3 Ways Practicing Mindfulness Has Improved My Overall Mental Health, Especially My Depression.

What is mindfulness?  It is a word we are hearing more and more these days, but do we really understand what it means or what it is?  

Mindfulness is defined as, “a mental state achieved by focusing on one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting ones feeling, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.”(Oxford Dictionary)  Everyone can learn to practice mindfulness. There are a number of easy mindfulness exercises to you practice being mindful in your daily life. The more you practice, the sooner you will catch yourself being more mindful as you go through your day.

Being more mindful will reduce stress, and can improve our overall mental health. Since 2018 I have been practicing a wide variety of mindfulness exercise. What I have realized is what a positive affect mindfulness has had on my mental health, especially my depression.

1. Practicing mindfulness has helped me become more aware of my emotions at all times. When mindfulness becomes an automatic part of your life, you will begin to be more aware of how you are feeling physically, mentally and emotionally. By being more aware, you can begin to stay ahead of the negative feelings. You are able to implement your know coping skills that will help to avoid slipping into a deep depression or full blown anxiety attack. Another benefit is that you will recognize when you are feeling amazing or, even better than usual. By being aware of positive feelings and emotions, you will begin to realize that you possibly have more good moments than bad. Often we get so consumed with the difficult and negative emotions that we miss our positive ones.
2. Practicing mindfulness daily has taught me how to stay in the moment and not to jump ahead to the “what ifs” or look behind at the “what might have beens.” By learning to be mindful of the moment we are in, we are less likely to jump ahead and worry about the future or look back into the past with regret. Both of these will lead only to depression and anxiety. There is nothing we can do to change the past and for the future we can only do what we can to prepare for it. One way to prepare is working on creating the strongest mental health you are capable of achieving. Practicing daily mindfulness exercises is something to consider adding to your regular routine to help your mental health.
3. Practicing mindfulness daily had allowed me to be more aware of the beauty around me and to be filled with gratitude. One thing about living with mental illness is that it consumes a lot of our time and energy to stay above the water and not feel like we are drowning. By learning how to be mindful of staying in the moment, we begin to notice the world around us a little more. By staying mindful of our current moment, we have more energy to take in our surroundings and see the beauty in the world. One of the mindfulness exercises I have in my workbook is to simply take 30 minutes to walk around your neighborhood and take pictures of things you find beautiful, interesting or moving. This is a great way to take notice of the beauty in our everyday lives instead of focusing on the darkness depression can bring or the worry of anxiety.

Because of the positive results I have had on my mental health,  I want to help others learn these techniques so they can also find positive benefits.  It is so easy to feel overwhelmed when you are venturing into a new activity. It can be easier to start slowly, try a few different exercises and see which ones you enjoy the most and which exercises benefit you the most. I have a 31 Day Mindfulness workbook you can download for free HERE. I recommend doing one exercise daily. Make notes on how each one made you feel, which ones gave you feel calmer, more at peace. After 31 days, you’ll have multiple mindfulness exercises to help you keep your mental health strong and you will learn how to bring yourself more peace to your life. Continue using the ones that you enjoy the most. As with anything, it is easier to be consistent with activities you enjoy. This goes for mindfulness too.

There are plenty of incredible ways practicing mindfulness can improve your mental health. The more you implement mindfulness into your daily life, the quicker you will begin to notice more peace and awareness with your mental health. If you want to read more about how mindfulness can help your mental health, you can read another post I wrote back in October 2020 by clicking HERE.

Remember, we are stronger together.

If you haven’t gotten a copy of my book, you can grab it on Amazon HERE. Please leave a review if you do purchase it. This will allow Amazon to suggest my book to more individuals who are seeking resources for depression.