Mindfulness & Relaxation
"If you want to overcome anxiety, live the moment."
What are you doing now?
You are browsing this site and reading this article, you notice the page colors, the type of font used, and its size you see the pictures.
But is your focus entirely on reading this article? Or are there other thoughts crowding your mind? Meaning, is there no idea that is not related to this page?
For example: Do you have an idea what to eat soon? Or how many people have contracted Corona virus in the Sultanate? When will the pandemic end? What task do you have to accomplish in the coming hours? Or why did you act in a certain way in the past? ...
Before we started, why not try this exercise as a prelude to the rest of the page
We want you to only notice these things around you:
Note five things you can see (focus on things you don't usually notice).
Note four things you can feel (such as the fabric of your clothes or the table top).
Find three things you can hear.
- Two things you can smell.
One thing to taste.
What did you feel after this exercise?
In many cases, we may lose contact with our bodies and indulge in thinking whether something happened in the past, or plan for future things, so we do some things automatically, to show you the matter. Have you noticed on yourself?
As you watch your new movie, your thinking has drifted into ideas about Covid-19.
Losing contact and controlling our focus at the moment may create some distraction, make you feel uncomfortable, drain your energy, and lead to your anxiety and stress.
So practicing the skill of mental presence helps you on several things:
About Mental Presence
Reduces
Feeling anxious and stressed
Symptoms of depression
Feeling scared
Hypertension
Focus on distracting information
Body immunity
memory
Ability to adapt to stressful or negative situations
Cognitive flexibility
Feeling good in relationships
Focus and attention
Self-awareness
Improves
"The best way to remember moments is by attention. The skill of mental presence is honed in this way."
So before we begin how you can implement them, ask yourself this question: Are there some activities that you do in your life while on autopilot?
Practices for Mental Presence:
Mental presence is a state of mind that the individual lives in. There are some routine practices that we do on a daily basis that help to reach this state of mind, including:
Relaxation is the process of reducing the effects of tension in your mind and body, and it is an anti-stress and anxiety method, which is based on a set of simple exercises and exercises aimed at relaxing the body and the soul; This is through deep breathing, relaxation, and muscle tension.
Phone apps for mental presence and breathing exercises:
Calm
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Nafas
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Tawazon
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Mindful Eating:
Of course, we eat at least three main meals a day, and we often eat automatically and unconsciously because of our habit of this daily habit.
This simple habit can be transformed into moments of complete intellectual presence in several simple steps:
Bring any piece of food, such as a small piece of cake.
Put it in front of you and then start exploring this small piece with all your senses, look at it ... what does it look like?
Notice the texture and color, then close your eyes. Slide your hand over the piece to explore the cake with a sense of touch. What does it feel like to feel? Hard or soft? Grainy or sticky? Wet or dry?
Close to your nose and feel the smell, then eat it calmly and feel every movement, what taste did you feel?
Some people usually feel like they are eating this meal for the first time. What about you?
Mindful Walking
Mindful Listening
Look at anyone who talks and focuses on them.
Be present, try to keep your focus on it so that you don't ask him to repeat the words.
Welcoming the words of the other person does not mean your approval or approval, but rather means that you are there to express themselves, and this includes presenting facial expressions and neutral and warm body language.
Hold your tongue if you are in the role of a listener, just be there when they speak and you listen.
Mindful Writing
Spend a quarter of an hour on your day to write down points you are grateful for. The idea of this practice is to remember a situation, experience, person, or something good in your life, and enjoy the beautiful feelings that come with it
Outside of writing you can also color, it has a good effect on mental presence, you can print pages for coloring from here, or you can color Mandela online at the boring page.
Some tips when doing mindfulness exercises:
1- Train your mind.
Mindfulness usually requires you to pay attention to everything that surrounds you, and it takes a lot of practice, think about all the things you do on a daily basis; You eat, breathe, move, talk, and these are just a few examples. Imagine being aware of every part and every action you do during your day.
2- Practice mental presence during your routine work.
Try to pay attention to another new part of your daily routine every day. Try to practice mindfulness while taking a shower and feel your senses. Does warm water give you a good feeling? Do you like the smell of your shower soap? Pay attention to all the senses you use in every part of your daily routine.
3- Be brief.
The brain works best for short periods of activity, so try to keep your exercise as short as possible. For example, focus on choosing what to wear today, but allow your mind to stray away while you're already dressed.
"Exercising mindfulness is not difficult, just remind ourselves to do it," Sharon Salzburg said
Dr. Zakiya Al Busaidi