Mindfulness - How to Achieve It by Cyndi Sarnoff-Ross/Marriage and Family Therapist: at DailyStrength Doctors and Experts

Cyndi Sarnoff-Ross is a licensed psychotherapist with almost twenty years of clinical experience in the fields of clinical psychology and organizational management br br She has worked extensively with a wide variety of…

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Mindfulness - How to Achieve It

Posted in Anger Managemen... by Cyndi Sarnoff-Ross on Dec 09, 2008

Being mindful does not come naturally to most people. It is actually a skill that needs to be practiced and one that can greatly improve the quality of your life. Meditation is one path to learning to be mindful as are certain types of exercise, such as Yoga, that force us to be in the moment. Our mind wanders, this is natural but we can bring it back to the present with some effort and focused attention.

An exercise to help you to be Mindful is as follows:Take a walk outside, alone or with someone else, and do not say one word. Be in total and complete quiet. Notice your surroundings in great detail. Pay attention to the sights and sounds around you, the smells in the air, the feeling of your clothes on your skin and your feet on the ground. Notice what different parts of your body feel like, even if you are noticing discomfort. Notice your breathing. When thoughts of your day or things you need to tend to move into your consciousness, notice them and let them go. Don't judge yourself for becoming distracted, accept it as part of the process and get back to focusing on your sensory awareness. Do this exercise for at least 20 minutes as often as you can.

The more you practice, the better you will become at clearing your mind. It is not unlike a muscle that needs to be exercised. You can try being mindful in small ways as well such as when you are eating. Take a bite of food and pay close attention to the process as you chew. What does it feel like in your mouth, what tastes do you notice most - sweet, sour, bitter? Notice the texture as you chew and swallow.

There are many other small exercises you can do to practice being mindful so whenever you get a chance, do them.Mindfulness has been shown to be useful for a variety of mental health and physical health conditions such as anxiety, depression, hypertension, and infertility among many others.

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Displaying comments 30-11 of 30

I would like you to write an article on how to move away from a feeling one does not want to feel or stay with, such as anger. How to move away from this feeling much quicker. I think this is better than letting it suck up 30 minutes or intermitantly throughout the day. I used the term "suck up" because, I believe it removes a lot of goodness in a day when it's hard to let go, mostly due to lack of modeling.
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By mar4ela Nov 04, 2009

Great article!! I think , the practice not only involves oneâ€™s own thoughts and actions but also a gateway to interact with the surroundings.

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By aullah1982 Aug 09, 2009

Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the reflexive, "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness. Meditation often involves turning attention to a single point of reference. It is recognized as a component of many religions, and has been practiced since antiquity. It is also practiced outside religious traditions.As Jim Cramer advises that every people should undergoe to a meditation.Different meditative disciplines encompass a wide range of spiritual and/or psychophysical practices which may emphasize different goals -- from achievement of a higher state of consciousness, to greater focus, creativity or self-awareness, or simply a more relaxed and peaceful frame of mind. Giving this sense of relaxation and peace, meditation ultimately leads people to find peace within themselves.

By Amber108 Mar 23, 2009

Thank you, for writting this I also need the physical excercise of a walk for 20 minutes Now I can excercise my mind and body.

By cuwire2 Jan 09, 2009

thank you so much it is great advice it has helped with my agorophobia and stress, anger, and anxiety.

By weezee1 Dec 26, 2008

I recently participated in a mindfulness 6 week workshop...it was very helpful. Its an extremely simple concept, but extremely challenging to apply. Like anything else, it takes practice!

By livinthedream Dec 23, 2008

I teach a chapter in my college class regarding Mind,Body,and Spirit. The state of mindfullness is a very important part. Thank you for this example as I will now be taking the class outside to do this excercise.

By Heidic2004 Dec 18, 2008

I never heard of this. I love it! I am going to get something to eat just to start. giggle giggle

By sadanger Dec 17, 2008

My counselor told me about mindfulness which at first I found very strange. So she had me practice in her office each time I came. After a while I found it to be much easier, and was able to do it by my self. Now I know how effective it is. It is definetely a great way of relaxing your mind and body. Absolutely love it.

By skj Dec 17, 2008

Clinical trials have been shown that mindfulness has been shown to de-stress people from their ailments immediately. The practice has some stabilization, however some teachers are more effective than others. Environmental music is extremely helpful.

Your article is great!!! Distractions are tough though for beginners.

Dr. G-

By AKAMonet Dec 17, 2008

Very nice article, I was amazed by the AMOUNT of blogs! WOWW! So nice to hear that alot of people are trying to be more mindful. I need to concentrate on this as well....and I like the meditation walk, as well as other grounding activities. I too, struggle with MH issues, and have difficuolty concentrating on cleanning the house as an example, start 1 thing, ramble around, start something else...now, I will try to apply the concept of ONE thing at a time, and stay grounded,mindful, complete 1 task, and mindfuly approach the next task...Thanks, Mary

By dolphingirl Dec 16, 2008

Two years ago I was addicted to prescription drugs, depressed and battling social anxiety. On Dec 18, 2008, I will have been completely free of prescription drugs (opiates) and I am now in control of my depression and anxiety. In fact, it's been a long time since I've felt this good. To get to this point, I incorpated several things into my daily life. Exercise, proper diet, meds, certain Vitamins and minerals, self help books and podcasts, prayer, and meditation. I now meditate for at least 1 hour everyday. Meditation has been extremely helpful to decreasing my anxiety, helping me live in the "NOW", and deal with certain stressful situations. But I dont' use the traditional method of meditation but rather, I discovered brainwave entrainment (BWE) using technologies such as Holosync, Perfect Meditation, LifeFlow, and other BWE programs. These programs use binaural beats imbedded in the audio soundtracks that repair and create the appropriate neurons and pathways that lead to a more "balanced" brain and for lack of a better term, slowly "repairs and fixs" those areas of the brain dealing that are related to your emotions that lead to depression, anxiety and so forth. All that is involved is inserting the CD into a CD player, putting on stereo headphones, sit in a chair or recliner, and just relax and listen. The sound technology does the rest. You can reach deep Theta and Delta states that many Zen masters took years to achieve. There are many testimonials by many people as to the benefits of this technology that can be found in various meditation forums on the net. Quite frankly, I'm surprised more Counselors and Therapists don't incorporate this technology into their treatments. I want to make it clear I am not here to promote these products in a financial sense and I am in no way affiliated with the companies. I am simply sharing what worked for me and I encourage others to goole Brainwave Entrainment and visit sites such as www.centerpointe.com, www.themeditationsolution, www.perfectmeditation, etc.

By inHisHands2750 Dec 15, 2008

I spent a year learning this most useless skill. It doesnt do anything for me at all. Out of our class of 8 only one person believe it to help her.
Good luck.

By IW2D Dec 15, 2008

mindfulness really does work if you use it all the time! more people need to do mindful exersices than people wouldnt get aggervated so easily and calmer! i have attended dbt classes before and they helped a great deal! of course i havnt been using the skills lately but i am going to get back at it again! this is a perfect exersice for moms! having little ones can sometimes be stressful but with mindfulness exersices stressful situations are easier to deal with!

By tina85 Dec 15, 2008

Thank you for posting this. I agree that it is great for the mind, body and spirit to be mindful, but it is not always easy. The mind is a funny thing that likes to wander off all the time. It used to annoy me that it did so much. Now, I just bring it back when it does wander. There is no real word to explain how amazing it feels to be in the moment.

By Lioness816 Dec 14, 2008

Great blog. Yes, this is a good topic. It is a good skill to learn. There are free podcasts on the subject on iTunes if anyone needs some help in learning to be mindful (search MAPs on iTunes). Also check out UCLA's Mindfulness site (marc.ucla.edu). I find this VERY helpful to get through the chaos in my life.

By RonaS Dec 14, 2008

Thanks for writing about this. I have been learning about mindfulness in my mental wellness journey, especially from the DBT (Dialectical behavior therapy) classes I attend. I find that mindfulness is an important tool in my wellness recovery plan. It really helps to change my thoughts and feelings. Victoria :)

By toria53 Dec 13, 2008

Thank you, my therapist tries to guide me in this technique, I'm not very good at it, but I have felt the benefits when I apply it. Thank you for the reminder.

By hiareth12 Dec 13, 2008

Very nice article, thank you. I like the simplicity of the suggestions. I'm going to recommend this to others.

By LenSoMy Dec 12, 2008

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