5 Mindfulness Techniques That Will Make You Happy In Your Daily Life.

Mindfulness refers to both a psychological state and skill and a technique used by various psychotherapy models. In everyday life, our consciousness is mostly preoccupied with either what happened in the past or our expectations for the future, and this can disconnect us from the reality of the present. Because our feelings and thoughts about both the past and the future may not reflect concrete reality because they are far from the present moment and may have a bias. For example, a person dealing with regrets about their past academic success and worrying about the future may become pessimistic in the present and not be able to adequately explore their potential.

Mindfulness is the ability to pay attention to what is happening around us in the present moment. In this way, we can understand the realities we experience here and now as they are, and discover what we can do in the situation we are in with this awareness.

This state of awareness is accompanied by an attitude of non-judgmental acceptance. This attitude is without judging and classifying our experience according to our experiences or expectations; it means accepting it the way it is. Thus, instead of pondering over the causes of what we are experiencing, struggling with it, or denying it, we can realize that this experience we are living in is natural and temporary, just like the moment we are in.

The Discovery of Conscious Awareness

In fact, this concept, which has its origins in Far Eastern philosophy and has existed for about 2500 years, was introduced to psychology and therefore to the world of science, in the late 1970s.  John Kabat-Zinn, in a center in the USA, gave awareness skills training to patients in order to reduce the pain and stress of people with chronic diseases, and this training was based on focusing attention on breathing, body sensations, emotions and thoughts.  Avoiding and ignoring existing pain and stress creates bigger problems.  It has been seen that accepting the difficulty experienced and not judging oneself because of one's feelings both reduces the effects of physical pain and stress and increases the resistance to fight against the disease.  The reason for the change in this example is that mindfulness training prevents people from being stuck with pessimistic or denial thoughts about their illness.  Thus, by accepting the difficulties they experienced, they discovered that there are things they can do to feel good in this situation.

Today, mindfulness-based psychotherapies are used to cope with a wide range of problems, from chronic pain and diseases to depression, from anxiety to eating disorders.

Effects of Conscious Awareness

Some neurological interactions occur with the practice of mindfulness.  There is a decrease in the activation of the amygdala in the brain, which is responsible for emotional responses, and the sympathetic nervous system, which prepares our body for the "fight or flight" response when we encounter a stressful situation.  In addition, there is an increase in the activation of the prefrontal cortex, which is also in the brain and is responsible for processes such as attention, planning, decision-making and organization.

These practices also affect our feelings, thoughts and behaviors.  Through the practices of mindfulness, disturbing feelings and thoughts are accepted as they are.  It is noticed that these are just experiences and, like all experiences, they are momentary and temporary.  In this way, negative experiences, which are a natural part of life, are not rejected.  Without escaping to the past or the future, being able to stay in the present experience can both strengthen us against difficulties and help us see the possibilities of that moment and life.

For example, let's think of a person who has to leave the city where he has lived for years and all his surroundings for economic reasons.  The person may be ignoring his current condition, constantly dreaming of returning to his old city one day, or clinging to the memories of the good old days.  However, it is not possible for him to bring back the past, nor to determine what will happen in the future due to the conditions he is in.  Instead, peacefully accepting the challenges that exist can help the person realize and focus on what they can do in the new city.

5 Conscious Awareness Techniques

✔️ When you are doing any job, you can only focus on what you are doing at the moment, unless that job requires otherwise.  You can start with simple tasks to do this.  For example, if you are brushing your teeth, you can only focus on this action and the effect of the brush and paste in your mouth.  You may be distracted, and you may think of things to do tomorrow.  Do not worry about it, accept that too and focus on brushing your teeth again.

 ✔️One of the most practical ways to focus attention on the here and now is to be aware of your breath.  You can focus on how your breath goes in, how your stomach rises and falls, and how your breath goes out.

 ✔️You can try to listen to others as well as yourself.  Likewise, you can try to accept the other party's life without judgment.

 ✔️Although the intense pace of life forces us, we do not have to be busy with anything at all times.  You did nothing;  you can only realize that the moment you are in is as precious and temporary as the others.

 ✔️When you realize that you are judging yourself or others, you can accept it peacefully.  As with the ability to focus attention, this attitude gets easier with time and practice.If you think this article is useful, you can benefit by sharing it with your loved ones.