“If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place. Primary reality is within; secondary reality without.”~ Eckhart Tolle
“The Human Superpower”
I think “mindfulness” just might be the Holy Grail, the real Holy Grail…of everything! Here, let me explain…When I began my research into the psyche, emotions, and the mind body connection, through psychology, neuroscience, and related fields, I quickly realized how important mindfulness and the ability to “have” or “practice” it, actually is! Mindfulness can literally mean the difference between sanity and insanity, overcoming and not overcoming, body and mind attunement, or misattunement, and being in sync with the people around you. It has the capacity to make you feel “human”again when you feel numb and detached from your own body as a result of trauma. It regulates emotions, decreases stress, anxiety, depression, and improves cognitive flexibility and working memory. Mindfulness helps us to focus our attention and be “present” in the moment. Those moments you are playing with your kids, the moments you are having an important conversation with a loved one, or those moments you’re supposed to be paying attention in class or at work. Not being mindful and self aware robs us of being able to fully enjoy life, feeling fully alive and the ability to learn from and take note of these important occasions. It can also leave a person unable to properly integrate new experiences. Lack of mindfulness keeps us locked in the past, causing depression, dysfunctional thinking patterns or thinking about the future which tends to fill us with anxiety because of its uncertainty.
So what is ‘mindfulness” exactly? It can be described as the practice of being fully aware and present in any given moment or time frame. It’s the idea that you are aware of what is going on around you, in your immediate surroundings and how it is affecting your inner sensations and experience. It is the consciousness of being present and aware of your own thoughts and emotions.
For those with PTSD and others who’ve endured and suffered trauma and abuse, the mind is constantly hyper focused on “looking for and reacting to danger”, whether it’s real or perceived. Being in this state of constant hyper arousal, keeps people from being “aware” of the smaller, more peripheral information and stimulus, which can be just as important. Mindfulness can help correct this problem! Being in a “mindful state”, activates your “medial prefrontal cortex”, which is the gateway to activating your limbic system (emotional brain). This is crucial because it facilitates healing, and the re-calibrating and calming of the limbic system, which is a major factor in people with PTSD, and others who have suffered trauma and abuse.
Mindfulness has other benefits as well. They include, reducing autoimmune arthritis (inflammation) and the risk of heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and chronic pain. It also aids in weight loss, HIV symptoms severity, lessens the effects of cold and flu and improves sleep.
Those are some pretty compelling reasons to practice mindfulness! Please check out Part 2 of this article for more on “mindfulness” and some simple ways to practice and implement it into your everyday lives. Best of luck to you and happy healing!!!
***KNOWLEDGE IS POWER…ARM YOURSELF***