l u So Sole Reading Required
By Emily Jensen, OMS IV, Rocky Vista University
If you are going to take time to read this article, you have to promise me you will be fully present and engaged the whole time. This is going to require some effort on your part as the reader, and I want to set you up for success. Remove any distractions, take a deep breath to clear your mind, and let’s get started practicing mindfulness.
About the Author Emily Jensen, OMS IV, is a current Rocky Vista University medical student and OPP fellow at the southern Utah campus. Emily is a fourth year medical student. She has added the fellowship to her education, spending an extra year with hands-on training, teaching, and learning new techniques.
What I want you to do is focus on your breath. Don’t change anything about how you are breathing. Just simply notice what the air feels like as it enters and exits your body. If thoughts come to mind, let them come and go without holding onto them. You are here to simply observe this moment. Notice how your airway breathes life in and out of your body on its own. What do you feel with each inhale and exhale? Can you feel it affect other areas of your body? Stay here for a moment, keeping your attention focused on your breath. Close your eyes if you want to. Stay however long you need to and read on when you are ready… Great job! Do you feel any different after that short exercise? What was the difficulty of it for you? It is okay if it was hard to focus on breathing. If you have not practiced mindfulness before, it can seem a little uncomfortable and even difficult, but I promise that incorporating mindfulness into your life is worthwhile.
Mindfulness is a beautiful way to reconnect our brain, body, and soul—the three components of health. It has been practiced for thousands of years, and the research on its effects is abundant. A few of its many benefits include the ability to cope with stress, build up stress resilience, alleviate chronic pain, reduce depression relapses, decrease cravings, and increase feelings of compassion towards others. Wherever you fall in the above categories (I think stress claims us all to some degree), incorporating mindfulness into your life is a valuable tool to have and apply throughout this new year. There are a variety of ways to practice mindfulness, from a Yoga class to apps, from YouTube videos to official courses. Pick one to try out to find the best fit for you. How often should you practice it? It depends on you! I would suggest checking in with yourself throughout the day to see whether or not you need to hit the refresh button on yourself by spending a few minutes practicing mindfulness. I promise you’ll be glad you did.
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