Mindfulness: 8 benefits of mindfulness

The philosophy and praxis of Mindfulness is rigorously current, and has generated great interest both in scientific circles and on the street.

Even though that him Mindfulness it seems the new fleeting fashion in the field of well-being and meditation, we are not facing a recently created phenomenon: its origins date back to the end of the 7th century BC. C., historical moment closely linked with the appearance of the Buddhism.

The benefits of Mindfulness

The fundamental objective of Mindfulness is aimed at equip ourselves with a method to learn to manage emotions, reactions, attitudes and thoughts to be able to face the situations that life presents us, through the practice and improvement of mindfulness.

Thus, we may be able to discover that through the development of mindfulness in the present moment we develop certain positive attitudes in relation to our mental state and emotions, getting to control them since freedom, self-knowledge and acceptance.

Mindfulness as the key to self-knowledge

Mindfulness pursues learning, getting to connect with our inner self, managing our internal events and react more consciously and effectively to eventualities day to day. The mindfulness philosophy proposes that on this path we are able, progressively, to find the essence of who we are.

Ultimately, we must be aware that what causes us discomfort or anxiety they are not the events, but how we link the emotions these. The Compassion and the Self pity are practices that help us relate to events in a way non-judgmental and open to suffering, both one's own and someone else's. Compassion is key in Mindfulness, as it helps us minimize the impact of negative things that happen to us. It is not about erasing the negative emotions that certain events can cause us, but about reducing their intensity.

During the last centuries, the techniques of Mindfulness have been applied as a support to the psychotherapies used to solve different mental health problems, such as stress, anxiety, disorders associated with sleep or tolerance to pain, among others.

In this article we propose to develop eight benefits for your mental and physical health that Mindfulness can bring you.

1. Helps control stress and anxiety

As we commented in the article of "The 6 psychological benefits of Yoga", the lifestyle of Western societies can lead many people to suffer from stress, causing psychological health problems such as depression, anxiety, etc. Like yoga, meditation, and mindfulness reduce cortisol levels, a hormone that is released in response to stress.

Cortisol is necessary for the body as it regulates and mobilizes energy in stressful situations, but if we have too much or it increases in situations that we do not need it, it produces many effects secondary. The practice of Mindfulness gives its practitioners a state of calm and serenity, which undoubtedly affects our physical and emotional health. In this way, cortisol levels fall, also causing blood pressure to decrease.

2. End insomnia problems

A study from the University of Utah found that Mindfulness training can not only help us reduce stress and control anxiety, but it can also help us sleep better at night. According to Holly Roy, the author of this study, “People who practice mindfulness on a daily basis show better control over emotions and behaviors during the day. On the other hand, these people show a low level of cortical activation at night, which helps them sleep better ”

3. Protect the brain

American researchers from Harvard University School of Medicine and Hospital Massachusetts General demonstrated that meditation, a technique that is part of training Mindfulness, increases the size of Telomeres, structures that are located at the ends of chromosomes and that are directly related to the aging and the development of certain pathologies associated with old age.

In addition, research from the University of Oregon concludes that meditation and Mindfulness can modify the neural structure of the brain. The habitual practice of Mindfulness is associated with an increase in axonal density and an increase in myelin in the axons of the anterior cingulate cortex.

4. Increases the ability to concentrate

Mindfulness is a practice that focuses on training awareness and mindfulness, in order to be able to voluntarily direct these mental processes. A study by Walsh and Shapiro showed that Mindfulness is effective in increasing our ability to concentrate.

This fact has led experts to advise this practice as a complementary therapy in disorders related to attention deficit. Furthermore, a study by Moore and Malinowski in 2009 concluded that Mindfulness practice positively correlated with cognitive flexibility and attentional functioning.

5. Develop emotional intelligence

Mindfulness helps us to know ourselves, to investigate inside ourselves and show ourselves as we are. With your practice the Self-Awareness and Self-Awareness Y makes us evolve internally.

In addition, through compassion towards ourselves, it is achieved that things do not affect us so much. A study by Ortner, a researcher at the University of Toronto, showed that people who include Mindfulness in their life have more emotional control than people who do not practice it

6. Improve interpersonal relationships

A 2007 study by Wachs and Cordova suggests that a person's ability to practice Mindfuless can predict the satisfaction of your relationships, that is, the ability to respond appropriately to relationship stress and the ability to communicate your emotions to the other person.

On the other hand, the Mindfulness philosophy, based on compassion and acceptance, improves interpersonal relationships according to Barnes, a researcher at the University of Rochester.

7. Promotes creativity

Meditation helps calm the mind, and a calm mind has more room for generate new ideas. Researchers at the Brain and Cognition Institute of the University of Leiden in the Netherlands found an increase increativity in those habitual practitioners of Mindfulness.

8. Improves working memory

The best of the work memory seems to be another benefit of the practice of Mindfulness. A 2010 study by Jha documented the benefits of Mindfulness and meditation on a group of military after participating in a Mindfulness training program that lasted a total of eight weeks.

The data of this group was compared with the data of another group of soldiers who had not participated in the program. The results showed that the group that had participated in the Mindfulness training program improved their memory of work compared to the other group.