Mindfulness

Everyone I speak to lately seems to be living with a lot of intensity in their lives.  Whether it is too much exposure to sensational media or the intensity of day-to-day life, we are all living with heightened levels of stress.

Our bodies are programmed to handle brief periods of stress.  Hormones such as cortisol are released by our bodies as part of our ‘fight or flight’ response, and when the stress is occasional, our body is perfectly equipped to bring itself

back into balance.  This is a normal, healthy process that our body has evolved to handle.

However, when we are continually in a state of stress and we aren’t able to turn off the influx of information and feelings of overwhelm, our bodies are no longer able to bring us back into balance.  Our systems get overloaded, and in a sense, they short-circuit.  The effects of staying in this constant state of stress are many; exhausted yet unable to sleep, loss of appetite or overeating, indigestion or more severe digestive problems, and lack of focus are a few of the potential side effects.

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives”

~ Annie Dillard

One way we can free ourselves from this state of chronic stress is to practice mindfulness. When we are mindful we are fully aware of the present moment. The more we are able to practice being mindful, the more we can release the stories we tell ourselves of what might happen in the future and the mind-looping of going over and over what has happened in the past.