I must confess that throughout life, I have never been a person with a routine for exercise, nutrition, or even beauty care. When I became a working mother, self-care was the last thing on my mind.
However, when I had the chance to take care of myself, I was perfectly aware of its benefits. You feel lighter, stronger, energized, and proud of yourself. It gives you that boost to confront life’s challenges. But is that enough?
It turns out that in the same way, our body needs rest and muscle building, so does our brain. Psychiatrists have been using meditation, body scanning, and mindfulness for decades to heal mental disorders such as depression, post-traumatic syndromes, ADHD, autism, etc. But we do not have to have cancer to start eating healthy or heart disease to start exercising. We exercise and eat well to feel a healthy body and prevent it from getting sick. Then, why not exercise our brain muscles to keep them healthy for now and in the future?
My 5-year-old daughter practices mindfulness every day in school. Teachers use a chime (see pic below) that helps them focus on the long-lasting sound... until it fades away, plus other exercises that focus on touch and other senses. I love to see how the school teaches kids how to calm themselves down and focus to move on to the next learning topic. This could be a learning for a lifetime of well-being.
Various research centers around the world, such as the UCLA Mindfulness Center, are proving the benefits of mindfulness in the reduction and prevention of stress and anxiety and the increase in learning capacity, memory, and compassion, among others. Meditation and mindfulness have been proven to increase the parts of our brain that help us learn, memorize, regulate our emotions, and feel compassion for ourselves and others. On the other hand, it reduces the Amygdala, which is the part that makes us freeze and fly, causing us to fear even when it is not there. No wonder Buddhist monks appear to be so wise!
So, although I am still a person with little self-care routine, mindfulness is something I can easily incorporate into my day. Short 2-5 minute exercises when having breakfast, in between meetings, when waiting for my daughter in the car, and even in the grocery line. I don’t have to go to the gym to exercise my brain muscle. Now you are wondering, what does she do? There are many mindfulness exercises online, and APPS that help you with audio, I share one article here:
It’s all about where you set your mind to focus. It’s resting from your “to-do” list, work pressure, the voices in your head, and expectations, and for 3 minutes just focus on one thing: the sensation of playing with your fingers and tickling yourself, watching a raisin and then eating it, analyzing your shoe, it’s texture, shades, colors. Using your 5 senses to focus your mind, will allow it to rest. Coach Shirzad Chamine, founder of Positive Intelligence suggests that we practice four 2-5 minute exercises per day.
I hope we can all incorporate mindfulness into our routines, the same way we brush our teeth. If you want to learn more, let’s chat!
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