Last Updated on February 14, 2024 by Lifevif Team and JC Franco
Overthinking, dwelling on the past, obsessing over things you can’t change, and worrying about the future – these are all things that rob us of our most authentic life experience. Mindfulness is a proven way to overcome these negative patterns of behavior and adopt a more peaceful, serene, and satisfying approach to life. Because I believe in the power of Mindfulness, I thought I’d share a few of the reasons why I have so much faith in it.
I would like to start off by saying that mindfulness is not a fad or a trend. While it is a trending practice, it is actually something that can add real value to your life. If you learn to do it correctly, it can provide you with lifelong benefits. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the 19 must-known facts about mindfulness below – you are bound to find them somewhat amazing.
These are 19 Interesting, must-know facts about mindfulness:
1. It sets the mind free.
Think about how much more you would get done and how much better you would feel if you could truly focus on just one thing at a time. The human brain tends to be thinking, worrying, planning, and doing a multitude of other things while you are working on a task. Mindfulness helps the mind cut out the noise and be absolutely present in the moment. This is quite freeing for the mind.
2. Mindfulness grounds you.
Have you ever felt yourself get emotionally out of control? Your mind is racing, your heart is pounding, and no matter what you do, you just cannot take a breath and focus on what is happening right now? Mindfulness can help to overcome these feelings and bring you back down to earth.
3. It enhances focus.
If you take the time to test it out, you will notice that your mind can only stay 100% present in the current moment for a second or two. When practicing mindfulness, you are taught to take note that your mind has wandered when it does, bring it back to the current situation, and apply no judgment. Practicing mindfulness regularly will help to enhance your ability to focus on a task or project without getting lost in your head.
4. It’s not religious.
Many people want to practice yoga for the meditative benefits but grapple with the idea of the art being based on religious concepts. If you would like to still benefit from meditation, but don’t want to practice a religious art, mindfulness is a good option.
5. Mindfulness develops empathy and self-awareness.
Learning to be mindful is about observing how you feel in the present moment and responding without a negative reaction. Because mindfulness slows down how a person responds and ensures that there is some present thought that goes into it, people become more aware and are able to be more compassionate and empathetic.
6. It promotes a creative mindset.
Creativity is a mindset that is best achieved when you are relaxed and feeling inspired. It is hard to feel inspired, have new thoughts, and develop on them when your mind is busy and cluttered. By practicing mindfulness and focusing on just one particular moment or thought, your creativity can be boosted.
7. It boosts your sense of well-being.
When you take some time out of the chaos for yourself to calm your mind and take care of your mindset, it promotes a general sense of well-being. This feeling can be motivating and inspire feelings of happiness.
8. Mindfulness promotes overall better physical health.
Mindfulness is an excellent way to boost physical health as it relieves stress, lowers blood pressure, reduces pain, settles gastrointestinal difficulties, and even promotes better sleep patterns.
9. It’s good for mental health maintenance.
Depression and other common mental health issues, such as anxiety and nervousness, are often exacerbated by a busy or obsessive mind. By practicing mindfulness, feelings of stress, anxiety, depression, and nervousness are kept at bay.
10. Mindfulness equips you to have self-control in tough situations.
Practicing mindfulness allows you to note how you feel in a moment of anger or frustration and then take a moment to think about how to respond instead of reacting. Often, this leads to more self-control, which can keep confrontational situations under control.
11. In recent years, mindfulness has gone mainstream.
The fact that increasingly more people are practicing the art of mindfulness only proves just how the mindfulness movement is growing. Mindfulness is a calmer, kinder, and more rewarding lifestyle.
12. It instills child-like curiosity and acceptance.
Mindfulness is about being in the current moment, but also about taking a moment to approach the current situation with the curiosity of a child. Children don’t anticipate situations, and before they decide how to react, they investigate what the situation can bring them and are generally more open and accepting to things. This can help to bring about a happier, calmer, and more satisfying way of life.
13. Google offers its employees daily mindfulness sessions.
Google has offices located around the world and offers mindfulness sessions for staff in each of them. We trust Google to answer most of our pertinent questions – maybe the fact that Google offers mindfulness sessions to staff is something we should learn from too.
14. It provides stress and anxiety relief.
When stressed and anxious, a busy, cluttered mind will only make things worse. If you are looking to break the cycle of stress and anxiety, taking a moment out from all that is happening around you to close your eyes, practice breathing, find your center, and just observe is a great way to calm down, relax, and replenish your resolve.
15. Mindfulness teaches the brain to think before reacting.
Have you ever had a sudden angry reaction to someone’s behavior without even thinking about it…and then regretted it later? Many people have. Mindfulness can help to minimize the risk of these scenarios in your life as it teaches the brain to pay attention to feelings in the moment and give thought to a response, instead of a sudden reaction.
16. It can improve sleep.
It can be tough to have a restful night’s sleep if your mind is busy, and your brain is occupied with obsessive or worrisome thought patterns. Mindfulness practice will take you away from your screens, quiet the mind, and allow for some in-the-moment relaxation. Taking time to notice how you are feeling without any judgment attached before bed might be an excellent way to secure a good night’s sleep.
17. It reduces the perception of pain.
The Journal of Neuroscience published the findings of a study on mindfulness back in 2011 that compared the pain perception of a group of people who practiced mindfulness meditation and a group of people who did not. It found that it takes around 4 days of mindfulness practice for the meditation-practicing group’s perception of pain to be reduced by 50%. As a result, the study concluded that mindfulness practice can dramatically improve an individual’s quality of life, especially those struggling with pain symptoms.
18. Mindfulness practice lowers high blood pressure.
High blood pressure is a side effect of unhealthy living. When practicing mindfulness, you are able to make better choices for your health, which is a good way of reducing high blood pressure or hypertension.
19. It enables people to connect on a better level.
When people aren’t mindful, they aren’t fully present in conversations and interactions. When you are stressed, thinking about something else, or distracted, the other person/s is aware of it and may not feel like sharing or connecting with you as the situation doesn’t feel authentic.
Being mindful ensures that you can fully apply yourself to the situation and conversation, which enables you to have a better, more real connection with another person or group of people – and this promotes better relationships.
Last Word
It seems like there’s a lot happening when you practice mindfulness. Keep in mind that mindfulness has an all-round positive impact on the body and mind, and this list unpacks the benefits for better understanding. So, now that you know the facts about mindfulness that have earned my faith and trust in the practice, perhaps you would like to try it out for yourself. Onwards and upwards!
This article was co-authored by our team of in-house and freelance writers, and reviewed by our editors, who share their experiences and knowledge about the "Seven F's of Life".
JC Franco
JC Franco is a New York-based editor for Lifevif. He mainly focuses on content about faith, spirituality, personal growth, finance, and sports. He graduated from Mercyhurst University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business, majoring in Marketing. He is a certified tennis instructor who teaches in the New York City Metropolitan area. In terms of finance, he has passed the Level I exam of the CFA program.
