19 Oct 3 Tips to Reduce your Stress with Mindfulness

It is often said that happiness and sadness are two sides of the same coin. But considering the present time, the coin now needs three faces. This is because, along with happiness and sadness, stress too has become an inseparable part of many peoples’ lives.

Be it a kid in school, a college going student or a working professional, stress is a part of everyone’s life. Students have the stress to get good grades, working professionals have the stress about their work, people who are about to graduate from their college have the stress to find a good job and the story goes on. Thanks to the fast paced life and highly competitive environment, people these days are more stressed than happy. Stress can lead to fights with your loved ones, suicides, and even depression. Thus, it is very necessary to adopt some measures to reduce stress. One of the best stress reduction techniques you will ever come across is mindfulness.

Why Mindfulness Based Stress reduction?

Life is full of challenges and mindfulness allows you to face those challenges very calmly and effectively. This is because you learn to focus on your present thoughts without actually judging them.

Stress is a result of your thinking. When there is something to achieve, you will think about all those situations that might make it harder for yourself to achieve your goal. Even though some of these situations might not happen at all but you will continue to think about it anyways. The mind is a wanderer and will continue to wander from one thought to another even when they have no relevance.  While some of these thoughts might give you happiness for a while, most of them will make you restless and give you stress. This is why it is very important to have a control over your mind which can be achieved with mindfulness.

Mindfulness is all about focusing in the moment. While doing so, when some random thoughts come into your mind, you do not fight them. You simply acknowledge those thoughts and let them pass by. If we talk in terms of science, Mindfulness helps in reducing cortisol levels in your body which help in reducing stress. It also helps in eliminating your internal resistance which allows you to take your life problems as challenges instead of crises.

Reduce Stress with Mindfulness

Mindfulness is known to improve your overall well-being. This is why it is very important to make it an unavoidable part of your daily routine. Here are a few tips for stress reduction through mindfulness.

• Meditate Daily

If you want to live a life without any stress, then make mindful meditation a part of your daily schedule. Choose a comfortable position to sit and then focus all your attention on your breathing. Some random thoughts out of nowhere might pop up in your mind but do not try to fight them. Acknowledge your thoughts and bring your mind back to the bay lovingly.

Initially, you might find it difficult to focus but it is fine. You will learn with time. You can devote 5 minutes daily for mindful meditation and then increase this time gradually.

• Mindfulness during Routine

When you devote special time for meditation, then it is called formal meditation. However, you should practice informal mindfulness too which means you need to focus your complete attention on the task which you are doing presently. If you are taking a shower then enjoy your shower. Feel the warmth of the water, the smell of your soap and shampoo, how it feels when water splashes on your body etc. and do not worry about what you have to do rest of the day. If you are eating your food then focus on it and relish its taste. This will not only help you enjoy whatever you are doing but also make you feel more energized.

• Complete Body Scan

When in stress, people often find it hard to sleep peacefully. If you go through the same then what you have to do is a complete body scan meditation. Lie on your bed and begin to feel your body right from your foot to your head. Notice how it feels to have socks on your feet, how breathing causes rise and fall in different parts of the body etc. This will help you to relax and to sleep peacefully.

So, make mindfulness a part of your routine if mental peace, stress reduction, and overall well-being are what you want to achieve.

Purva Jain

Purva is a freelance writer from Udaipur, India. She covers a wide range of topics including health, lifestyle, news, food, and travel. You can reach out to her at [email protected].