The stress filled times of today has driven us to focus on several things at one go. Be it our inclination to multi task or our effort to achieve a work life balance, we habitually get anxious thereby losing focus on what we are doing or how we are feeling. Mindfulness is an intentional act of focusing your attention to the present moment and calmly accepting it without judgment. The objective of mindfulness technique is to become observant, stay focused in a relaxed manner by understanding thoughts and sensations.

The credit of bringing mindfulness meditation into mainstream medicine goes to Professor emeritus Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder and former director of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. He established the fact that by practicing mindfulness one can see improvements in physical and psychological health as well as positive changes in behavior and attitude.

Improve physical health through Mindfulness

By practicing mindfulness, some of the improvements one can notice on their physical health include:

• Act as a stress buster
• Improves sleep
• Lowers blood pressure
• Treat heart disease
• Alleviate chronic pain
• Reduce gastrointestinal difficulties

Mental health through Mindfulness

Several Psychotherapists believe that mindfulness can treat problems like:

• Anxiety Disorders
• Depression
• Obsessive compulsive disorder
• Marital conflicts
• Eating problems
• Drug abuse

Mindfulness has evinced interest and is steadily gaining acceptance not necessarily because it is an effective way to deal with stress but more so for the reason that it has been scientifically proved to be a key element in happiness. 

Written By: Dr. Rohini