What is Mindfulness?

• Anxiety, stress, depression, extreme fatigue, and irritability.

• Reduction of pain.

• Improvements in mood, quality of life, and disorders such as IBS.

Meditation is achieved through focus, specifically on breathing; when focusing you will realise that thoughts will pass into the mind and the individual can choose to let the thought go (perhaps allowing the thought to dissipate like a bubble rising, or to store it (metaphorically) for processing at a later stage.  The aim with mindfulness is to quiet the mind and observe your inner self - to be compassionate without judging who you are or what you are doing.  Through meditation we learn that negativity is a part of the human thought process and can be acted upon or processed rationally or ignored.  Mindfulness gives the individual control again in their lives.

If Mindfulness is practiced regularly, the individual will gain positive changes to their mood and as a consequence internal conflicts with stress and anxiety which leads onto depression are won over.

In addition - "Other studies have shown that regular meditators see their doctors less often and spend fewer days in hospital. Memory improves, creativity increases and reaction times become faster."

Reference:

Williams et al (2011). Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World