Don't Change Your Life - Live It With Mindfulness And See The Results

By Antonio G. Clerk


Simple but powerful mindfulness exercises bring us a wide range of benefits. You don't have to sit in lotus position or become a Buddhist. Interest in mindfulness coming out of scientific research is making it mainstream.If I were to tell you that you can learn to release yourself from stress, improve your well being, increase your emotional intelligence, make better decisions and be happier and more successful just by sitting on your butt and watching your breath for a few minutes each day, would you be persuaded? Probably not. If you think about it, that's strange because you probably do sit on your butt for much of the day and you never stop breathing. So what's the problem?

I work from a spiritual, rational, and physical perspective that is holistic and based in a philosophy that includes all three metaphysical (aspects of being) and epistemological (aspects of knowing) planes. We cannot discount the importance of the spiritual and intuitions of the heart where we talk about and experience such things as trust, faith, hope, and love. I draw my philosophical understanding from my studies of intellectual history. I particularly draw from one of my favorite philosophers, Blaise Pascal, who gave me a good argument for a spiritual, rational, and physical perspective for my practice that includes a strong theological and scientific base.

Long before we could detect the smallest particles of matter in the atom the Greek philosopher Leucippus hypothesized of its existence around 450 B.C. Not long after, his follower, Democritus coined the term 'atom' from the Greek ἄτομος (atomos, "indivisible") from (a-, "not") and τέμνω (temnō, "I cut"), which means uncuttable, or indivisible, something that cannot be divided further. Some of the greatest discoveries have originated from the intuitions of man's heart, only later to be empirically 'detected' and rationally understood (if not perfectly), if not seen and touched. Mental health has been a soft science with classified categories of clusters of symptoms in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders yet without necessarily an empirical way to detect and diagnose. Many of the symptoms described in diagnoses are based on behavior and reports.

Yes, exercise. The human body is connected to the human mind and the two are inseparable. One affects the other and it is necessary that we take care of each of them.Many people do not exercise because they do not like to sweat. We can still exercise without sweating.Begin getting fit slowly. There is no need to go all-out from the beginning and that is not recommended anyway. Begin by taking a slow walk through the neighborhood or go to a large shopping mall and just stroll through it. Take your time - there is no hurry.Over time begin walking a bit quicker. Stay comfortable; don't hurt yourself, but walk. Begin working your body a little bit more each day. Walk a few feet further today than you did yesterday. Walk it a bit faster and begin getting that heart pumping, get that blood flowing.

Stay at it and try to make it an everyday thing. Nothing worthwhile is ever achieved easily, but this does not need to feel like work. Stick to it and keep doing it. You will discover that it begins to actually feel good and you will look forward to doing it again the very next day.Exercise will help you think more clearly and you will begin to have quality sleep and feel rested when you awake each day. A healthy body will help you have a healthy mind.

Dr. Amen by no means argues that talk therapy is not effective for treating these empirically detected 'brain disorders'. His point is not that physical things can only be treated physically but to show a fascinating explanation of thought and behavior using the brain images. For example, his research shows that depression is associated with limbic system (an area of the brain) over-activity and that bonding can decrease this over-activity (Amen, 41). One example of this is that orgasm is like a mini-seizure in the limbic system and lessens deep limbic activity (Amen, 41). He found that when a patient who was depressed had a scan before and after having passionate sex with his wife his brain scan showed his limbic activity was significantly decreased (Amen, 41). He then goes on to explain how casual sex does not work and is so damaging for many females because they have a larger limbic system than males that bonds more deaply, crashing harder when a bond is broken. He also writes that healthy bonding between mothers and children, between family, friends, and even pets affects the limbic system positively.

Although you may not want to, make a list of the bad things that have happened in your life too. Consider what caused those things to happen and how you can avoid that happening again.In this hurried world many people do not get enough sleep. Our jobs may require more and more of our time, traffic prevents us from getting home in a timely manner, people make small demands on your time which add up to several hours, children act up and take up more of your time (but you should be thankful for your children - they are blessings!), there are many causes for why we do not 'hit the sack' when we know we should.And when we awake we are not rested. We may have been thinking and dreaming about problems at work or in our personal lives, some may suffer sleep apnea, while outside sources such as loud parties next door or noisy neighbors or the couple in the next apartment who screamed at each other all night may have interrupted our sleep several times through the night.

The outlook and approach towards a task should be from a positive point. The thought in your head must enlighten the positive aspects instead of the negative, discouraging thoughts. Once you change your attitude from a pessimist to an optimist, you will find feel all the good vibes.All good things will surround you and give you more energy to move forward in times of depression.Nevertheless, how do you suddenly change from being a pessimist to an optimist? Well, it is not a matter of sudden change or changing your thinking process within a day. It all depends on time, your practice and willingness. You have to learn to identify your inner voice. This is the first step to make the changes.Some people perform an act suddenly without thinking for a second time. They do not think what they really want to do or not. Therefore, first you have to learn to identify your inner voice.After that, always speak in a positive manner. For instance, if you are asking yourself a question, then instead of asking,"Am I not capable of doing this work?" ask, "Am I capable of doing this work?" It reflects a positive attitude. You can find several such examples in your daily life if you put a little attention to what you do.




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