Undeniably, we live in a chaotic world and are so busy that we often forget to live and cherish the present moment.
Most of us often find it challenging to stay focused and do our tasks efficiently. So what should we do, you might be wondering. All you need to do is to stay mindful. In this article, we will dig deep into mindfulness and look more into the different mindfulness practices with the help of technology. So keep reading!
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a kind of meditation that uses one’s ability to be intensely focused in the present moment and fully aware of their actions without feeling exhausted by their surroundings. According to the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, mindfulness helps to reduce stress, emotional reactivity, anxiety, or depression, improves regulation of emotions, boosts the immune system, sleep quality, and much more. For having a night of quality sleep, consider using Yours App so you can wake up every morning while feeling well-rested.Students, part-time/ full-time employees, homemakers, and working women need to practice mindfulness to live a hassle-free life.
5 Reasons to Practice Mindfulness
Here are some main reasons that you must know about mindfulness meditation.
1. Reduce Stress
Generally, it has to be seen that those who face anxiety, stress, or depression often do not know entirely about their emotions/ feelings and behaviour or personality. That’s where mindfulness comes in. Being mindful helps us be aware, stay calm and find solutions to our problems. Moreover, those who practice mindfulness handle undesired situations more quickly than others.
2. Improve Focus
One thing that kills our productivity and does not allow us to do our work on time is a distraction. If not controlled, our minds continuously go astray. So practising mindfulness is essential to bring it back to the present.
3. Boost Mental Health
Being overly stressed daily can negatively impact the functionality of your brain. For any reason, those with unstable mental health are suggested to practise different mindfulness exercises. Mindfulness is considered a proven technique by psychologists and psychiatrists for severe stress and depression patients.
4. Better Physical Health
Mindfulness meditation makes us feel relaxed and calm, so consequently, it lowers the risk of blood pressure, heart problems, inflammation, arthritis, and much more. It has to be noticed that those who practice mindfulness daily have quality sleep. Moreover, mindfulness also enables you to manage stress or pain.
5. Strong Relationships
As regular mindfulness meditation boosts your mental and physical health, it also strengthens your relationships with others. Mindfulness exercises positively impact our brain and improve our emotion-based reactions. Mindfulness meditation also enables us to think from another person’s perspective.
3 Effective Ways to Practice Mindfulness with the Help of Technology
Undoubtedly, technology is considered one of the significant sources of distraction that can even cause anxiety and stress. However, we can also count on tech to help us practice mindfulness and live life to its fullest. Several practical virtual tools/ gadgets and apps like Yours app, etc., aid mindfulness.
1. Virtual Reality Immersion
Getting started with VR meditation is the best way to overcome stress and depression. According to much research, it has to be shown that the immersive environment of VR invokes the same psychological reactions we experience in the real world. The most popular form of VR is 360-degree videos that can take you anywhere, like beneath the Northern lights, a beach in Portugal, etc. VR headsets act as a deterrent to distraction that enables users to focus and helps our brain and body stay calm without having distressing thoughts in mind.
2. Apps for Mindfulness
Want to kickstart your mindfulness journey? Why not give mindfulness apps a try to make your life more productive! Here are some most useful apps that you can use to be your healthiest self.
- Yours App: the app is specific to those who want to practise mindfulness in their daily lives. Yours App offers its users ultra-relaxing stories, helpful, personalised mindfulness tips, yoga practices, meditation and breathing rituals, relaxing lo-fi and dreamy nature soundscapes, and much more.
- Simple Habit: This app can help you organise your tasks by giving you powerful daily stress management techniques to avoid feelings of burnout.
- 10% Happier: Don’t have any idea about mindfulness meditation? No need to worry further. This app is the best choice for those sceptical about meditation or running out of time but want to give it a try.
- Mindwell: It is an app consisting of calming sounds, isochronic tones, and solfeggio frequencies that will relieve/ reduce your stress.
- The Breathing App: This breathing app can help you rebalance your stress by improving your psychological breathing practice.
- Stop, Breathe & Think: As a participant, you can get a daily meditation session from the Stop, Breathe & Think app.
3. Tech Wearables for Wellness
Thanks to technology, we can easily use technology these days to monitor our health, including keeping track of our heart rate, walking hours, sleep hours, etc. For instance, different eye masks, ear clips, headbands, wristbands, or smartwatches like Fitbit, etc., help you manage your stress level. In addition, the popular app ‘Relax’ by Fitbit offers a personalised breathing session with the help of a heart-rate tracker.
Final Thoughts
In a nutshell, being mindful means becoming aware of our thoughts/ feelings and our surroundings. Practising mindfulness means remodelling the brain physically. Moreover, mindfulness helps us boost our mental health and improves our physical health as it lowers the risk of high blood pressure, heart diseases, insomnia, and so on. To conclude all of the discussion, it is worth mentioning that practising mindfulness daily is crucial for living a healthier and more peaceful life.
