Mindfulness

I am horrible at staying in the moment and not varying outside of each moment in time as they occur! I am constantly engaging in thoughts of the past, or even more so the future. As an individual who tends to struggle with anxiety, I am constantly thinking about my to do lists, life events that are coming up that are worrying me - the list is endless!

It is a constant battle of always finding myself missing out on the here and now, for fear of not getting all that I have planned out done. I ultimately miss out on life, and the moment is gone before the reality of NOT living in the moment is realized. This type of living has created a high amount of stress in my type A personality life.

This is stress that can be easily eliminated, but it must be actively worked on, on a day to day basis. I am so game for that: less stress equals a happier, healthier Alissa. Hey, this will benefit everyone around me, even my fantastic husband who has to put up with my high strung self I have to strongly believe that I am not the only one who struggles with this very real and very unfortunate trait.

You know, we all have heard the cheesy clichés of “live in the moment”, “stop and smell the roses” and “just go with the flow”’. But honestly, they are so very true in a lot of ways! These sayings all come down to what life coaches have termed as “mindfulness”. It is technically a mental technique that enables you to handle problems, reduce stress and even allow emotions to be balanced. During my reading on this “mindfulness” terminology, mindfulness is viewed as the awareness of what you are doing in the present moment, when you are doing that act, and really allowing yourself to take back control over your subconscious instead of letting it take control over you.

In society, we are way too busy, and we view things as “urgent” (thanks to technology). We want things so rapidly and get impatient when we don’t receive what we want yesterday! NO wonder why anxiety and depression are running rampant in our society today… we are all setting ourselves up for one massive heart attack!

Our minds are moving at the speed of light and get so congested with insignificant “trash”, that we really do not have room for the present moment and actually living life with mindfulness…how ridiculous is that?! Instead of living life the way that we were created to live it, by spending quality time with loved ones, family and friends, we constantly think about everything other than enriching those relationships, growing those relationships and yes, living in the moment of those relationships.

Life is passing us by at an extremely rapid pace. What are we such in a hurry over? Life is way too short for this type of thinking.

Controlling this moment in life, the here and now, and being present in the moment (the only time you are guaranteed) is so important for us to find and try and get back to. With a life filled with deadlines, kids, family and stressors; we find it so hard to just stop, slow down, and live life in the moment. But, for the love this is slowly decreasing our health both physically as well as mentally. We are driving ourselves literally crazy and killing ourselves in this rat race we call life.

Take a stance and practice mindfulness today! This can be practiced anywhere…just take a moment today, in between your busy life activities to, stop, take a deep breath, take a look around and work on truly being in that moment. Find different perspectives on what is happening in your life, in the here and now. Don’t be tempted by tv, social media or your phone. Truly stop and focus on this one moment, look at your surroundings as though you are looking at them for the first time.

We can’t change the things that happen to us in life, but we CAN change how we think about that situation. It will not only make you happier and less stressed it will increase your overall health and well-being

Who’s with me?!