{"id":1107,"date":"2016-11-29T15:18:15","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T20:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/?p=1107"},"modified":"2019-02-28T09:43:50","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T14:43:50","slug":"mindfulness-and-well-being","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2016\/11\/29\/mindfulness-and-well-being\/","title":{"rendered":"Mindfulness and Well-Being"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Why cultivate a practice of mindfulness?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>What is the relationship between mindfulness and well-being?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It has to do with how we pay attention\u2026to how we are in any moment and what we are\u00a0doing. \u00a0For example, how do we typically react to the alarm clock, to work colleagues, to life\u00a0situations, to our partners or children? How do we react to anger or fear or pain, in someone\u00a0else, in ourselves?<\/p>\n<p>Research has shown that mindfulness affects our quality of life because it can:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Reduce stress, panic and anxiety<\/li>\n<li>Help with chronic pain and depression<\/li>\n<li>Lower blood pressure and heart rate<\/li>\n<li>Decrease sleep disturbances and fatigue<\/li>\n<li>Expand the neuroplasticity of the brain to promote higher levels of focus, memory,\u00a0learning and resilience<\/li>\n<li>Boost the immune system<\/li>\n<li>Increase the capacity for joy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be aware of the present moment, which is\u00a0constantly changing, like water going over the edge of a waterfall, the only moment in\u00a0which we\u00a0are alive. We learn to not be overly reactive or overwhelmed by what\u2019s going\u00a0on around or inside us. \u00a0The great news is that mindfulness is innate \u2013 we\u2019re born knowing how to do this. \u00a0Constant mindfulness is elusive. Whenever we notice the mind is caught in a trance of\u00a0thinking about the past or future, we can pause, relaxing any tightness in the body, and\u00a0then gently escort the attention to right now \u2013 this breath, this sound, this sensation. \u00a0We\u2019re not changing our experience of life \u2013 it\u2019s impossible to keep the stuff we don\u2019t\u00a0want (conflict, illness, anxiety) at bay. What we\u2019re changing is our relationship to our\u00a0experience. \u00a0Mindfulness is an innate capacity to access and use the intelligence of the body, with its\u00a0wealth of sensations, images, feelings and intuition, in our learning and in our decision making\u00a0process.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How do we begin (or restart) a practice of mindfulness?<\/strong><br \/>\nWe can adopt useful attitudes, beginning with curiosity, patience and trust, letting go of\u00a0expectations, and, oddly enough, letting go of striving. \u00a0Daily we practice awareness of sensations, including the breath and sound, awareness of\u00a0thoughts and feeling states \u2013 because this is a systematic training that takes time, like\u00a0learning any skill well. We practice, with kindness for ourselves, and we gain insight\u00a0into conditioned reactions that inhibit our capacity to respond most effectively and\u00a0satisfactorily in everyday life.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pause \u2013 allow the body and the mind to establish a calm, alert, receptive state \u2013 like\u00a0allowing a cup of muddy water to settle, to become clear.<\/li>\n<li>Relax \u2013 soften any contracted areas or places of holding in the body\u2026the eyes, the\u00a0forehead, jaw, shoulders, hands, belly, pelvis, feet.<\/li>\n<li>Suspend judgment \u2013 see your seeing (like the movie director who\u2019s filming you, your\u00a0thoughts and feelings and your movements).<\/li>\n<li>Observe with focused attention \u2013 the habits and the conditioning of the body and mind\u00a0(stories, assumptions, fears) and let go.<\/li>\n<li>Allow \u2013 intuition or insight to arise.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What can happen?<\/strong> \u00a0According to students of past classes\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMindfulness is becoming aware of how disconnected I am from what I\u2019m really\u00a0feeling\u2026I usually just plow through without pausing and noticing what\u2019s going on with\u00a0me \u2013 thank you for providing the wake-up call.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has been life-changing\u2026I got so much out of the experience and continue to\u00a0practice.\u201d \u00a0\u201cI have gained tools for a mindfulness practice and am the better for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am putting this class into practice, particularly given my health issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis life-long practice is empowering\u2026\u00a0The class was so helpful to me, especially with all the changes happening in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why cultivate a practice of mindfulness? What is the relationship between mindfulness and well-being? It has to do with how we pay attention\u2026to how we are in any moment and what we are\u00a0doing. \u00a0For example, how do we typically react to the alarm clock, to work colleagues, to life\u00a0situations, to our partners or children? How [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-monthly-musings"],"acf":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mindfulness and Well-Being - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2016\/11\/29\/mindfulness-and-well-being\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mindfulness and Well-Being - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why cultivate a practice of mindfulness? 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