How can we use mindfulness in times of stress?

As a generation, we are experiencing a global health crisis on an almost unprecedented level. It’s no wonder that the consequences of dealing with COVID-19 are both stressful and potentially distressing, wherever in the world you are affected by it.

Though it is not going to answer all the world’s ailments at the moment, there is some real evidence that short bursts of mindfulness can bring longer-lasting benefits when it comes to facing stressful situations, helping you to rise to the world’s contemporary challenges with focus and resolve.

Mindfulness is a meditative practice through which you can train your mind to focus in the present moment, to calm adrenaline levels, and encourage you to side-step destructive, disruptive, or upsetting thoughts.

Mindfulness is associated with improved physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing, stronger focus, more awareness of yourself, of others, and of how your environment affects you. It acts in a way to ‘refresh’ you, to help you face stressful situations without fear or panic setting in.

There are many ways in which to practice mindfulness. A key element is that it is a practice, meaning you must work at it, and build up mindfulness tools for it to be as effective as it can be for you.

Many mindful practices will ask you to begin by focusing on the noises you can hear around you, from those which are far away – outside of the house, on the street – right through to those closer to you, circling ever closer and closer to the body, to your breath, and your heartbeat. This form of attentive focus helps to calm you and helps you to keep a clear head.

If you want to learn more techniques in these difficult times, then why not download our free ‘Enhancing Your Studies with Mindfulness’ taster course?