Mindfulness is the practice of being in the moment and focusing on the present. When we focus our mind to the present, we effectively cut off all extra thought that lowers our mood. These extra thoughts are often focused on worrying about the past and how that past may affect our future.
This is where mindfulness comes in. By only paying attention to what is actually happening in the current moment, we can actually see our future more clearly.
Take control of your thoughts. When we take control of our thoughts, they stop being random and harmful and start being focused and beneficial.
How Thoughts Ruin our Attention Span
According to Bruce Davis, Ph.D. at Huffington Post, researchers estimate that we think 50,000-70,000 thoughts per day. That’s around 1.2 different thoughts per second for a human that gets 8 hours of sleep everyday. These small interruptions add stress to our day. Do you get frustrated that we can’t remember where you put your phone? Do you wonder why you walked into the kitchen? When our attention span is distracted, it’s usually by a worry, concern, or fear that doesn’t exist in this actual moment. We can change that.
How can I regain focus and stop worrying?
Mindfulness helps us focus on one thing for a full minute or more. That’s 72 or more possibly stressful thoughts that you won’t have to think. It’s equivalent to one minute of true peace. That’s a full minute of absolute focus on something positive. Each time you practice mindfulness, your brain releases feel good hormones. Your body reacts to these hormones, realizing that it likes what you’re doing. Soon, your body will crave those feel good hormones, and you will begin to worry less and focus on the positive more.
Ready to start worrying less?
This 3 minute mindfulness training will show you how many thoughts invade your mind within three minutes, but it will also train you to learn how to block out non-present thoughts. That’s right, you’re about to save yourself from 216 possible negative thoughts. You’re going to:
- Increase your focus
- Increase your optimism
- Decrease your stress
3 Minute Mindfulness Training
- Set a gentle timer for 3 minutes.
- Close your eyes.
- Start silently repeating “one” to yourself. Gently focus on repeating “one”.
- If a thought pops into your mind, accept the thought without judgement and move on.
- Start silently repeating “two” to yourself.
- If a thought pops into your mind, accept the thought without judgement and move on.
- Start silently repeating “three” to yourself.
- If a thought pops into your mind, accept the thought without judgement and move on.
- Continue moving on through the numbers until your timer goes off.
- Record your number, congratulate yourself, and try again later!
Copyright 2016 Jennifer “Aurora Moone” McDonald / All Rights Reserved.
