Combat and Prevent Stress with Mindfulness

Stress is often not caused due to an event or situation but rather due to our reaction towards it.

You may ask how you can separate the two. ‘How can I look at the way in which I am reacting to a situation?’

One easy way to do so is to start letting go of things you can’t control. It may sound difficult but can be achieved with mind training and this is where mindfulness comes into play.

Mindfulness is the skill of being present and fully aware. This means you are not attempting to or fighting the circumstance, you’re simply aware of what is. You’re aware of the situation. Whether you are watching a movie, making a presentation or running a marathon, you can be mindful.

Modern urban lifestyle is all about multi-tasking and that has made us compromise on concentration and mindfulness. Technology, that we rely on so much these days, has not really helped us here. Why? Because mostly it is the technology using us rather than us using the technology.

Another important factor in mindfulness is clarity of thought. It gives you the ability to really see things for what they are without letting our judgment clouds it. The more mindful we become, the greater is the clarity.

Another important piece of the puzzle is accepting things for what they are, especially when you have no control over them.

Concentration, clarity and acceptance keep you in the present moment, without the past or the anxiety of the future affecting you. Imagine you are making a presentation, fully focused and open to accept whatever the outcome. Will you be able to worry about how your presentations went in the past or how the audience would react to this one? No. Because there is no space left for those things.

When you practice mindfulness, you automatically feel calmer. The mind gets agitated by distraction. You keep it focused and eventually, you are able to rewires it. And the best part is all you need is practice – no tools, no equipment, just being in the moment and practice. Anytime you realize your mind is wandering, take a deep breath and come back to the present.