Here are the three things that I benefit from a mindful practice and they are not listed in any order of importance.
1, Reduction of Stress and Anxiety- I feel myself entering the fret-land and I take a breath* and then go to my breath awareness** in mindfulness
*(The breath I take is a deep belly breath breathing into my core and continuing until my chest rises completely. This is a full breath)
**(Breath awareness is a type of mindful breathing meditation moment where I am just aware of my breathing. No changing or casting judgment, just awareness) See my mindful breathing meditation audio here for more information.
2. Mental Clarity- being in a mindful moment brings clarity and creativity.
While being mindful, it is nearly impossible to be feeling anxious or stressed. So your body is now producing feel good hormones like dopamine and serotonin.
You are feeling good, calm and happy. When you are in this state your mind is receiving good oxygen flow and it is now clear and creative. A clear and creative mindset is the best state to see the problem as it really is and to determine a calm and constructive path out. Which lead to the 3rd and final benefit I receive from mindfulness.
3. Peace and Balance- when I have that feeling that I am just overwhelmed or torn in too many directions, mindfulness just brings me peace and balance.
Mindfulness allows me to face the silent stress and anxiousness that ride under my awareness. In the past, I would let them ride, afraid to face them. Now, I face them and see them for what they are False Evidence Appearing Real (FEAR). After I face them, they mostly disappear. The ones still remaining are dealt with most effectively using clarity and creativity. That’s Mindfulness. What can I say; mindfulness has allowed me to become addicted to feeling peaceful and balanced.
Want more information on how to deal with stress and anxiety? See my blog: “5 Steps to Stop the ‘What Ifs’ and Increase your Power and Peace”
Please share this blog and information with anyone you feel could benefit. Call or contact me for a free 20min consultation to answer any of your questions and to determine if hypnotherapy is right for you. I see clients in-person, by zoom and by phone. Call (805) 242-1649 or use the CONTACT ME form at the bottom of the post.
Mindfulness: 3 ways to reduce stress and create a life of health and wellness
Who has stress? Who has anxiety? Who is living with stress and anxiety and may not be aware of it? May seem like a ridiculous question. When I was first told of my, pass high general anxiety, I was in denial. I thought it was my life. I thought everyone felt this way? Not everyone feels this way and you don’t have to anymore either. I first began using mindfulness for anxiety, although mindfulness is so much more. When I first learned about mindfulness, I would get so stressed that I just couldn’t think. I knew I needed to do something and nothing would come to mind or so many things came to mind; I couldn’t determine which thing to do first. Can you relate? In that moment, I would think, I should meditate on this, NO; I don’t have the time for that and continue to circle and freeze into the abyss of Fret and Over-thinking Ville . What if, in just a moment, you could escape from fret land and slide into and area of calmness and peace? what would that feel like?
What is mindfulness
Let’s take a moment to define Mindfulness
Mindfulness is: Our basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing. It is already inside you. You have access anytime and my favorite part…anywhere.
Oxford dictionary definition is: mind·ful·ness:
1.the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something:
2.a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.
Mindfulness is just that, being mindful, which means, that the mind is fully aware to what’s happening and what you are doing at that moment. That might seem easy to be fully aware, accept for when our mind naturally thinks thousands of thoughts per minute or so it seems. When that happens, we are now off in ‘what if’ land thinking about some imaginary scenario that most likely will not happen, but seems so real, we are now in full anxiousness and fret.
But have no fear, mindfulness is here. Mindfulness is wherever you are. It just requires a little awareness and practice.
Why should I care about mindfulness? What’s in it for me?
There are so many benefits to mindfulness. I wrote my 3 favorite benefits. You can read it here: (see link below)…..After practicing mindfulness…I wonder what your favorite benefits will be?
My 3 Benefits to Mindfulness
My 3 Benefits of Mindfulness Practice:
Here are the three things that I benefit from a mindful practice and they are not listed in any order of importance.
1.Reduction of Stress and Anxiety – I feel myself entering the fret-land and I take a breath and then go to my breath awareness in mindfulness
2. Mental Clarity – being in a mindful moment brings clarity and creativity. Even now, I will be experiencing a little anxiety of how I should be use my day and I will doubt the effectiveness of just a few minutes of mindfulness. Then, I set my 10 min timer and enter the calming, creative world of mindfulness where all the answers magically appear. I am now calm, confident and have my agenda set. It’s amazing!
3. Peace and Balance – when I have that feeling that I am just overwhelmed or torn in too many directions, mindfulness just brings me peace.
What can I say; I am now addicted to feeling peaceful and balanced.
What is mindful awareness?
I mentioned before that practicing mindfulness just requires awareness and practice.
Once you catch yourself in fret land, that’s Awareness,….STOP and remember. You can restore peacefulness to yourself. This is your basic human right and you have the power to be at peace. You deserve this!
Now…enter into mindfulness.
Here are 3 basic ways to practice mindfulness:
Take a stroll – Take a walk anywhere safe. Sure nature is awesome, beautiful and relaxing but it doesn’t have to be that to receive the benefits. A walk in your safe neighborhood will work. While on your walk, take in the experience with all your senses. As you are strolling, be aware of what you see and how it makes you feel. What do you hear and how does that make you feel? What do you smell and what are you feeling now, etc.
Notice everything is about what is going on inside, your experience. When you focus on the inside, it is very difficult to be anxious about what is happening on the outside.
Mindfulness can be practiced with your first cup of coffee, tea or beverage. As you sit down with your morning beverage, be with it for a moment. What do you notice first and how does that make you feel? What do you notice second and what are you feeling? If it hot, perhaps you can feel the heat and observe the steam and smell the flavor. Then take a sip and again what do you notice and what are you feeling?
I wonder how your day would change for the better when starting it with mindfulness?
Mindful Breathing Meditation – My favorite mindful practice. It literally change my life. This is where I am being aware of my breath. Not trying to change it in anyway, just being aware of how I breathe. Perhaps, I am noticing the muscles used, or the sound, frequency or rhythm or what do you notice? Doesn’t matter what you notice, it only matters that you are being aware and how it makes you feel.
Want to practice mindfulness, but don’t have time for a walk or a beverage handy? You always have your breath and it only takes a moment.
Mindful Breathing Meditation can be a meditation on its own of a starter for self-hypnosis, goal centered or manifesting meditation or ??? The possibilities are endless.
Mindfulness: who has time for it? Well, we can stay in fret and over-thinking land and be anxious and stressed out or take a moment, and it is only a moment, to be mindful. In that moment, peace, clarity and confidence will return. Who has time for it?
I Do! Do You?
Is hypnotherapy right for you? call or text me for a free 20 min consultation. (805) 242-1649 or use the CONTACT ME form at the bottom of the post
Interested to learn mindful breathing moment/meditation? check out my Mindful Breathing Meditation audio here:
Never want to miss another blog, promotion or event? Subscribe below. Know This: I respect your information and it will never be shared or sold.
Hi, let me share a bit about myself. Around 13 years ago, I discovered the incredible potential of the mind, body and spirit. I was introduced to Reiki, a powerful energy healing system. My initial experience with hypnosis occurred when I was sitting in an office chair, casually leaning against the wall with the intent of removing a lifelong fear. In this 20 minute session my lifelong fear, panic really, of floating on my back in a pool disappeared. In one session, my fear was gone.
That led me to become certified in hypnotherapy through HMI (Hypnosis Motivation Institute) an accredited college of hypnotherapy. Now, as a Reiki master and hypnotherapist, I am excited to offer Reiki infused hypnotherapy for your ultimate success.
I am dedicated to empowering my clients by assisting them in uncovering and harnessing their innate healing abilities. By tapping into this source of power, they can lead a purposeful, mindful, and harmonious life. Through the powerful combination of Reiki and hypnosis, my clients are able to establish an intuitive connection and experience holistic healing.
Want more peace and confidence in your life? Ready to learn more about how easy mindfulness can create this life? Use the form below and schedule your free consultation call now!
We have been told and taught that procrastination is bad. You have most likely heard these famous quotes, ‘Never put off till tomorrow what can be done today’. ‘You may delay but time will not’ and on and on
Here is one for us procrastinators: ‘Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time’ and ‘you can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet’.
Now you might be interested to know that there are two types of procrastination, Active and Passive. I sense your surprise. Would you like to learn more?
Active Procrastination is delaying working on the task while mentally mulling it over in your mind. You have a task or project you need to work on maybe it daunting or difficult. It’s on the daily list but you put it off; however, not completely. You are mentally working on it. Allowing yourself time to sleep on it and think on it. This is Active Procrastination
Passive Procrastination is not acting or thinking on it and you find yourself wasting time instead of working on the task.
Active Procrastination is good and Passive Procrastination is bad
I will tell you that I find myself in both camps and until I began researching this, I thought all procrastination was bad. I, now, know the truth and so do you. I found this knowledge gave me relief and comfort to be me. To solve problems and complete tasks my way. I can be an active procrastinator and that is OKAY.
Here are some examples of good procrastination:
Sometimes procrastinating on a task really identifies if it is important to you. IF it is really important to you, you would be you be all over it, getting it done, right? Sure you would. But if it isn’t really important then let’s just sit on it and see what happens. Take a day or two to assess the energy of the idea or task…let it marinate so to speak. In the mean time, think about how it can be accomplished or even improved upon. Speaking on improving the task….
Active Procrastination can allow you to become more creative
I really love using active procrastination for this and it has helped me to be more effective. I love to think about and use creative sleep to form ideas and strategies to complete a daunting task. It is amazing how creative the mind can be when we allow a difficult task to restfully sit for a day or two.
Now you have made time and space to create new strategies and ideas to complete the task easier. This leads to better decisions and successful completions.
So these are a few reasons why active procrastination is good, you might have a few of your own.
So what do we do about the bad procrastination?
If you find yourself on the couch looking at Social Media instead of working on the task, say HI!
Yup that is me when I am struggling with bad procrastination; sitting on the couch scrolling through Instagram. This would be a sign of bad procrastination. Funny thing is, I am not aware that I am procrastinating. Being aware of the procrastination action is very important to develop self-awareness.
First, to recognize the procrastination behavior and secondly, why? What is it about THIS task that so distasteful or fearful? I find that most bad procrastination is fear based. There is something about the task that scares you. The fear can be so subtle and familiar, it goes without recognition.
Is it a fear of being judged? I am not sure I can do this well so, if I mess it up, I will be embarrassed. Solution, do some research on the task and make a decision. Can I do this or should I ask for help. Often at first glance, tasks seem harder than they really are. After a little research, on, YouTube, for example, you will learn if the task is in your skill set or not. Now you have the information needed to make a decision. And it is off the list.
Or the project is HUGE OMG, I need a month off to complete this task.
Is the task just to overwhelming to even think about? And there I am scrolling on the couch. The solution is to just break it down into smaller bites. Sounds easy doesn’t it? NO! I used to say no too. Now I ask myself, “what small thing could I do today that would help with this task”. I like mind maps.
Mind Maps are relaxing, Just Saying…
An example of Mind Map: Last Christmas, Teri (my wife) tells me every bedroom will be occupied with kids and their spouses and a grandchild, so we need to get the house in order. I found this to be Overwhelming. This project had a lot of moving parts with closets being cleared and stuff needing to be taken to good will and garage needing to be organized to handle more stuff being moved from bedrooms and on and on. It was a nightmare. So I took a day and created a mind map. I don’t work well with lists. I broke everything down into little tasks with dates. And it all got done. Just having the mind map gave me relief. I wasn’t overwhelmed anymore. Instead, I was excited and focused to complete each task and cross it off. By the way, at the top of the plan, I wrote “The Kuhns Family Christmas”. Some will get the reference. Haha. Yes, Christmas Vacation is one of my favorite Christmas movies.
In closing, there you have it, The Good and Bad of Procrastination. If there was an Ugly of Procrastination, it would be to continue scrolling on the couch. Instead use this information, face the issue and make a decision. Self awareness is all you need to decide if it is Active Good or Passive bad.
Happy Active Procrastinating
Is hypnotherapy right for you? call or text me for a free 20 min consultation. (805) 242-1649 or use the CONTACT ME form at the bottom of the post
