THE POWER OF MINDFULNESS MEDITATION.
MINDFULNESS MEDITATION HAS BEEN STUDIED BY MEDICINE SINCE THE EARLY 1990s, ESPECIALLY THANKS TO MEDICAL IMAGING. THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION ON THE BRAIN AND BODY, AS WELL AS THE NUMEROUS BENEFITS EXERCISE HAS ON OUR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH, HAVE BEEN WIDELY RECOGNIZED BY THE MAJORITY OF BRAIN AND NEUROSCIENCE SPECIALISTS. AS WE START OF THE 21ST CENTURY, THIS PRACTICE HAS ALSO FOUND ITS WAY INTO OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PRACTICES.
MINDFULNESS MEDITATION: OUR BRAIN’S PHYSICAL EXERCISE
Since the mid-2000s mindfulness meditation has been recognized as a practice that helps our mental, emotional and physical health, much like a sport or physical exercise would. Mindfulness meditation generally last a few weeks and the positive effects are quickly detectable and quantifiable. Scientific studies demonstrate a significant improvement in stress resistance and positive effects on anxiety, insomnia and inflammatory diseases. There is also a marked improvement in multiple pains, such as back pain, migraine or certain side effects of allopathic medicine. Over the longer term, we see improvements with aging, concentration and memory.
Mindfulness mediation and its exercises can also be used with children to help them increase their attention, channel their emotions, concentrate, develop self-confidence and learn to calm themselves. The results obtained on the very young are promising.
THE PRESENT MOMENT, THE BASE OF MINDFULNESS MEDITATION.
The base of various mindfulness programs is finding the power of the present moment. Our modern Western societies thrust us into such urgency that, without realizing it, we often find ourselves living in the past, or the future. But we no longer take time to live in the present, to simply observe, touch, feel and listen to what is happening right now, both around us and within us. This is the essence of this form of meditation: coming back down to earth and returning to oneself. For this, we use various techniques based on a tool so commonplace, yet so powerful: breathing. It’s about carefully observing each breath in and each breath out, feeling the air passing through your body – and reconnecting with it.
So we must be exceedingly aware of our sensations, our emotions and our thoughts. We must accept what presents itself with kindness, whether it’s a pleasant, unpleasant or neutral experience. We must then learn to meditate day after day.
Mindfulness meditation is an exercise that, little by little, becomes a way of life and a way of perceiving things, allowing us to free ourselves from urgency and to gain clarity, peacefully and long-lasting. You can open a new life through mindfulness meditation.