Why Is Mindfulness Meditation Important?

Mindfulness meditation focuses on physical sensations of the body. It brings attention to the present moment, clearing the mind of other thoughts (Hanh, 1999; Kabat-Zinn et al., 1992). Mindfulness meditation reduces negative affect and to leads to greater subjective well-being (Brown & Ryan, 2003). As such, mindfulness meditation is used for reducing stress (Kabat-Zinn 1982), treating borderline personality disorder (Teasdale, Segal, Williams, 1995) and treating relapses of major depressive disorder (Linehan 1993).

Richard Davidson from the University of Wisconsin has observed the effects of mindfulness on the brain through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (Barker, 2008). From his results, he explains that meditation nurtures happier moods that as a result increase activity in the left prefrontal cortex. Benefits like this have led mindfulness to be integrated into cognitive therapy. Essentially, to treat depression, anxiety, and borderline personality disorders (Barker, 2008). This integration has created a new therapy known as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression (MBCT). This therapy is the product of Segal et al. (2012) who tested mindfulness on patients undergoing depression (Barker, 2008). He and his colleagues observed that people practicing meditation are less likely to relapse back into depression compared to those who do not. Although MBCT has not reflected significantly results on treating depression, it is in fact more beneficial to treat other

The practice of mindfulness meditation, even for twenty minutes per day, has been proven to increase working memory, strengthen focus, and decrease stress levels. The recent increase in popularity of this practice has led to significant findings achieved through numerous empirical studies pertaining to the effect of meditation upon the various aspects of the mind.

The beneficial effect of meditation for people with chronic conditions is also proven by Chan & Larson (2015), however, their point of view is that further research on the topic is necessary due to the inconsistency of the results. After examining the multiple research studies, the authors argue that meditation may “result in significant improvements in anxiety, depression, and chronic disease symptoms”. Furthermore, they state that people with chronic diseases relate more positively with their body, which is resulting in increased activity levels and improved quality of life (Chan & Larson, 2015). In some studies, the accent was made on improvement that is achieved in perception or acceptance of a specific symptom when the symptom itself was not changed. Meditation also relieved the manifestations of multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and peripheral neuropathy (Chan & Larson, 2015). In addition, this complementary treatment modality has the beneficial effects on attention span, sleep quality and latency, and enhanced well-being (Morone, Lynch, Greco, Tindle, & Weiner, 2008).

Mindfulness can be described as the physiological approach of a person bringing his or her attention on the internal and external occurrences taking place in the present moment. It is usually the situation where a person is conscious of what is happening in their surrounding and environment (Schonert-Reichl and Roeser, 2016). Many mindfulness approaches and theories which have been developed mainly from Buddhist psychology have revealed that mindfulness is one of the most remarkable ways that help in the practice and study of mental health. Mindfulness is one of the best ways that may help people to enjoy good health and wellness across their lifespan.

Many people think that mindfulness meditation consists solely of sitting still and thinking about nothing for twenty or thirty minutes and are put off by the thought. In fact, mindfulness

Meditation has often been linked with spirituality and religion. Used by yoga practitioners as well as Buddhists, it is also found in Christianity and Catholicism in the form of quiet prayer and inner contemplation. However, meditation can also work in other fields, such as health care and especially in controlling

We alto often underestimate the reality of mindfulness. Countless of stressors will arise that presents itself to individuals in our society today. These stressors influence the climax of our restrictions in life on how much we can bare. Frequently, individuals lose sight of their emotions and reaction upon impulse rather than reasoning. To successfully obtain mindfulness, an individual must develop the ability to harness their consciousness while in their present surroundings. During this process, the individual becomes knowledgeable about their emotions, organize thoughts, and implement positive solutions. Thus, individuals acquire an increase of their self-confidence and become a resilient person.

Being mindful and meditation have been shown to be greatly beneficial and can be fitting for all people. However, it’s important to understand the differences between being mindful and meditation. Bhante Gunaratana emphases mediation as a journey you take stickily by yourself or as a ‘lonely path’. In this way, he means you must learn the practice of meditation on your own, nobody can meditate or learn this skill for you, and it is in no way a competition. It’s important to find a suitable place, atmosphere, and time to meditate. Bhante Gunaratana also explains how a person must choose and want to meditate. For some, it might be difficult to get into meditation, however, great benefits can

This is somehow really working well for those who are suffering recurring depressions. Need to have time and spend quality timing on Meditation and Breathing techniques as suggested one can surely be confident to overcome their depression in no time. These techniques can be followed by any one, like children, young, adult and old ages. Mindfulness is effective in children and young people. The stress of mind can be evacuated with breathing and meditation techniques. There will be solution for everything but not all the times they think for solution. Sometimes they may feel issue has started and already happened, we cannot fix it now, where this idea leads them to depression. So to overcome all these kinds of situations Meditation and Breathing Techniques will help a

Since meditation and breathing techniques can be done at the exact moment stress has occurred , meditation and relaxation plus breathing techniques correlate with decreasing stress around the brain. Common types of neurological side effects of stress are headaches and dizziness, so through different types of meditation techniques, Mind and Body Therapies could help with attention disorders and reducing depression,“...long-term meditation practice is associated with an enhancement of cerebral areas related to attention. From a clinical viewpoint, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has shown efficacy for many psychiatric and physical conditions and also for healthy subjects, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is mainly efficacious in reducing relapses of depression in patients with three or more episodes”(Chiesa & Serretti, 2010, p. 1239-1252 ). Mindfulness meditation, or paying attention in a specific way, is able to calm the body down, which enhances the body's ability to concentrate creating a better thinking atmosphere, and decreasing depression by calming down the body which decreases a depression relapse. Another type of Mind and Body Therapy is relaxation and breathing techniques that are also used with reducing stress. Other than meditation there are, relaxation and breathing techniques which utilize awareness of breathing rate, rhythm, and volume. Often breathing techniques are used to minimize physiologic responses to stress, possibly by increasing parasympathetic response” (Wahbeh, Elsas, & Oken, 2008, para 2). The breathing techniques are able to create a more calm nature, which is able to decrease the stress that is surrounding the brain. A simple exercise like deep breathing can be done everyday and anytime without having to go to a yoga class, which is why it is so beneficial because it helps at

Through my personal experience with the mindfulness meditation, a lesson that I learned was that this offered a substantial amount of stress relief. Not particularly attending to thoughts that enter my mind and being mindful of the present, allowed stress from the day to dwindle away. I found the meditation to be particularly effective on high stress days and this was a welcome event when I had a very hectic day at work. Further, I discovered that in my case, this form of meditation was better at removing stress than utilizing a mantra meditative technique. Another lesson learned was that mindfulness meditation did not lessen my work anxiety to any great degree. It may have taken my mind off it during the meditation practice, but I would feel some anxiousness soon afterwards as thoughts of work began to prevail after my earnest focus during meditation came to an end. However, I think with more time to develop the practice outside of a meditative setting, it is possible that this could be

We need to enable ourselves to understand how we can let go of stressful conditions by recognizing and being mindful of them, Mindfulness Meditation is an effective technique for letting go of life’s problems. Mindfulness has always been essential to practice along with yoga since its early documentation.

My favorite thing about mindfulness in the moment is that this is the place where we find our true power: our power to choose, to make a choice in the moment. We can choose to either react and fly off the handle when we feel pressured by someone, or we can choose to respond. How do you feel when you lose your temper with someone versus telling them what you want to communicate, from a place of calm strength? That 's your power. Your power to choose, to create, to change, to do, to be.

Prescription of antidepressants and psychotherapy sessions demonstrated an increase in ART adherence. Mindfulness training (MT) involves redirecting attention, avoiding emotional reactions and developing skills of self-regulation. In comparison to a control group the group with an MT intervention had a decreased viral load on follow up suggesting increased adherence. Studies have shown that MT decreases anxiety, depression whilst improving sleep quality and cognitive function.