Mindfulness meditation: a practice with many benefits

Mindfulness meditation is also known as “Mindfulness”, or also under the name of “mindful presence”. It has its origins in Buddhist teachings. The practice has developed in recent years in France in many areas (health, education, social work, etc.).

What are we talking about ?

This practice has aroused the interest of a large number of researchers because of the advances made in the fields of brain imaging and neuroscience. Mindfulness meditation emerged as a result of questions raised by the potential positive effects of “simple” meditation. Both psychologically and physiologically.

Essentially used in psychology as well as in psychiatry, mindfulness meditation is thus considered by some as an opportunity to get to know oneself better. It aims to become aware of the functioning of one’s body and one’s emotions. The ultimate goal is to be in touch with the present moment.

The essential points of a mindfulness meditation session

The sessions are generally practiced seated, back straight. However, positions may vary. Followers can thus meditate while lying down or standing up. Focusing on your breathing is essential. This allows the beginner to remain attentive for at least a few minutes.

The breathing of a mindfulness meditation session is the same as in yoga. That is, purely nasal breathing. Inhaling and exhaling the air through the nose only would make it easier to connect with yourself. The duration of an average session being two hours, it is important to emphasize perseverance. It is indeed possible to feel body pain, tingling in the limbs… or quite simply to find the time long!

What objectives?

In mindfulness meditation, the goal is not to reflect, but to focus on how you feel in the moment. Attention must therefore be paid to his emotions, his sensations during the session. Without making judgments about the lived experience. Mental rumination, as it is called, is indeed harmful to mental health. This is why it is necessary to put aside all your thoughts and simply concentrate on your feelings during the practice. This focus on the breath and the sensations would promote the stability of the experience and the relaxation of the body. This would also facilitate letting go as well as emotional balance.

What are the benefits of mindfulness meditation?

A body of studies, carried out mainly in North America, highlight the benefits of mindfulness meditation.

This would have positive effects on anxiety, stress as well as the management of emotions when faced with a difficult situation in daily life. It would also be possible to acquire a state of inner calm after regular practice. That is to say, to be more serene and more coherent with oneself in decision-making.

Some researchers have also shown that this meditation allows a better functioning of the brain. A hormone facilitating concentration, norepinephrine, would be more easily secreted during the sessions. According to studies carried out in hospitals, the latter would also relieve certain pains. In the same way that it would help victims of post-traumatic stress to cope with their disorders. Meditation would also develop benevolence as well as compassion in some.

Note that the intensity of the benefits varies from person to person, and can affect both patients and healthy individuals.

TO KNOW

Mindfulness meditation, however, requires some psychological stability. A person suffering from severe depression cannot indeed practice it because it risks coming out of it even more weakened.