benefits of mindfulness

In this episode, in the Mindfulness series, I want to explore some of the benefits of being mindful. I hinted at some in the previous episode. For example, there is this more vital, more real feel to life when we are mindful of the present moment. It is, after all, more immediate. It's in our face. It might be a nice moment, or it might be an unpleasant moment. Either way, it's more real than our absent-minded thoughts about other things.

So, if we live in a mindful way, life begins to take on this quality of aliveness. It has an extra intensity to it, an energy, a reality that cannot be matched by our thoughts about distant things, the past, the future, somewhere far away. Those thoughts tend to have a dry, rather lifeless quality to them, compared to the reality that is in front of us right now. So this is one benefit of being more mindful. It's simply a more intense way to live, a way of life that brings more vitality, a stronger experience of life. We feel we are really living the moment.

There are other benefits, though. For example, when we are practising living in a mindful way, our ability to concentrate improves, naturally. And it is useful to be able to concentrate. We can absorb information more clearly and readily. And that allows us to work more productively, more efficiently. And that ability to concentrate leads to other benefits. For example, when face to face with someone – whether it be an intimate partner, a friend, a work colleague, or a stranger – by being really present in the moment, there is a much stronger feel feeling of connection between you and the other person. This aspect of mindfulness is really significant. It creates a depth to our human relating, to our friendships, to our intimacies, to our work situation. It brings a real feeling of connection with other human beings, and not just for you yourself, but for the other too. Essentially, that connection becomes much more significant. It will be valued, both by yourself and the other. And this is a tremendous benefit of living in a mindful way: the improvement in the way we relate to other people.

The ability to be mindful also means that we don't have a deficit of attention and we don't become hyperactive. Attention deficit hyperactive disorder, ADHD, is a common diagnosis nowadays for children, but it also applies to a lot of adults. And this is the exact opposite of being mindful. Attention deficit means someone who is incapable of holding their attention on the present moment, on their immediate surroundings. The mind is all over the place, the attention jumping here and there. And with that comes this hyperactivity, a sort of nervousness in the body, so that someone can't really keep still. All of this is exactly the opposite of being mindful. So if we can learn to be more mindful, we will find that we not only have much better attention, a much better capability of being attentive, but we will also be calmer, less hyperactive. We will notice it in our body. Our body will be more relaxed, less fidgety. And other people, again, will also notice this, and they too will be more relaxed in your presence. I don't know if you've noticed if you are with somebody who is very fidgety and somehow uptight with a lot of nervous energy in their system, it's rather off-putting. It's almost contagious. One begins to feel a bit fidgety oneself. It's not pleasant to be around someone who is hyperactive in that way. So again, mindfulness brings a benefit, both for the mindful one and for the people around him or her.

There's one more benefit to mindfulness that I want to mention and that is the more we practice mindfulness, the more calm our mind becomes. It has less neurotic thoughts, and we have less identification with our thoughts. We begin to become meditative. And this meditative aspect is really a great doorway into a spiritual way of life. Now we don't have to go down that route. Mindfulness brings plenty of day-to-day benefits, even if we don't become great meditators or develop our spirituality. However, the spiritual side of life is a great opportunity, a great gift, and to explore that adds a whole new dimension to our life. I would even go so far as to say, it's the real purpose of life – is for us to grow spiritually. And mindfulness is a very simple down to earth way to enter into that world of spirituality if we choose to do so.

So these are a few of the benefits of being mindful. This is a very brief discussion of these benefits. And each of them could be developed in a lot more detail. However, I feel this is enough for now.