I'm Dr. Tracey Marks a psychiatrist and in this video I'll be talking about
mindfulness meditation and how to practice it. Mindfulness is simply paying
attention to your environment activities and thoughts in a neutral and
non-judgmental way. So you're limiting your thoughts to your
present situation. if other thoughts intrude on this process, you bring your
attention back to the present. for example, if you're mowing the grass, think
about the things that you see, smell, hear and taste and feel while you're cutting
the grass. Ideally avoid thinking about your unpaid
bills, your relationship issues, the past, the future. You only want what is
happening in the present moment. Pacticing mindfulness helps declutter
your mind. When your mind gets cluttered you feel stressed and this can come in
the form of feeling tense, tired, overwhelmed, irritable. Not only can this
affect you negatively but it can also affect your relationships with the
people most important to you. If your mind is overloaded. you can become
emotionally unavailable and not fully engaged with the people around you. this
is what happens when you're having a conversation with someone and you don't
remember any of the details of what they said because you were thinking about
your to-do list. in the short-term the person on the receiving end knows you're
not listening; in the long-term, you miss time with that person that you can't get
back. so how do you remedy this problem when you have a busy life that you can't
change? You live each moment mindfully. Now you don't need a meditation pillow
or hot stones to do this. You simply need to purposely focus on what you're doing
at any given moment and block out everything else. And this doesn't have to
take a long time and a little goes a long way. You can do this while you're
waiting in a traffic light. For example where do you keep your phone when you're
driving? Do you pull it out to check messages when you're waiting
for the light to turn green? Instead of doing that. take in the glory of your
surroundings. What if it's just a bunch of cars in traffic? There's got to be
some nice cars to look at but look at the trees and the buildings in front of you.
Think about how these things were created. Even if it's an ugly building
it's someone's architectural creation. Many people worked hard on that building.
If you're running an errand or like buying groceries for example instead of
thinking about all the things that you need to do after you leave the store
take in the environment. Notice the lighting in the store, the temperature of
the room the sounds of the people talking. How many credit card machines do
you hear. That's an example of being fully present in the moment instead of
being there physically while your mind is on other things.
Now I focused on how mindfulness helps your mind and how you relate to people
but mindful eating is a way to control your eating. So instead of watching
television and checking emails while you're eating, focus on the texture of
the food, the aroma, the taste. Think about how long how many times you have to chew
the food until you can get it to the point where you can swallow it. Now you
may think I don't have time for that but in reality, slowing how you eat may only
add another 10 minutes to your meal and the time you spend at traffic lights may
only be about 5 minutes in total. And what did you gain in that five minutes?
Whatever it is, it's at the expense of letting your mind run full steam ahead.
So what's the problem with thinking too much? Your mind doesn't rest but your
mind needs to rest. If your mind is too busy all day it will get overstimulated
and then you'll have trouble falling asleep at night. Now you may say well, if
you're thinking about the present moment you're still thinking. Well yes
but it's controlled thinking that you deliberately make positive and neutral.
So here's an example of uncontrolled thinking. Let's say you're working at
your computer and you look out the window and you see a delivery truck
drive by and the truck reminds you of one that collects money. Then you
remember that you need money to put in your child's bag this morning not sure
if you did that and then that makes you think about your child's tooth pain and
wonder if it's going to be a huge dental bill. Then you remember you need to
research the insurance exchange because your Cobra benefit benefits expire at
the end of the month and you hear that the average deductible is $5,000 will it
cover your wife's expensive blood pressure medicine. Now you're stressed
out and aggravated and all this came from glancing outside and seeing a truck.
Mindful observation of that truck would be to notice the glossy paint on the
truck and whether or not it's driving fast or slow. Is the pavement wet is
the sun shining? These are simple observations of the
environment that are neutral and not connected to any unpleasant aspects of
your life. Here are four steps to start practicing
mindfulness. number one be aware. this means to be aware of everything in your
environment as well as everything that you're doing and thinking. Keep your focus
on the present moment. number two don't multitask do one thing at a time.
You're actually more efficient if you complete one thing at a time anyway.
Number three be intentional with mundane tasks. Be focused on the task rather than
getting the task over with. So if you're washing dishes, focus on washing each
dish and keep repeating that thought until all the dishes are washed. If you
wash the dishes while you're thinking about how much you hate washing dishes,
you'll still get the dishes washed but - but when you do it mindfully you finish
with less negativity. number four listen when other
people are talking. don't think about your to-do list or what you're gonna say
next. Listen to every word the person says as
if you're you need to repeat it back to them. I challenge you to spend ten
minutes each day in mindful activity. you may want to do it toward the end of the
day when your mind is the most full and see if it helps you unwind and
relax. Leave me a comment about your experience thanks for watching.