Ways to Practice Mindfulness & Its Benefits for Healthier Ageing

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. One of the major benefits of mindfulness is that it helps in dealing with stress and it does so by making the mind and body immersed in a state of calm.

Simple ways to practice it is by sitting or lying down and relax. A key thing to remember is not to let the mind drift on other thoughts. By doing this one can reap the benefits of mindfulness. Mindfulness is not complex. It takes mind off from future worries and assists the mind to focus in present. It only involves observing and accepting thoughts as they occur without judgment.

Any real-life distraction can be blocked out during a mindfulness session. Also, an important thing to keep in mind is that mindfulness and meditation are not synonymous. Mindfulness is only one form of meditation amongst many others.

There is a program by the name of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), the duration of which is 8 weeks and it involves using mindfulness to help individuals deal with the following problems:

• Stress

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Pain

Also, a variety of techniques are used in this program, such as the ones mentioned below. This is a great example of practical mindfulness implementation which can be practiced any time anywhere, even without joining the program.

• Meditation

• Body awareness

• Yoga

• Behavioural pattern exploration

Benefits of Mindfulness for Seniors

There are many benefits of mindfulness for ageing adults as listed below. These include both physical and psychological, which help senior citizens to cope with Ageing challenges.

• Improvement in focus

• Enhanced calmness

• Stress reduction

• Improved quality of sleep

• Depression reduction

• Pain reduction

• Emotional well-being

Mindfulness can also cause activation of the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for making an individual feel good. This improves the cognitive, creative, and concentration capabilities of an individual.

How can Ageing People Practice Mindfulness?

Now that we have become familiar with the various benefits of mindfulness, let’s focus on its implementation. In order to practice it, ageing individuals should begin with easy and simple steps. Below are various ways to practice mindfulness for ageing individuals:

• Make out a small space to practice mindfulness. If possible, practice in a garden area; otherwise, a room would do just fine. Start out simply by meditating for only a few minutes a day. Even 10--15 minutes is sufficient in the beginning.

• Sit or lie down without any movement and make sure the place is a quiet one without any noise. Now inhale deeply breaths and make sure to concentrate on inhaling and exhaling. Also, focus on every physical sensation of your body. Check your posture to see if it is correct as maintaining a position is important to reap full benefits of mindfulness. Also, try to completely clear the mind of any thoughts. While this is difficult, with regular practice you will be able to do so.