5 Amazing Health Benefits of Mindfulness for Body and Soul

For a minute there, it seemed that mindful living would be just another fleeting lifestyle trend, a fad that would have the lifespan of a butterfly. How wrong were we to think that! Perhaps one of the reasons mindfulness has transcended trendiness and has established itself as a long-term necessity is precisely the current lifestyle we have all been pushed into. Life has indeed become hectic, and the biggest advocators of mindful living – the millennial generation – are definitely onto something. With long work hours, crazy schedules and constant pressure, stress, and overwhelming thoughts and obligations occupying our minds, we were all in dire need of some kind of relief, a vessel that would allow us to bring a bit more focus, serenity and, most importantly, being ‘present in the moment’ elements to our life.

Yes, mindfulness certainly comes with an enormous set of benefits, both physical and spiritual, and today, we’ll be guiding you through the five main ones, as well as ways to practice them and reap the fruits of your mindfulness practices.

Let’s talk about stress

,Yes, we hate the word but we hate the feeling even more, which is why we need to talk about it and hopefully find constructive ways of dealing with it as well as decreasing it. Stress, unfortunately, doesn’t affect the mind only; it can have serious repercussions on our physical health too. According to the American Institute of Stress, stress can lead to a number of severe health problems, with heart attacks, stroke, hypertension, immune system disturbances that increase susceptibility to infections being only a few on a long list of potential stress-related issues.

Needless to say, we must do everything in our power to fight it, and one of the scientifically-proven best ways to fend stress and its companions – anxiety and depression – is through meditation. As numerous studies have confirmed, even 20 minutes a day spent in a meditative state will provide visible health and spiritual results in just a few weeks. If you don’t know how to begin, the wonder that is the Digital Age is here for you, as there are tons of amazing meditation apps that will teach even a meditation dummy how to empty the mind and connect with one’s self.

Don’t forget about meditation’s sister

Yoga and meditation are something like a serenity and mental and physical health-boosting power sisters that work best when practiced together. Yes, there are numerous ways to be physically active and achieve your health goals, but yoga is one of the few rare mindful forms of exercise that doesn’t only serve to strengthen your body, provide you with greater stamina and flexibility, but it also has the power to soothe the soul and chase away all those overwhelming thoughts that swarm through your mind, so if you want a form of exercise that benefits you as a whole, you should definitely start with yoga.

Pamper yourself

It’s essentially a catch 22 – we’re all stressed out and busy but can’t afford to take the time to pamper ourselves, unwind and have the tension removed from our bodies. However, this vicious cycle must be broken and if you can’t find the time, make it and make going to a spa for a relaxing and rejuvenating massage an integral part of your week. Another perk of the Digital Age is that there are convenient and user-friendly apps, such as MindBeauty that enables people to book a great massage in Hong Kong with just a few clicks of a button. The pursuit of wellness and rejuvenation used to be complex, but now, everything we need can be on a virtual speed dial, so we are truly fresh out of excuses as we now have the luxury to book pampering spa sessions with the greatest of ease.

Sharpen the mind

Mindfulness doesn’t only put the body and soul at ease, it also has the ability to enhance our cognitive functions, make us more aware of our surroundings and enables us to make smarter decisions, improves logical and critical thinking, and even makes us faster and more effective learners. Again, yoga and meditation play a crucial role in the pursuit of mindfulness, so make sure you practice them regularly and your mind will reap the benefits of your labor (which won’t feel like labor at all) sooner than you think.

General and specific health benefits

Aside from being one of the most powerful tools against stress and subsequently illnesses that come as a result of it, mindfulness can actually be of great help in the post-trauma recovery process. It seems that the shift in perspective, the serenity and being present in the moment, practicing kindness towards others as well as towards one’s self has actual healing properties. A particular study on breast cancer survivors who practiced mindful living showed that they were able to decrease the level of anxiety, stress and fear, which subsequently either helped in the recovery process or provided the much-needed peace and acceptance in terminally ill patients.

This is what mindfulness is all about – doing the best you can for your mind and body, being completely present in the moment, unburdened by the future and not wallowing about the past. The present is all we have, so we might as well stop and smell the roses, sometimes figuratively, but more often quite literally. Show kindness, wake up with a sense of gratitude and purpose, meditate, prepare yourself to relish the good and accept and even embrace the bad. Once you are able to do that, you will see that there is more beauty than ugliness, you will be able to find a silver lining in everything and that will make everything fall back into place – your mind, your body and your soul.