Mindfulness: One step closer to personal performance
We can all agree that we are living in a fast-changing world, with the evolution of information and communications speaking for itself.
Change implies movement or transformation on different levels: mental, physical or spiritual. That’s when Focus and Awareness are in danger. And that’s also when stress appears!
Being on the spot, up-to-date, taking the step forward, all of this produces tension and keeps us away from being present in the moment and our nervous system stays revved up. Although this is not exactly part of the personal performance story, it seems to be how the everyday 21st century individual perceives his daily life.
Given this context, we have to deal with a huge challenge: do we live life or do you let life live us?
- When was the last time you’ve felt you were on ‘automatic pilot” mode?
- When was the last time when you’ve wanted to have a clone help you?
- When was the last time when you’ve listened to someone on one hand, but doing something else on the other?
Nowadays, there is a lot of rumor going around about the benefits of mindfulness practices and their positive impact on individuals’ lives, in terms of mental health, long-term focus development and well-being.
That’s part of the well-performing individual that is so often seen as key nowadays, and this is exactly why we are discussing about it right now.
First of all, let’s discover what does the concept refer to and how can we measure our own mindfulness level, in order to clearly define our starting point.
What’s all this about?
Mindfulness represents the receptive state of mind in which attention, informed by a sensitive awareness of what is occurring in the present, simply observes what is taking place.
This contrasts the driven mode of processing. Basically, you get to the point where you are able to increase focus and awareness, and also decrease stress.
Why would I do it?
When it comes to benefits, you can examine The Applied Mindfulness Process Scale (AMPS), as the evaluation criteria will certainly prove alluring.
How mindful am I? Measure your current state!
Kirk Warren Brown, Associate Professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University, with a solid background in consciousness, mindfulness and social neuroscience, has developed a tool that measures the actual level of mindfulness practices.
It is a questionnaire with 15 questions, which capture everyday experiences under a set of core characteristics of mindfulness. You can assess your current level of mindfulness on a 1-6 scale, depending on frequency or infrequency.
1 = Almost always, 2 = Very frequently, 3 = Somewhat frequently, 4 = Somewhat infrequently, 5 = Very infrequently and 6 = Almost never.
Now that we know what mindfulness is, the next is why does it matter and the how should we assess its current levels in our lives. The following are a few suggestions:
- Mindful eating: integrating mindful practices in your relationship with food and eating, and the whole science behind eating habits. Beyond this, it stretches to other ideas, such as healthy weight and healthy eating.
- Mindful walking and mindful breathing: it refers to the pace, position and feelings you get;
- Mindful pregnancy and parenting: mothers and fathers integrating mindfulness practices in the journey of parenthood;
- Mindfulness in schools: believe it or not, people are thinking about teaching this in schools, considering that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has become a frequent disorder found amongst many children.
As a final thought, for those wishing to achieve higher levels of proficiency in their personal lives, try your best to improve your life through mindfulness practices, take note of everything you experience, respond to well-known issues in novel ways, take a deep breath and make wise choices.
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Tags: Mindfulness, Personal Development, Personal performance
