Learn To Practice Mindfulness: Attract Happiness And Positivity

The “Siddhartha Gautam” who became the awakened “Buddha” has famously said “Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think”. Our thoughts play a huge role in shaping our life. If we develop a habit to remain pensive and engrossed in something unpleasant, we will experience greater sufferings. In contrast, if we learn to respond with mindfulness, patience, and compassion, we may experience greater inner joy and peace. The phrases such as “We become what we think” and “What you think, you become,” really could do wonders and change one’s perception for better life.

The term “Mindful” means conscious thinking, emphasizing on one’s awareness in the present moment. More precisely, Merriam-Webster defined mindfulness as “the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis.” And, Harris described the mindfulness as, “The skill of knowing what’s happening in your head at any given moment without getting carried away by it.” So, whichever way you define it, mindfulness is an utmost requirement in our daily life. It helps to develop a habit to stay focused and motivated. Whereas, “Mind Full” is the messy, brain overloading and unproductive stage. It is more future focused than living and enjoying the present stage. 

Why is Mindfulness needed in today’s scenario?

The educationalists and the students carry too much burden on their shoulders to meet increasing academic and social expectations, that are growing up in society. The competition in the world is now much more than ever, leading to high pressures in today’s educational environment. The students today face challenges in focusing their attention, building inner resilience, difficulty in controlling their thought process and anxiety levels. Therefore, classroom teaching should also incorporate the ways, which can help to calm the students’ anxious nervous systems by providing friendly associations, nurturing experiences, and a positive learning environment. Moreover, the educators should also be provided with efficient working conditions and support systems, needed to ensure the success of students.

Henceforth, we need to address these issues to provide extra support and investment for the overall development and well-being of every educator, student, and member of the school community. This all can be achieved only if we change our mindset from a multidirectional approach to a unidirectional one. And, that oriented approach can merely be accomplished by indulging into a mindfulness approach of thinking and living. Mindfulness is a very important concept in learning and developing a good lifestyle. The teachers should focus on students to make them think in a mindful way.  Mindfulness strengthens our ability to shift our attention from being carried away, to focus, on a particular concept with concentration, make us aware of our behaviors and thoughts, and encourage to respond quickly in particular situation. 

How can the power of thinking be focused?

Anyone can achieve the power of thinking, mindful stage. All we need to do is to practice and make it a habit because it possesses several benefits. These include;

1. reduce unnecessarily thoughts,
2. reduce stress,
3. increase memory and brain responses,
4. increase clarity in understanding things,
5. increase productivity of work, and
6. lower anxiety and depression problems. 

Can we practice to be Mindful? The answer to this question is surely yes. Anyone, anytime, at any age stage of life can practice to be mindful. All we need to change our lifestyle by incorporating certain habits in our daily life, such as practicing meditation, yoga and stretching exercises, self-compassion, possessing feelings of acknowledgment, non-judgmental behaviors, and letting go attitude, we can become mindful of our thinking.

An article by Caren Osten Gerszberg highlights that one-fourth of children in an age group 13-18 years, suffer from unprecedented amount of stress and anxiety (National Institutes of Mental Health report). The students who were trained in mindfulness scored higher in math and were 20% less aggressive than others. Therefore, a regular practice of appreciation, gratitude and mindfulness is must in children of all age groups, teens and adults, to change our focus from multiple things to a single one and become more productive. 

Our mind works naturally by reflecting our fears of past situations and future outcomes into our present life. We keep on thinking about “what has happened” and imagining “what will happen”. This leads to a destructive mind full stage, blocking our current happiness and bringing fears and anxiety for things which we can’t control. So, by living mindfully, we can enjoy the present moment and break the chord, which is wrapping us into inadequate thoughts and worries. Stay mindful rather than mind full.

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