Mindful behaviour, therefore,
brings acceptance to all living
experiences, which, in turn, gives
us the freedom to choose how to
respond in any given situation.
Instead of reacting automatically
to a situation, we can bring non-
judgmental awareness into our
emotions. So the next time we feel
panic or anxiety, we’re better able to
acknowledge what we’re feeling in
that moment and let them be.
Together with proactively slowing
down our breathing to create a sense
of calmness, we can then choose
more beneficial outcomes. When we
incorporate this into our daily lives,
we’re able to take time to stop and
cultivate purposeful awareness of
what we’re doing. When we’re present
through a daily task, such as walking
through nature or enjoying a meal, we’re
more able to appreciate the beauty that
comes from the little things.Finding meaning
Research is showing that by
incorporating more mindfulness into
our daily routines, we’re able to find
more value in our lives.
Alison Christie is a psychologist and
PhD candidate at Australian National
University who undertook a study that
analysed more than 800 people who
practise mindfulness. Christie analysed
how value-based action reflectedhow much progress the participants
made towards behaving or acting on
an ongoing basis, in alignment with
important values such as compassion,
forgiveness, gratitude and spirituality,
and how that contributed to creating
purpose and meaning in life.
During the study, participants were
divided into two groups: one group
looked at finding values through
questions while the second one didn’t,
but both groups practised the same
mindfulness meditation. In her
analysis, Christie found that although
the group that looked into values
scored higher, it was only slightly.
“Both groups connected to their
values and experienced high levels of“Researchers have also found that the
more we come to understand ourselves,
the more we develop compassion
and understanding for others.”38 | AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HEALTH naturalhealthmag.com.au