Mindfulness

Mindfulness for Mental Health

As a therapist I use Mindfulness quite often to help my clients shift their focus. In the article “Effects of Mindfulness on Psychological Health: A Review of Empirical Studies,” the authors found that “mindfulness brings about various positive psychological effects, including increased subjective well-being, reduced psychological symptoms and emotional reactivity, and improved behavioral regulation” (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3679190/). Getting a little less technical, I like to describe it as setting down the weight of the past and the future, to focus on the now.

Think of the origins of many of our anxious or depressive thoughts. These thoughts may originate from negative experiences we have had in the past and may become fears about future negative experiences. If you think of each of these thoughts as a rock that you add to your backpack, we can end up lugging a quarry about on our shoulders. Bowed under the ever-increasing weight, we stumble about distracted and exhausted.

Mindfulness is a meditative practice that brings our attention to what really is happening in the here and now. Imagine you are taking a walk beside a wide flowing stream on a sunny path. Now imagine that you are worried that you may be losing a major client at work and quickly your mind leaps to the fear of losing your job. Now all you see is the path, you are present enough to keep from tripping, but your mind is focused on fear. Your chest or head may start to ache and your feet feel dragged by the weight of your growing fears. You are lugging both the weight of the experience that led to the possible loss of the client and your future fears along that path. You are more connected to your inner existence than to your outer experiences. But by practicing Mindfulness regularly the brain often is able to shift away from those heavy places and onto the present and a much fuller connection between body and mind.

Now imagine that you have learned to refocus on the present. You are able to acknowledge your fear, it is there, you are not attempting to push it away or bury it, instead you are aware that it is one of many obstacles in life and can be looked on with curiosity. You lift your gaze and take in the sun as it flashes across the water and you notice a heron has just caught a fish. Your attention is fully present as you walk along and you feel engaged possibly more energized. This is Mindfulness and it can fit into so many of our daily activities. Fishing, basketball, cooking, gardening, bowling, riding, running, painting, walking, observing nature, communicating, almost any activity can be done mindfully. A therapist who utilizes mindfulness can guide you on your journey and there are many resources easily found on the internet to help you better understand Mindfulness. As for myself, I think of Mindfulness not simply as a useful form of therapeutic intervention, but also as an important wellness practice, a tool to help support ourselves in our daily lives.

Dorothy Smith, LCSW 571-207-7650

Wellness Arts Counseling, LLC

This blog is not intended to offer advice or to be used as therapy. I encourage you to seek out professional help if you are experiencing distress. I utilize CBT, Mindfulness, EMDR, Narrative, and Solution-Focused therapies and specialize in anxiety and work with related disorders such as PTSD, social anxieties, depression, communication or relational problems. I am an out of network provider, but can offer a superbill for you to submit to insurance