Mindfulness

Hello my fellow friends of the internet, I am here today to speak about something that I hold rather close to my heart and although I've recently just ventured into it, believe that it's beneficial to everybody! So without further ado, let's get crackin'!

Some of you may be asking "Libby, why is the title of this blog post mindfulness?" Well my dearest friend, that is because mindfulness is a very important tool in my day to day life. Mindfulness is "The intentional accepting and non-judgmental focus of one's attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations." And I find it to be very helpful in calming me down when I'm perhaps feeling anxious or need to take some time to step back and re-evaluate a situation.

I discovered the uses of mindfulness after having many discussions with Hannah's mum Mandy, who is rather good with dealing with issues of the mind. Whilst talking to her, she'd often say phrases or give advise that make total sense but I'd just never thought about before and I often leave her company feeling more open minded towards problems that I'm facing.

The way I use mindfulness is usually through an app called Smiling Mind, so if I'm feeling particularly anxious I'll go somewhere quiet, whip this out on my phone and take a few minutes to myself. Other than that I tend to force myself to become aware of whatever situation I'm in. For example, if I was stressing over not understanding a piece of homework I'd ask myself "What don't you understand? What could you do to figure out? If you go to see your teacher ASAP they can't really be angry at you for not understanding,can they?" etc just so things seem far more clearer and far less problematic.

Overall, being mindful is a key part of day to day life that is often forgotten in the 21st century. With the use of phones, laptops, iPods and whatnot, it's very easy to stop enjoying the little things. When you're out walking whilst texting your mates, you could be missing out on so much that's going on. I don't know about you but I know that I've spent far too much time just being alive and going through the motions of day-to-day life as opposed to actually LIVING through those days and paying attention to what the world has to offer.

That's it from me fellow friends of the internet, I shall leave you with my song of the post: Heart of The Matter by The Libertines

Till next time,

-L