what you had in a given meal and what each thing tasted like, smelled like, and felt like to digest?

Chances are, unless you keep a food journal or something of the like, you can not recall what you had for breakfast yesterday, the scent of each item, or the sensations of crunching, sipping, or swallowing each food item. Why does this matter?mindeat

Mindfulness practices can be applied to many aspects of our lives to produce positive outcomes. Why not try applying the concept to something we often mindlessly spend doing every day! Mindfulness interventions not only serve as a healthy coping strategy for those struggling with eating disorders, but also help those who engage in the practice with emotion regulation and self-thinking (Fisher, Mead, Lattimore, & Malinowski, 2017).

In one fairly recent study, low levels of mindfulness were associated uncontrolled and emotional eating, difficulties in regulation of emotion, and habitual negative self-thinking. Those who engaged in mindfulness, however, reported less uncontrolled eating tendencies, fewer emotion regulation difficulties, as well as lower rates of negative self-thinking  (Fisher et al., 2017).

How mindful are you in your eating practices? To find out you can take this quick quiz!

If you want to work on increasing your mindfulness when eating, one simple and easy method is the Raisin Meditation by the Greater Good Science Center. This activity only takes 5 minutes a day, and is shown to promote mindful eating and healthier relationships with food. For more tips on how to start eating mindfully, Sonima and mindful give advice on how to incorporate mindful eating into your daily life.

We typically spend at least three times a day eating, some of us more, some of us less. Many of us center social gatherings, events, and plans around food. How many times would you say, however, that you could recall exactly what you had in a given meal and what each thing tasted like, smelled … Continue reading Who doesn’t love to eat, right? →

Mindfulness in the Classroom

Does stress make it hard for you to concentrate on school work?

Once people become familiar with practicing mindfulness, it can be used to improve their work and lives in various ways. Mindfulness is a very useful skill in learning environments, as the basis of mindfulness is learning to be fully present and aware in an experience. In education settings, being fully present is very important to learning new information.

In a study where students learned to practice mindfulness in a classroom, and then reviewed their experience, there was a largely positive response to the activity. 71% of participants stated they would like to practice mindfulness for a few minutes before each class, and the following effects were reported after they were taught mindfulness skills:

-Focus in the Momentstudy

-Enhance Learning Experience

-Self Regulation

-Cope with Challenging Situations

-Foster a Sense of Well-Being

To test how mindful you are, and get suggestions on how to improve your mindfulness and become happier, healthier, and more productive, take this short quiz.

How is Mindfulness being used in schools now?

In many areas, people have already begun integrating the teaching of mindfulness into education settings. Koru Mindfulness is one program that teaches mindfulness to college students at Duke University. For students in areas without mindfulness programs, there are many articles and guides on practicing mindfulness while in college.
While the results above focused on adults in education settings, children and teens can also benefit from practicing mindfulness. Many products have been created by licensed psychologists to teach children mindfulness early in life, such as the Mindfulness Matters card game. The Mindfulness in Schools Project is a charity working to teach children mindfulness skills to help them in their education.

Does stress make it hard for you to concentrate on school work? Once people become familiar with practicing mindfulness, it can be used to improve their work and lives in various ways. Mindfulness is a very useful skill in learning environments, as the basis of mindfulness is learning to be fully present and aware in … Continue reading Mindfulness in the Classroom →

Mindfulness

…Be here now…personal-growth-2268884_640

Do you ever have difficulty regulating your emotions in the midst of your hectic schedule? Do you ever find yourself “responding big” to a rather small situation?

Do you ever struggle with the stresses of your day interfering with your progress as well as with your close relationships?

You are not alone. It is easy for every one of us to get caught up in the daily activities of our lives and forget to simply be here. This is where mindfulness can help. Mindfulness is “a moment-to-moment awareness of one’s experience without judgment” (Davis, 2011). Empirically-based evidence supports that mindfulness can help with emotion regulation, response reactivity, and improve your intrapersonal as well as your interpersonal skills.aware-1353780_640

       How does mindfulness help?

In one empirical study, Corcoran et al. (2010) found results which supported that mindfulness meditation negatively correlates with rumination and positively correlates with effective emotion regulation. When a meditation group was compared to a waitlisted control group, the meditation group had significantly increased in self-reported mindfulness and significantly decreased in negative affect and depressive symptoms (Davis & Hayes, 2011).

In another study, Moore and Malinowski (2009) compared experienced mindfulness meditators with a control group and found that the group of meditators scored higher in cognitive flexibility and attentional functioning than those who had no experience with meditation. The meditator group had an easier time suppressing distracting information than the control group did (Davis & Hayes, 2011).

Practice of mindfulness has been shown to cause interpersonal benefits by protecting against the stress that can be caused from relationship conflicts, improving the ability to express yourself, and predicting relationship satisfaction (Davis & Hayes, 2011). Through learning to manage your emotions and increasing awareness with mindfulness, relationship communication is shown to improve in various ways, ultimately leading to a higher amount of happiness in relationships due to the restructured manner of thought.

Intrapersonal benefits are also shown, as the practice can enhance well-being and decrease psychological stress due to the cognitive skills acquired with repeated experiences with mindfulness (Davis & Hayes, 2011). This improved well being does not only extend to mental strengths, but also accounts for many physical health benefits that can come from habitual mindfulness practice, such as an improved immune system.

How to become a more mindful person

We will first practice mindfulness through a guided meditation. Please enjoy the following link as it will take no more than 10 minutes of your day!meditation-1837347_640

For more information on what mindfulness is, try visiting mindful, or for more information on how to start practicing mindfulness meditation, try visiting CounterCulturist.

 

...Be here now... Do you ever have difficulty regulating your emotions in the midst of your hectic schedule? Do you ever find yourself "responding big" to a rather small situation? Do you ever struggle with the stresses of your day interfering with your progress as well as with your close relationships? You are not alone. … Continue reading Mindfulness →