Weekly Challenge – Meditation
Spend some time this week exploring aspects of mindfulness
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What mindfulness activity I did this week:
For this week’s mindfulness activities, I chose three activities. The first one involved placing my hand on my belly, taking deep breaths, and paying attention to how my hand moved up and down. The second activity involved sitting very still and noticing one thing that I could see, taste, hear, smell, or feel. The third activity involved closing my eyes and spending about one minute thinking about the happiest day of my life. During this activity, I tried to recall as many details as possible about that day.
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How often did I do this activity
Since these activities mostly required me to sit or lie down and required little time, I regularly tried to carry one of them out as much as I could whenever I found myself not doing anything else.
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How does this mindfulness activity impact my physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness?
The first and third activities were forms of meditation. After practicing these activities all week, I found that my stress levels, anxiety, and insomnia reduced. Further, I could also concentrate more than I did before. Emotionally, I feel like my empathy and compassion towards people have improved. Spiritually, I feel like I am becoming more conscious of myself and calmer.
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What new insights have I gained?
After a week of these activities, I realized just how the simple act of concentrating on a smell, movement, and sound, among others, can increase my awareness of the present moment. Secondly, meditation has helped me increase my psychological and emotional health. In addition, it has helped me reduce psychological noise, which has significantly reduced my anxiety and stress. Notably, meditation is useful in reducing insomnia and now I am getting better sleep.
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Additional thoughts, reflections, and comments
Research has shown that individuals who practice meditation have brain structures different from those who do not practice it (Donatelle & Thompson, 2011). Further, more studies indicate that meditation helps in brain development, particularly in areas crucial to memory and learning as well as emotional intelligence (Donatelle & Thompson, 2011). With an increase in mental health issues these days, like depression, anxiety, and stress, just to name a few, inexpensive techniques like meditation should be taught to help people cope well. These would be especially convenient for people who cannot afford professional mental healthcare.
References
Donatelle, R. J., & Thompson, A. M. (2011). Health: the basics. Benjamin Cummings.
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Question
Weekly Challenge
Spend some time this week exploring aspects of mindfulness
- What mindfulness activity I did this week:
- How often did I do this activity
- How does this mindfulness activity impact my physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness?
- What new insights have I gained?
- Additional thoughts, reflections, and comments