This past weekend I celebrated my nineteenth birthday. I felt a lot of love from a lot of people, but something was nagging me. My last year as a teenager. Something about being nineteen felt less exciting (and a lot older) than turning eighteen. I couldn’t quite describe what was bothering me, and it made me anxious. I think a lot of us often experience a similar phenomenon. We feel unsettled, something is bothering us even though we can’t pinpoint exactly what it is, and we feel anxious as a result.
When this happens to me, it feels like I can’t get my mind to focus. It jumps in a million different directions thinking about everything I have going on, everything I need to do, everything I should be doing better, everything I should be worrying about. I become unproductive and that makes me stress more. In essence, I’m spiraling. If any of this sounds even slightly similar to any personal experiences, allow me to tell you about this week’s little thing.
“I can’t get my mind to focus. It jumps out in a million different directions.”
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Introducing this week’s little thing: mindfulness. According to Psychology Today, mindfulness can be defined as follows: “A state of active, open attention to the present. It is described as observing one’s thoughts and feelings without judging them as good or bad.” Now, there are many ways one can practice mindfulness. One way could be journaling, like what was discussed last week. This week I want to focus on practicing mindfulness through guided meditation. If you feel skeptical about this idea (like I used to), just stay with me.
The truth is, practicing mindfulness can be difficult. It’s intimidating to challenge yourself to sit with your thoughts. It’s even harder to learn to observe those thoughts and feelings without judgment. According to the National Institutes of Health, practicing mindfulness each day has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression. It is believed to also reduce blood pressure and improve sleep. Clearly, practicing mindfulness has many appealing benefits. So, the question becomes, how can we overcome the challenges to practicing mindfulness?
My answer is guided meditation. For starters, guided meditations are easy to access. Personally, I’m a fan of the Calm app, which offers a wide variety of meditations and updates them daily. By walking you through breathing exercises and meditation techniques while asking thoughtful and reflective questions, the guided meditations help you effectively calm your mind and objectively observe how you’re feeling. In my experience, doing mindfulness meditation for even five minutes per day felt transformative. I was able to focus better. I felt more aware and in control of my emotions. I felt relaxed.
“…doing mindfulness meditation for even five minutes per day felt transformative.”
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The benefits of mindfulness, such as reducing depression and anxiety, show clearly the value of taking just five minutes out of your day to be mindful. This week, I challenge you, and myself, to take five minutes every day to practice mindfulness. Trust me, we’ll thank ourselves later.
Until next time,
Avi