What Is Mindfulness For?
Thoughts Keeping You Awake At Night? Try This!
What is mindfulness for, did I hear you ask? I’m glad you did. You have perhaps heard about it, but have been wondering what it actually is. Do you suffer from over-thinkingitis? Are you unable to quiet your mind enough to even lapse into sleep, let alone a peaceful one?
Can I recommend a tool that will help you? Yes. It is called Mindfulness and I have shared a particularly helpful technique in another article linked to this one. Can mindfulness help you, like it has me? Read on and decide for yourself, or at least make a decision to give it a try.
Someone Judging You?
Someone Guilty Of Judging You?
I struggle with sleep and repeat over and over in my head, everything that has occurred throughout the day. This is one of the reasons I advise getting yourself linked in with a counselor, psychologist, or even a mind coach of some kind. I was seeing my counselor and had been feeling upset over the fact that people, sometimes even family members, cast judgement over you, your life, or the person you care for, without blinking an eye, without ever having to walk in your shoes, or ever having to have any kind of challenge in their life.
I Couldn’t Get It Out Of My Head!
This particular time it happened was very distressing for me and I was not sleeping at night for days, mulling it over in my head. Even at a personal development course I couldn’t get this situation out of my mind, making it difficult for me to absorb some of the important information being presented.
Got A Stiff Neck? How About A Locked Jaw?
Stiff Neck?
You know that feeling I’m sure. When you’re lying in bed, trying to get to sleep, but you just keep playing that recorder on repeat and feeling angrier, more hurt and judged by the second.
No matter what you do, you cannot seem to get past it, and if by chance you somehow do manage to get to sleep, you dream about it, or dream about what you should have said to them, or what you would like to say to them, or even dream yourself saying it to them.
Holding To It On Does Not help
Your jaws are all tense, your neck stiff, your throat tight, all because you are holding on to the emotions caused by another person. It is unfair, unjust, and uncalled for. AND it is unhelpful to YOU to keep holding on to it and play it on auto-repeat night and day!
My Sanity Is Spared, Thank You!
My Sanity Was Spared
I was lucky enough to think at the time to mention it to a counselor I was seeing at the time. I explained that this happens quite frequently with varying situations and personal attacks that seem to plague me and my family by such uninformed, inexperienced and opinionated people. Grrr!
I Got Nothin’
I was asked what suggestions I had been given to use in circumstances such as these. I realised that, at the time, I really had not been made aware of any. I had nothing up my sleeve to combat this. So I was handed a mindfulness practice exercise to try.
What Is Mindfulness?
To be honest, I didn’t really know what mindfulness was so I looked it up. Simply put, it is a traditional Buddhist practice designed to bring one’s attention back to the present moment. Some people use meditation to achieve a state of focus on their emotions, their thoughts and sensations in a non-judgemental, accepting way.
It’s So Simple, Quick And Easy, Which Is What You Want
The particular technique I use, does not require meditation at all. You can do it anywhere, anytime, even driving your car, it is that simple, and can be done in 5 minutes or so. To top it all off, it’s so small that you can even write it on a piece of paper and keep it in your purse. You could pretty it up and make it into a card and laminate it if you like. I carry mine on a little piece of paper presently, but I’m going to make it more like a card and have it laminated to keep it safe.
Mindfulness Anywhere Anytime!
I decided to try it on the way home while I was driving my car. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to do. It helped me concentrate on the road better. Then that night, I did the exercise as I was attempting to go to sleep. What I found was that I fell asleep before I had reached the 4th step, sometimes in later sessions, I fell asleep before that.
Stills The Mind
What it’s supposed to do is still your mind, and trust me, it really does work. I paid attention to try to pinpoint the time when the most mind stillness began to occur and I found it was at step 3 for me, and it’s quite noticeable when it happens. It may be different for you.
It’s Tangible
This is what occurs for me, I feel a complete stillness in the air, a quiet that is tangible. My ears feel tight but not uncomfortably so, almost blocked from hearing the sounds around me, which it’s my guess that it is meant to do this. My heart slows down and my breathing becomes more normal, taking deep regular breaths.
I Found It So Amazing That I Shared The Technique
My Granddaughter Uses It
I began using it with my granddaughter, because occasionally it is difficult for her to get to sleep due to her mother’s mental illness and there are many times during the day that it can be upsetting to her. She quite enjoys practicing her mindfulness, especially when I put essential oils on her feet and she can try to guess which oil I have used as part of the technique. (I love having a granddaughter with a nose for my essential oils). I find Grounding or Stress Away works well with her.
My Sister Tried It Too
My sister, who can be skeptical of many things, told me one night when she was visiting, that she couldn’t get to sleep. I taught her my 5 minute mindfulness exercise and she tried it. She asked me a few weeks later, once she was back at home, if I could send it to her. She couldn’t remember the steps and so I took a picture of the piece of paper that I carry in my purse, and sent it to her. That’s how easy it is.
So if you find yourself wondering firstly, what is mindfulness for, and secondly will it help me get to sleep? I would definitely encourage you to read on to the next article that covers this technique.
Thank you for reading. I hope that it can bring you some peace of mind for a quick escape into sleep. If you have any other techniques that you use, please help others by sharing them here below.
Warm Wishes
Ange
Images:
Genie lamp by Victor Habbick courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Resources:
Mindfulness information was found through Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness
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