You may have heard the term “mindfulness” a great deal lately but how might mindfulness or being present help your relationships?
Being present is something we can practice daily in a variety of simple ways.
- When someone is speaking to you, make eye contact and acknowledge that you have heard them rather than continuing to look at a device.
- During your daily activities focus on the experience. Contemplate what is happening in the moment rather than thinking through what will be happening later that day.
- Be mindfully present with your children. By making eye contact with your infant, you sync their brainwaves with yours. This will boost their communication skills and more importantly assist them with feeling securely attached.
- Enjoy the time you have with friends by really listening. The foundations of listening include making eye contact and using positive body language.
If you find it hard to be present in these ways perhaps you would benefit from mindfulness exercises. There are a variety of apps online which you can try and also courses you can attend which help to develop mindfulness skills. Studies have shown that after an eight-week course of mindfulness practice, the brain's “fight or flight” centre appears to shrink. This primal region of the brain, associated with fear and emotion, is involved in the initiation of the body's response to stress. Mindfulness helps our more primal responses to stress be superseded by more thoughtful ones and hence it enhances our relationship with ourselves and with others.
Next time we will focus more on active listening which also serves to enhance relationships and goes hand in hand with mindfulness.