Mindfulness Training Improves Health and Awareness

Mindfulness is enormously empowering.

Anxiety, depression and panic attacks can be tamed through mindfulness training. Weight loss, smoking cessation and improved relationships have been experienced by people practicing mindfulness, but what exactly is it?

Mindfulness is an active state of awareness that focuses on the present. If your heart is heavy because of the past, or you feel anxious about the future, it may be difficult to allow yourself to enjoy the richness of “now.”

Is your head buried in a cell phone?

Do you watch TV while you’re eating?

Does your mind drift off when someone is talking to you?

“Research shows that mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is very effective for individuals who want to gain control to manage chronic pain, hypertension, heart disease, gastrointestinal disorders, side effects of cancer, and, psychological problems like anxiety and depression,” said Licensed Clinical Social Worker Elizabeth Hale-Rose, LCSW. Hale-Rose leads private and group mindfulness training sessions at Essex Wellness Center in Essex, CT.

Studies from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) show that mindfulness helps to lower blood pressure, boost a person’s immune system, and improve attention and focus. Mindfulness training is being used to redirect energy for people with ADHD. According to a study involving researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, practicing mindfulness meditation is associated with changes in the brain regions that affect memory and learning.

Being mindful of emotions and actions, focusing on the present rather than the past and future, is something that every person can learn to do on a daily basis to support optimum wellness.