Benefits of Mindfulness

Why would you want to look into the benefits of mindfulness? The answer to that great question can be summed up with the short answer. A magnified increased quality of life. Whether you want to have greater emotional regulation, and who doesn’t in our busy and chaotic world, or deal with negative emotions, or increase the enjoyment of your everyday activities, or another reason, this article is for you.

Mindfulness by its simplest definition can simply be stated as awareness.

It improves well-being along with many other problems and conditions. It sounds simple, but to achieve total mindfulness and control of that state of awareness on a consistent basis is not an easy thing to do in our increasingly busy society. Almost everyone is bombarded with constant information that interferes with our need for being grounded. People are looking for new ways to deal with what is called mind wanders. It is as it sounds, the lack of the ability to focus, hold the minds attention, and have complete awareness of what’s happening in their daily lives on a consistent basis.

What needs to be done is learning what it takes for increasing your capacity for mindfulness during everyday life. Doing this supports many attitudes that contribute to a satisfied and more fulfilled life. It involves some basic steps to involve yourself in some mindfulness meditation practice at least several times per week.

Learning the skill of a mindfulness practice makes it easier to experience the pleasures in life as they occur using all of your senses while being completely in the moment. Mindfulness benefits help you become fully engaged in activities, while creating a greater capacity to deal with adverse events. 

By focusing on the present moment you are experiencing both internal and external, many people who practice mindfulness find that they are less likely to get caught up in what end up being trivial worries about their future or past regrets and heartbreaks. The benefits are conducive to being less preoccupied with concerns about success and self-image, and are better able to form deep connections and relationships with others.

Because of the psychological benefits, mindfulness results in an improvement in physical health. Greater well-being is a huge incentive to learn the practice of mindfulness but add the physical benefits in the long term and you see why you are reading this article.

It has been proven through science that mindfulness techniques help improve physical health in a number of ways. If you’ve read some of my other articles you learned mindfulness can help relieve stress, be a very good way to relieve and manage anxiety, treat heart disease, lower blood pressure, reduce chronic body pain, act as a therapy to improve sleep, and alleviate digestive problems; along with many more we will cover. 

One of the biggest benefits of mindfulness is how it creates an overall improvement to mental health. In recent years, psychotherapists have turned to mindfulness meditation and mindfulness methods as an important element in the treatment of a number of problems like: depression, over eating, obsessive-compulsive disorder, substance abuse, romantic relationship problems, and anxiety disorders.

Again it’s important to emphasize that the benefits of mindfulness have been documented from research. Lets reiterate that true mindfulness isn’t a technique, yet there are many techniques to cultivate mindfulness, it is a state of being. We get no training into awareness, only training into thought. So, the other side of thinking is awareness which is equally as important. That’s what mindfulness is about which leads to many benefits to mindfulness.

Formal investigations into mindfulness in the Western world began in the late ’70’s (1979) when Jon Kabat-Zinn developed what would become the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. This occurred at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

Mr. Kabat-Zinn combined his studies of Hatha yoga with mindfulness practices and Buddhist principles he learned from his many mentors.

From that day forward the research into MBSR and general mindfulness has expanded considerably as I am showing you with the many benefits of mindfulness here.

The proven benefits of mindfulness include but aren’t limited to: 

• improving cognitive ability

• slowing the aging of the brain

• reducing symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression in daily life

• increasing a sense of well-being

• aiding with pain management

• improving quality of life for those living with chronic conditions

• improving overall brain health, which can include reducing memory loss as we age

A 2019 study included first-time meditators who underwent a little over one month’s duration of mindfulness meditation training. The results showed actual changes in brain structure. This is something Dr. Bruce Lipton (American developmental biologist noted for his views on epigenetics) speaks widely about, including gray matter volume and cortical thickness, that were linked with lower degrees of depression when compared with a non-meditator group.

A 2020 study of 50 long-term meditation practitioners between the ages of 24 and 77 found significantly lower rates of annual brain tissue loss in meditators. This was particularly vidid in regions shown to play a role in mood regulation, nervous system processing, and emotional/cognitive integration. Source:

The study noted that there was further evidence that meditation may slow the effects of aging on the brain.

A 2019 study found that MBSR was effective at increasing well-being, reducing perceived stress, and increasing job satisfaction in the workplace based on self-reports from participants.

A 2020 review found that MBSR was better than controls at treating young people with anxiety symptoms, but that treatment duration was an important factor.

A 2020 study noted that introducing mindfulness and meditation practice during the pandemic was a lower-cost way to complement anxiety treatment. The study also noted that mindfulness and meditation practices translate well to people of different ages and ranges of ability.

A 2018 review noted that it was the first meta-analysis to show that regular mindfulness practice is beneficial for anxiety and depression, even without being integrated into a larger therapeutic framework.

Mindfulness meditation work will help reduce pain, help with disease management, and overall quality of life cultivating better relationships no matter your current situation.

A 2019 review showed that mindfulness interventions offered multiple benefits for individuals with cancer, including:

• reducing stress

• providing relief from digestive disorders

• improving immune response

• reducing pain and some chronic pain

• improving symptoms of sleep disorders

• improving quality of life

• reducing fatigue

• providing support for better balance

This study also pointed out that mindfulness may even help prevent cancer by increasing levels of melatonin in the body, a hormone that has been known to have anticancer properties.

The benefits of making mindfulness exercises a part of your life has seen it actually make changes in brain structures and help some with a medical condition. This happens through simple meditation sessions incorporating mindfulness meditations into a period of up to 30 minutes, but usually quite less. You can use a mindfulness app such as a smartphone app, purchase online courses, or use a program outlined in a book. The idea is to give your full attention to regular practice.

There are even deeper programs available such as mindfulness-based therapies or joining a group that participates in a formal meditation or a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.

There are many mindfulness teachers out there that can introduce you to mindful meditations and other forms of mindfulness training. You will find following steps outlined through one simple exercise that there is a good chance these mindfulness-based interventions will increase your positive emotions in a short amount of time.