A Minute of Mindfulness with Mia – Why do we practice mindfulness?

September 23, 2022

Why do we practice mindfulness and what are the benefits?

Mindfulness is that practice of being present on purpose, not in the past where some of our trauma might be, not in the future where some of our anticipatory anxiety is, but to be squarely right in the present moment.

It’s calming but also helps our nervous system regulate. We have these structures in the brain like the amygdala where emotions fire from and it communicates to the prefrontal cortex which helps us make our decisions. When we practice mindfulness, neuroscience has proven that we’re stronger in our association between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex.

They work better together so if something startles you, you are much better at thinking, “Oh, ding, that’s not a threat. It’s just my phone, I’m all good. I’m right here in the center of now and I’m okay.”  The more we practice mindfulness the more we will be ready when things come our way.

There are lots of benefits to mindfulness like decreasing depression and anxiety, increasing positive pain relief, and being able to manage things in our life so much better and it’s free! I hope that this provides a little evidence to get you started practicing mindfulness today.

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