A nurse at the BSN level must be prepared to promote health and wellness throughout the lifespan. Being mindful of mindfulness can have many documented positive benefits on your health and in your life. What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is being aware of your actions in the present moment. Mindfulness is not the same as meditation, but can involve meditation and has similar benefits. These benefits can be seen throughout ones life because practicing mindfulness means living in the present moment. Time spent living in the moment enhances the experiences in life and also can take your mind off the stress of daily living. Mindfulness at work also offers positive outcomes.
10-Minute Mindfulness
In selecting a book to review, I wanted to be able
…show more content…
However, it would be not only possible but also very healthy for me to practice mindfulness. I had not been very mindful of mindfulness prior to reading 10-Minute mindfulness by Scott and Davenport. This book, just published this year, boasts on the cover about “71 Simple Habits for Living in the Present Moment” and it delivers in a big way, even presenting resources throughout the text that can be found at the online book companion to …show more content…
It is important to note that employers do not have to put a lot of time or money in training employees mindfulness traits in order to see positive results (Gordon et al., 2014).
Personal Impact of Mindfulness
Just this past week at work, my floor was short handed and we did not have a nurse aide.
I used mindfulness to find my inner calm when things became crazy. I focused on the task at
BEING MINDFUL OF MINDFULNESS hand, rather than the thousand other things I had to finish before the end of the shift. From my
4
own experience practicing mindfulness in the shower, I found that it could indeed help to “wash away” things. Focusing on the water and the heat took my mind away from stressors, such as needing to write this paper for my nursing course.
The facts show that mindfulness is beneficial in many aspects and we all have been taught that the mind holds great power over the body. Not only will I take with me what I have learned from the book, but I will share the book and spread the word of using mindfulness to
From personal experience, mindfulness meditation gives me a feeling of obtaining a healthy mind and body from the attention and peace I obtained. Such feelings resulting from proper practice of mindfulness meditation is not limited to my own testimony though. According to the Satipatthana Sutra, those who practice such in-and-out breathing become “ardent, aware, and mindful” (“Satipatthana Sutra,” Accessed on 2010). However, it is unclear whether such reported experience is genuine or has effect, or if such mindfulness meditation is similar to a placebo effect.
An individual cannot achieve the benefits of mindfulness training unless they continue practicing mindfulness techniques after the training is completed. By practicing meditation on a regular basis, mindfulness becomes an intentional practice (Holas & Jankowski, 2013). Measures The type of measurements used in mindfulness-based interventions is self-reporting questionnaires. Reliability testing was done on several individuals that were regular meditators (N=213), demographically similar non-meditators (N=252), a general community sample (N=293) and a student sample (N=259), (Baer et al, 2008) using several different scales to compare the FFMQ to. During exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach’s alpha statistics were calculated for the individual facets of mindfulness.
"Sit with your hands resting in your lap or on your knees, keeping your back straight. Your neck should be relaxed, with your chin slightly tucked in. [..] Take five deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. On the last exhalation, allow your eyes to close. Slowly settle into your body" (Puddicombe, 2013, para. 5).
For thousands of years people have practiced mediation for spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. Albeit there are many mediation types, in this paper I will be discussing and focusing on mindfulness mediation. Before further exploring mindfulness mediation, it is crucial to define mediation as a whole. Tang, Holzel, & Posner, 2016 state “Meditation can be defined as a form of mental training that aims to improve an individual’s core psychological capacities, such as attentional and emotional capacities” (p.213). Having that in mind, we can dive into mindfulness mediation. Mindfulness meditation is defined as “nonjudgmental attention to present-moment experiences (Tang, Holzel, & Posner, 2016).” A useful analogy to consider is going to the gym, going to the gym allows one to enhance the body, well similarly, practicing mindfulness is akin to taking the mind to the psychic gym, it enhances it. Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on your breathing and then bringing your mind’s attention to the present all while dismissing discursive thoughts and maintaining a special focus on breathing.
Aside from that, meditation has scientific backing to its logic and why people should do it. In the video lectures, a study involving brain scans and meditation was mentioned several times. The studies showed that while meditated, the subjects showed signs of thought processes slowing down and changes occurring in the brain.
Mindfulness is an ideal that has been present for thousands of years (positivepsychologyprogram.com). It has roots in almost every major religion: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and most renown, Buddhism and Hinduism (positivepsychologyprogram.com). Psychology Today defines mindfulness as “a state of active, open attention on the present.” Dr. Shauna Shapiro during a TEDx Talk defines mindfulness as “intentionally paying attention with kindness” (Shapiro, S., 2017). Mindfulness has many principles involved with it, but the short version is to be aware. It is to be aware of the present moment deliberately. Jon Kabat-Zinn, considered the father of the western movement for mindfulness by some, defines mindfulness as, “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; On purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Bodhipaksa, 2007). We, as humans, get caught up in the business of life; so, we need to stay oriented to the present. Another way to describe this is “acting with awareness rather than on ‘automatic autopilot’” (Caldwell, et al, 2010). Mindfulness is non-judgmental about life. Mindfulness is to not be over-reactive by what’s going on around us (mindful.org). Mindfulness is being non-reactive to your environment. There are many things that stem from this thinking,
The terms mindfulness and presence are often used interchangeably within the mental health field; however, without mindfulness the ability to be present may be null and void. Even though there are several references to mindfulness within research and literature (Bien, 2006; Cole & Ladas-Gaskin, 2007; Germer, 2005; Germer, Siegel, & Fulton, 2005; Hick, 2008; Linehan, 1993a, 1993b; Mace, 2008; McKay, Brantley, & Wood, 2007; Shapiro & Carlson, 2009), the expansive use of the term can lose its meaning. Originally based in Buddhist philosophy, mindfulness has been adapted by Western society and more specifically, within the counseling field. To be completely mindful is to be aware of the full range of experiences that exist in the present moment
Mindfulness involves accepting our thoughts and emotions without judgment, and without believing that there is a right or wrong way to feel in a given situation. Our thoughts and emotions are not labeled as good or bad. They are observed as simply happening until they pass. While practicing mindfulness one does not rehash the past or imagine the future. Attention is focused on what is being sensed in the present moment. There is a sense of self apart from things. Mindfulness is moment to moment awareness and purposefully placing attention on things that we wouldn’t normally give a second thought to. Mindfulness can be thought of as a way of being, rather than an activity. It is the awareness of wondering thoughts and purposefully directing them back, rather than letting them
To begin with, mindfulness is when someone can pay attention to the present moment “without being devoted to different points of view” (Martin, 1997). Along with staying focused on the present moment, mindfulness is when the particular person does not judge the current experience as the person tries to comprehend the present situation. Mindfulness makes a person reflect on one’s self by not only figuring out one’s thoughts, but also the feelings that go along with it. The complex nature of mindfulness demonstrates that it has multiple purposes that cultivates a person into realizing the potential of the brain (Davis & Hayes,
Practicing mindfulness is something that most people probably have on their daily to-do list, but never getting around to it because they either don’t believe it’ll work or feel too busy with their lives to stop for literally just a minute to breathe. When going into this activity, my to-do is exactly what was in mind. It’s the list that is never completed. So, having this as an actual assignment was exactly what I needed to get a jumpstart on my mindfulness techniques in my daily life.
By utilizing a set of research methods, that inducts different types of mindfulness meditation training programs, and advanced mindfulness practitioners to matched control, with a capitulation of detection that enhance our understanding of the nature of mindfulness. While providing insights that will help me to target symptoms and populations that are likely to benefit from mindfulness meditation
It is well known and proven that over time the benefits of meditating on a regular basis promotes the development of inner calmness, connectedness, focus, flow, a clear clarity of mind, a focused and more stable grounded concentration, along with coherency of thought, increased creativity, being more open and receptive to receive insights, solutions to problems and new ideas, a balanced and harmonious centred inner equilibrium, a relaxed happy body, mind and spirit, which in turn assists as a preventative tool that creates and maintains positive overall vibrant health and wellbeing.
moment moves forward with me and it makes the next tasks seem less mundane. I find myself
At the beginning of my mindfulness journey, I felt frustrated as I began to realize how much I struggled with being in the present. I could not focus and I struggled to make it five minutes of practice. In the first two weeks, mindfulness felt like a chore. As I sat down to practice I would feel defeated each time. I did not really understand the point of mindfulness as focusing on breathing felt meaningless to me. My mind would wander each time I tried to focus on breathing and I began to realize how hard it was to still and control my mind. I knew that I was supposed to feel more relaxed and connected with my mind and body, but after each practice I felt more frustrated with myself. In the beginning I began to realize
“The practice of meditation can facilitate exploration of emotional states that support the process of self-actualization and improve overall college student well-being” (Crowley & Munk, 2017, p.91). In this quote, authors Claire Crowley and Dana Munk clearly state the major benefits of practicing mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation can be defined as a practice which helps a person self-regulate their mind and emotions, thus affecting mental states by engaging a specific skill set for attention to tasks (Sjöstedt, 2012). Generally speaking, the desire to try meditation comes from two types of people: first, one who is interested and perceives some type of benefit; and secondly, one who has experienced a significant amount of stress and anxiety and is seeking some kind of relief from these