Mindfulness and Its Purpose (Guest Pose by Amelia-Lily Houghton)

Mindfulness is a psychological process that people undergo when they use their emotions and thoughts to make themselves aware of their direct experience at a particular moment. It is a practice that originated from Buddhist philosophy but has no religious background related to Buddhism. The practice is usually taught as a non-sectarian exercise in the West and is practised by people of varied religions or faiths.

The Purpose of Mindfulness
The practice involves training the human mind and meditation exercises as a way to deepen the human capacity to live a more meaningful, peaceful and balanced life. Through this practice, we can obtain a general form of mental well-being which results in self-knowledge and wisdom.
If we become more aware of what is happening at the present time, we have a better chance of understanding ourselves and further appreciating the world around us. This is mainly because we begin to experience new things, most of which we usually take for granted.
Through this practice, we better understand the stream of feelings and thoughts that we do experience and we get to know the negative ways in which we can get twisted in those streams. We can then stand back from our emotions and thoughts and analyse their patterns. With time, we can train ourselves to detect the moments when our thoughts are taking over and control them. Most of the time, we find ourselves entangled with problems we cannot easily let go, but this practice can give a productive solution to such problems.
The awareness we get helps us detect signs of stress at an early stage and deal with them in a better way and help prevent low mood. Mindfulness can also be aided by use of holistic products - specifically crystals. Awareness and utilisation of healing crystal’s properties, alongside open mindedness, allows conscious identification of negative thoughts and habits. Crystals, such as amethyst, help focus the mind by reducing states of anxiety, allowing a state of clarity.

How Being Mindful Improves Creativity
Creativity is generally the process and act of producing something that is new and useful. A creative brain has to come up with ideas, think about them and model them into something innovative. However, to get to the point of producing the new and useful, our brains must first think freely yet simultaneously with control. The process of being mindful trains and strengthens our brains to work freely, but with restrictions. It boosts divergent thinking and increases awareness of what’s happening around us. Therefore, we can arrange our thoughts and pick the best idea, and finally helps us stay motivated and focused.

Editor Bio: Amelia-Lily Houghton is a content creator for www.technicalwriters.us. She is a qualified online content media manager who loves to interact with engaging content & multi-media. Certification: A* in media studies.

Photograph by Kara Mazey