How can mindfulness help?
“For me, meditation has brought about dramatic changes in my nervous system.“You can’t just let your body go, but you can still feel good,” says stress reduction and meditation teacher Rich Muir. Eden Health Retreat In sunny Queensland, Muir says that when he was in his 30s he was hit by chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and after trying a number of different methods to find what helped, he discovered meditation was essential in giving his nervous system the “deep rest” it needed.
““I also love seeing the impact it has on others,” he says. “It means a lot when people begin to realize how much control they have over their nervous system. It’s amazing to see someone who was crippled by stress and anxiety within a few weeks gain a new lease on life as they learn to avoid situations that don’t need to trigger a stress response.”
Muir’s experience is not uncommon, Meta-analysis Of 20 studies on the impact of mindfulness interventions on chronic health conditions, mindfulness-based stress reduction practices were found to have a positive impact on patients with chronic illnesses.
the study Mindfulness has also been shown to reduce emotional exhaustion and improve overall job satisfaction. It’s one of the many reasons Horn bases his corporate coaching on the principles of mindfulness. “It’s not just about reducing stress,” she explains. “It increases our overall happiness, improves our ability to focus, and even improves our relationships.”
Besides stress reduction, Horn says some of the many benefits of mindfulness include greater mental clarity, emotional intelligence (and, importantly, control over emotions), greater calm and an overall sense of well-being. Sounds pretty good to me!
