Day 2 of the Mindfulness coach training I’m attending!

I always found mindfulness a bit wishy-washy. But I can’t deny the health benefits! So I decided to learn more about it, especially how to use it while coaching clients.

Mindfulness used to be mainly associated with Hinduism and Buddhism of course, but was brought to Western society as a methodology of stress reduction by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts.

He showed in studies that by practicing mindfulness regularly, people suffering from chronic headaches experienced remarkably less pain and a better quality of life! 

And subsequently, mindfulness has been clinically shown to reduce anxiety, stress, depression, etcetera. With the high burn-out rates we see all around us, it seems like a no-brainer.

So what is it then?

John Kabat-Zinn defined it as: paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally.

But I like his other explanation better: moving beyond ‘selfing’. We’re so focussed on ourselves. What we do, what we can, should, must, did, didn’t…

Me, myself, and I.

But when you’re being mindful, you move beyond the ‘self’. You focus, for example, on your breath. 

Not on YOU breathing. 

Just, on your breath. 

In. 

Out.

There’s no good or bad breathing

Just your breath.

And with that, you learn to focus on things other than yourself.

You develop a ‘metacognitive awareness’.

You learn to let go of worrying and anxious thoughts.

You learn to concentrate better and free up working memory capacity in your brain.

You learn to regulate your emotions better.

You can see how that leads to less stress!

And the great thing is: you can do mindfulness whichever way that suits you! In a group or alone. In meditation, in exercise, in the office or during the dishes. As long as you just take a moment. 

To go beyond yourself. 

To un-self.

To be in the moment.

Ok, I’m off to learn more about it, now! And practice, of course.

#mindfulness #coaching #selfdevelopment