Mindfulness meditation, What is it? How do you start practicing?

Mindfulness meditation, also known as mindful attention, is a practice that involves consciously focusing attention on the present moment without judgment. The goal is to cultivate clear awareness and acceptance of what is happening in the here and now. This practice can include observing the breath, bodily sensations, thoughts, and emotions, allowing them to come and go without attachment or aversion.

Mindfulness has been associated with a variety of mental and physical health benefits, such as stress reduction, improved concentration, and overall well-being. To practice meditation, you only need two essential steps: find a comfortable place and breathe slowly. In my case, I like to light incense and place crystals for better energy diffusion and to create a welcoming and magical environment. But it is not essential.

When we think of meditation, the image of a monk sitting in a difficult posture, trying to achieve enlightenment, which is not well understood, comes to mind. But mindfulness meditation is not about that. Nor is it necessary to clear your mind, something that isn't even possible. Having a blank mind doesn't help us solve the real problems we face.

What helps, and a lot, is stepping out of uncontrolled thinking and stopping the worries that assail your mind, which only serve to fill you with tension and anguish. If you could bring order to your mental and emotional chaos, you would have the mental clarity necessary to make better decisions and, as you achieve satisfactory results, you would feel better, with greater confidence and self-esteem, and this vitality would quickly extend to many other areas of your life.

You could let go of the heavy burdens that have held you back for years, face your fears with courage, improve your personal and work relationships, and have the audacity to live the life you truly want to live. And this is basically what mindfulness meditation helps you achieve, and the best part is that you can do it anywhere and only for a few minutes a day.

Making meditation a habit can reflect in various areas of your life: diet, finances, health, mood, relationships, and behaviors, as it allows you to regain control of your mental energy, without falling into negativity and drama.

Find a comfortable place and sit; if it's on the floor, cross your legs; if it's in a chair, plant your feet on the ground. Breathe slowly and focus your mind on the breath so that your mind is anchored in the present moment.

Rapid breathing creates very high levels of carbon dioxide in the blood and activates a stress response in our nervous system, increasing heart rate and raising blood pressure. Cells, tissues, and organs stop receiving their essential nutrients, biological growth is interrupted, inflammation processes are activated, and disease appears. And all this caused by rapid breathing.

With the practice of mindfulness, the breathing is different, slow and deep, at a slower pace, reaching deeper areas of the body, using the diaphragm so that when we inhale, the air passes through the lungs but doesn't just stay there, also reaching the belly and filling it with air. Something as simple as this relaxes the nervous system because your body absorbs the stress hormones and other more beneficial neurochemicals begin to be released: endorphin, dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine, which induce sleep and relax the muscles.

It may be that when you start this breathing practice, it will be a bit difficult, and you will feel strange at first, but it is normal. Over time, you will notice that your breathing improves and becomes easier.

While you breathe slowly, you focus all your attention there, you let your body breathe according to its own cadence. And you begin to focus attention on the breath and thus settle into presence, breath by breath, until you get distracted, because you will get distracted, the mind will take you to a thought, which will take you to another thought, and another one, and when you realize it, you are far from the present moment.

This happens to everyone and you can't avoid it. What you need to do when the mind wanders is to return to your breath calmly. Your breath is the anchor that brings you to the present moment. Your mind gets distracted again and again, and you patiently bring it back to the present moment.

The goal of mindfulness is not to eliminate thoughts or clear the mind; the goal is to master your attention so that, when your thinking gets out of control and disoriented, you are able to get out of it voluntarily. With practice, you become an observer of your mind, become aware of the thoughts that the mind puts in front of you, begin to know yourself better and your distractions, your pain, your interpretation, things you carry but only emerge during meditation because, during the stress of everyday life, they remain hidden. You can use this information about yourself for your own growth, improvement, and fulfillment.

It is self-awareness that impacts your life on many levels: as your nervous system is not so alert, your mind is calmer, no longer so full of negativity, worries, anxiety, hostility. When you start practicing mindfulness, you begin to have more vitality, sleep better, your self-esteem strengthens, your relationships become more authentic and meaningful. You can remain more stable in the face of difficult situations, unforeseen events, and adversities, helping to make better decisions and better enjoy life.

But this can only be achieved by making meditation a daily habit. Meditation is a practice of many cultures and religions that you can do anywhere, spending only a few minutes.