MINDFULNESS
WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?
Mindfulness is an art of beeing aware. It teaches you to concentrate on whatever is happening at this moment, in us and outside of us. It lets you enjoy the little things and go back to doing one thing at the time. Beeing mindful is beeing aware, experiencing things the way they are, without judgment.
Mindfulness refers to the time in which our lives take place – current moment – in spite of what habitually concerns our mind – reffering to the past and designing the future. Mindfulness builds our appreciation of what is happening at every moment, increasing our presence and making our lives fuller.
WHAT FOR?
Mindfulness develops our ability to focus attention on what’s happening NOW – our thoughts, emotions, sensations in the body, without habitually attaching to them and assessing them, and accepting things as they are. Through careful self-observation we have the opportunity to break the circle of habitual reactions to stimuli, both internal and external. There is a pause between the stimulus and the reaction, which allows us to respond in a more balanced way, alleviating negative emotions such as fear, resentment or anger.
Thanks to observing and studying the
nature of our own mind, we have the opportunity to find harmony, joy and a
sense of fullness in our lives.
SCIENCE ABOUT MINDFULNESS
Since the time when prof. Jon Kabat-Zinn introduced Mindfulness to the western world and successfully aplied it as a program addressed to clinical patients, the effects of the use of mindfulness and its psychosomatic effects have been studied clinically. Contemporary psychiatry and psychology proof that suppression and repression of experiences are enemies of mental balance, while admission and acceptance are essential in maintaining this balance.
Currently there are several psychotherapeutic methods referring or based on Mindfulness, they are called the third wave of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). These include DBT (Dialectical – Behavior Therapy), MBCT – Mindfulness Cognitive Therapy, or ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) created by the father of contemporary mindfulness Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts.
It is thanks to Jon Kabat-Zinn and his activities over 30 years and numerous studies that Mindfulness has been included in the mainstream medicine and psychiatry.
Comparative studies show that Mindfulness and Mindfulness-based therapies are effective methods for preventing recurrent depression, and are even more effective than pharmacotherapy. Mindfulness training also reduces stress levels, lowering the level of cortisol in the blood, and improves functioning in many somatic diseases, such as diabetes, psoriasis, obesity, migraines, arthritis, and chronic pain, e.g. in cancer.
MINDFULNESS CHANGES THE STRUCTURE OF YOUR BRAIN
Research at MGH -Massachusett’s General Hospital by a team of scientists from Harvard have shown that the 8-week Mindfulness program causes clear changes in the gray cells of our brain. So mindfulness practitioners not only feel better, but there are also clear changes at the cellular level, in the structure of their brain. The cerebral cortex thickens, which is responsible for attention and emotional integration.
The latest research shows that on average 27 minutes of daily mindfulness practice stimulates a significant increase in density, especially in the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for self-awareness, compassion and introspection, as well as the transfer of information between short and long-term memory and a decrease in cell density in the amygdala – part of the brain, which plays an essential role in regulating our anxiety and stress response.
To learn more about Mindfulness, come for a free consultation and take advantage from a trial meditation lesson in Poznań – call or write:
Jagoda Klincewicz
601-509-790