By: Haley McSweeney, LMFT and Mental Health Therapist

What is Mindfulness?

To put it simply, mindfulness is a practice in which you allow yourself to suspend judgement, and focus on your moment to moment experience of the present with full acceptance and without trying to change anything about it.

Why is Mindfulness good for your mental health?

Mindfulness helps us reduce stress, calm our nervous system, and help us manage anxious and depressive thought patterns and pain. Engaging in mindfulness strategies helps us increase our own self-awareness. Mindfulness strategies typically involve engaging in an exercise to help you focus on the present moment, develop acceptance, and let go of judgement. It's easy (and free!) to practice mindfulness in your everyday life.

Here are some easy ways to cultivate mindfulness:

• Meditation. Find a quiet place where you can sit and clear your mind. Focus on your breathing, observe your thoughts, notice where your mind wanders. Bring your attention back to your breath. The goal is not to have an empty mind, but one that is focused on the present moment.

• Body Scanning. Close your eyes and focus on one part of your body. How does it feel? What do you notice about it? Can you focus on relaxing that part of your body and let the tension in it go? Start at your head and repeat all the way to your toes.

• Breath work and mindful breathing.

• Observing your thoughts like they are leaves floating down a river. You can see them, but you don’t have to judge them. Just acknowledge them.

• Mindful eating. Take a bite of something. Chew it slowly. What do you notice about the flavors and textures?

• Pause to take inventory of your surroundings. What information are you taking in from your senses? What do you notice about your surroundings?

• Exercise can be a mindfulness practice for some people. You can focus on your movement, how your body feels, and notice the way your different body parts move in unison.

Mindfulness is just one of many tools you can use in reducing stress and increasing your overall mental well being. If you’re looking for further support in improving your mental wellness, consider working with a professional therapist who can help you identify and create a plan towards your specific mental health goals.

If you’d like to further explore mental therapy and improving your mental wellness, schedule a free 15 minute phone consultation with me to see if working with me is the right

You can find more great info from licensed healthcare providers over at Outdoor Women’s Wellness website, on our Instagram page, or on Basecamp, our membership program that gives you access to ALL of our recorded webinars, upcoming LIVE webinars, and blog posts like this one.