Mindfulness Practice
On this page about Mindfulness Practice:
Mindfulness practice in Counselling, Psychotherapy and Life Coaching
Mindfulness practice as meditation
Mindfulness practice & sleep problems
Mindfulness practice & pain management
The word ‘mindfulness’ has been in use in the English language for centuries, with the meaning of ‘attentiveness’ and similar. The ‘mindfulness’ we talk about today, however, is somewhat different to that, and has its roots in Buddhist practices that date back some 2,500 years or so.
The fact that ‘mindfulness’ originates in Buddhist practices does not at all mean that practising it is of interest only to people who are interested in meditation and spiritual practices, or who wish to become Buddhists. Far from it.
Mindfulness practice has its place in everyday life, for everyone. It is about being ‘switched-on’, being awake and present to your experiences, to notice what is happening in each moment of life, to fully experience the ‘flavour’ of each experience, rather than being lost in thoughts, conceptualisations, opinions and judgements about your experiences.
Experiencing the full ‘flavour’ of each moment makes all of life’s experiences richer. It allows you to be less reactive to all experiences – positive, negative or neutral – so that suffering decreases and well-being and harmony increase.
Mindfulness practice in Counselling, Psychotherapy and Life Coaching
Mindfulness has been practised in various forms since the beginning of time. It is recognised as an essential component of all traditions of spiritual practice. During the last few decades neuroscience researchers have also been able to identify the beneficial effects of mindfulness meditation on brain functioning.
Subsequently mindfulness practices are now increasingly being used as part of the treatment plan for people who suffer from a vast range of physical and mental-emotional disorders, such as chronic pain disorders, stress, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders, drug addictions, eating disorders, sleep disorders etc.
If you want to find out more about mindfulness practice in counselling, psychotherapy and life coaching, visit this page: Mindfulness in therapy.
Also, if you are interested to read more about research on and applications of mindfulness in psychotherapy, please visit the Mindfulness & Meditation category in my Articles collection.
Mindfulness practice as meditation
To be able to cope with all the stress factors of modern life, and optimise physical and psychological wellbeing, it is essential that you are able to relax not only the body but also the mind. This is when the practice of mindfulness meditation may be of help.
Mindfulness meditation has been practised in various forms for millennia, for spiritual advancement as well as for general health and wellbeing. In recent times and with the use of modern technology scientists have also been able to demonstrate the beneficial effects of mindfulness meditation.
Click on this link if you are interested in learning more about mindfulness meditation.
Mindfulness meditation as spiritual practice
Mindfulness-based counselling and psychotherapy and/or personal life coaching with an emphasis on spiritual guidance, can be considered as forms of spiritual practice, in that their purpose is to assist you in knowing and being who you truly are. You may think of them as “spirituality with its feet on the ground.” To further deepen your awareness of who you truly are, in a more private and inwardly oriented direction, you may choose to take up the practice of mindfulness meditation.
Read more here: Mindfulness meditation as spiritual practice.
Mindfulness practice & sleep problems
The benefits of mindfulness meditation for both physical and psychological wellbeing has been well established by scientific research, in particular over the last few decades. More and more people are turning to mindfulness meditation to cope with stress, to switch off from daily pressures, and to deal with insomnia and other sleep problems.
While mindfulness meditation, in and of itself is likely to enhance the quality of your sleep, there are nevertheless a range of other techniques that have the ability to improve your sleep. Relax-the-Mind sleep therapy is a drug-free treatment that integrates various scientifically proven techniques for overcoming sleep problems; mindfulness practice, cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), stimulus control, sleep hygiene, and non-trance elements from hypnotherapy.
Read more about Sleep, Sleep problems, and Sleep therapy…
Mindfulness practice & pain management
A lot of research is focussed on understanding the mechanisms of chronic pain, and on finding ways to alleviate pain and to decrease the suffering that chronic pain causes. Over the last few decades a large body of scientific research studies have been able to clearly demonstrate that mindfulness meditation practice is very effective and non-invasive ‘tool’ for pain management.
By learning mindfulness meditation practices, we can develop our ability for calmly observing the physical features of pain; tingling, burning, pulsing, throbbing, etc. By applying mindfulness in the investigation of these experiences, we come to recognise that each form of pain has its own signature and structure in its finest detail. As our awareness becomes more fine-tuned, we learn to separate the awareness of pain from the pain itself, and hence we discover how to remain in the awareness of pain with vastly decreased suffering.
You can read more about mindfulness in pain management in these two articles:
Scientific research findings about mindfulness & pain
If you suffer from chronic pain, and would like to explore what mindfulness practice can do for you – please, don’t delay, contact me today!