A Mindful Life!
Living mindfully is one of those on trend phrases that gets bandied around and we often overlook such phrases, but at Gut Happy we try to maintain mindful living or mindfulness in our every day lives as we believe this can effect your gut health, your overall health and how healthily you deal with the day to day. So what is mindfulness exactly?
Mindfulness is the quality of being present and fully engaged with whatever we’re doing at the moment — free from distraction or judgment, and aware of our thoughts and feelings without getting caught up in them.
To get to the mind to be present, we are teaching ourselves to be live more mindfully — in the present, taking a breath, not beholden to reactive thoughts and feelings — which is particularly helpful when faced with challenging circumstances or difficult situations.
Essentially mindfulness can reduce stress that you may experience through small or larger interactions and situations throughout your day. So are you wondering how many times a day you're in a mindful state? Something that maybe useful is to head use the link provided for a 15-item questionnaire that researchers use to measure mindfulness called the Mindful Attention Awareness Score (MAAS). You can take this questionnaire to see where you stand. The higher the score, the greater your ability to be mindful. If you score lower than you’d like, don’t worry as It’s simply a sign that you may benefit from some further mindfulness practice. I scored 4.4 and I am completely ok with that. What it tells me is that I have some work to do, but being aware is part of the solution, so they say.
Mindfulness doesn’t eliminate stress or other difficulties; instead, by becoming aware of unpleasant thoughts and emotions that arise because of challenging situations, we have more choice in how to handle them in the moment and a better chance of reacting calmly and empathetically when faced with stress or challenges. Of course, practicing mindfulness does not mean we never get angry, upset or experience stress in certain situations. Rather it allows us to be more thoughtful in how we want to respond, whether that's calmly and empathetically or perhaps, occasionally with measured anger.
Being mindful can also create moment of gratitude, which is a great stress reliever. You can mindfully eat a meal and enjoy the sensation of the taste or the company: that one is a personal favourite of mine. Going back to work has been stressful at times, post lockdown, but every time I have been asked about how I feel going back to work my answer has been “I’m grateful to have a job to go back to.” I choose not to respond in the negative, but in a mindful attitude of gratitude.It can be enjoying a sunrise or sunset and stopping to do so rather than rushing past.
Reducing our stress and the “hurry” of life can bring positive change for our minds and our bodies. Stress is a major disrupter to our gut health and our overall wellness. Being mindful can bring change to you and it may even bring change to those who you live and work with. There are mindful meditations that you can try to begin your journey to a mindful life. We can be the force that decides how we react and if we react. I’m trying to be better at it and I’m grateful that I am mindful and I’m working on it every day.
Stay safe and stay Gut Happy
The Gut Happy Girls
xxx