Why practice Mindfulness?

Because it improves the quality of our lives

HOW?

By cultivating mental and emotional fitness and wellbeing

Let me explain.

We all know that exercising regularly and eating well is good for our health, right?

Well, we now know from a huge body of peer-reviewed research, that the tools, strategies and practices of Mindfulness are good for our mental and emotional health.

And I don’t just mean that they’re helpful if you’re experiencing a particular mental or emotional challenge (though Mindfulness can be extremely helpful for these, of course).

I’m also talking about day-to-day stuff like having significantly improved mental focus rather than getting distracted, being calmer during a stressful day at work, sleeping better, and being more present and empathic with loved ones. These are all proven benefits of bringing more Mindfulness into your life.

And while we’re at it, here are some other benefits:

Reduced anxiety

Improved immune system functioning

Improved mood

Improved short, medium and long-term memory

There are many more benefits but I’m guessing that you’re starting to get a sense of how Mindfulness improves our mental and emotional fitness and wellbeing.

But how does this actually work? 

It works via a process called neuroplasticity.

Thanks to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) we know that our everyday behaviour changes our brain – both its physical structure and the way it functions.

For example, when we learn a new language, a new sport or a musical instrument the brain changes as we learn the new skills associated with those activities.

We now know that the same type of mechanism can be used to help us learn to be calmer, more focused and happier in our lives through Mindfulness practice.

When we practice Mindfulness, over time the structure of our brain changes, embedding the benefits into our lives.
We are cultivating mental and emotional fitness and wellbeing, changing ourselves, and our lives, for the better.