What is mindfulness and how to develop it: advice from a psychologist

Mindfulness is the ability to be in the present moment and to live in it for 100%.

Psychologist Natalia Vovk, director of the Center for Tomalogy of self-knowledge and development, specifically for VITAGURU, told why you should develop mindfulness and where to start.

“A human itself is a rather complicated combination of physiology, emotional sensuality and mentality. Everyone perceives and processes information in their own way, experiences and expresses their feelings and emotions, etc. Throughout life, each has its own values, needs, and each has its own capabilities and limitations. All this plays in its own unique way both in the person itself and in interaction with other people” says Natalia Vovk.

According to the psychologist, a person’s quality of life is determined by how they can interact with themselves and other people.

“For example, it will be difficult for a person inclined to self-digging to acknowledge they achievements, even with the best results, they will still remain dissatisfied with themself, not allowing themself to rejoice and celebrate their life.

A person is demanding of themself, will be demanding of others, which can lead to conflict situations unnecessarily. Anyone who experiences stress when communicating with other people will involuntarily avoid it, or cannot be relaxed in it, taking pleasure in it. The list goes on. This will cause accumulation of stress, increased fatigue, anxiety, which will affect work, close relationships” adds Natalia.

The psychologist recommends a small test. Answer one question: “Most of the time my thoughts are occupied with the past, that is, rethinking those situations that have already passed, the future, i.e. by what may happen, or am I present here and now?

“If you are more in the past or the future, you should learn to be in the present moment” Natalia advises.

“We tend to give an assessment of what is happening, draw conclusions, and then live according to these conclusions, without revising them, and suddenly, in one mont the conclusions lost their relevance and are no longer working. The assessment itself or the relativity to what is happening to us is a purely subjective phenomenon that has little to do with reality. And without contact with reality, not understanding what is really happening, we give wrong conclusions, we are in decline.

To develop mindfulness is to begin to bring attention to yourself and your life, being present in the present moment. Investing in the development of the mindfulness skill, we begin to understand what is happening to us at every moment and why it happens, we become less stressed, we are better at working tasks, we experience less negative states, and we learn to control our emotions. We become interesting to ourselves and other people, we are easier to cope with difficulties, less worry over trifles, easier to interact with others, our relationship deepens” the psychologist adds.

How to develop mindfulness:

1. Bring back thoughts in present moment. This can be done by focusing your attention on yourself, your body, on the sensations in the body. For example, you drink tea: be aware of yourself in this process, how do you feel when your hands hold a cup? Feel how a sip is felt on your lips, as the warmth of tea spreads throughout your body. Be aware of your feelings, do not run away from your thoughts from the present moment. This practice can be done while walking, or when you are sitting or lying down. The main thing is to remember and come to oneself.
2. Conscious breathing. Take a few minutes to practice. Let nothing distract you. Take a comfortable position for the body, so that you do not fall over, but do not sleep. Close your eyes and take a conscious breath, feeling how deep breathing begins, how the chest expands as you inhale, how your shoulders naturally rise when filling the breath. Now do the same conscious exhalation: realize how the chest begins to empty, how the exhalation ends in the depths of the abdomen. That is, do not command yourself what you should experience, but be aware of what you are experiencing.
3. Be aware of one’s emotions. Direct your attention to yourself, feel yourself inside. When your attention gathers from the outside and focuses within you, look at your emotional state. It is important that you do not concentrate on ensuring that this is only a positive state. You simply realize in fact the emotional state that is at this particular moment.
4. Important: give yourself a chance to learn, do not demand from yourself that you will succeed immediately. Start practicing, and soon you will succeed.

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