Mindfulness

Imagine yourself sitting on lush green grass on a beautiful spring day – sometimes just daydreaming or perhaps touching the grass and enjoying the wonderful sunny day. You take pleasure in just observing this small little world around you as a ladybird lands on your fingers before disappearing again into the grass. As strange as it sounds, moments like these are precious and remind us how important it is for our health to be carefree and live in the here and now.

A flashback moment into childhood

We need to learn to take time out and become aware of the moment. However, in reality our lives are completely different. More and more people suffer from stress and its consequences. According to a recent Forsa study, around two thirds of Germans want to reduce or avoid stress altogether. In times of multitasking and constant haste, calm moments to balance out our hectic lives have become rare. So it’s no surprise that the thousand year old Buddhist technique for mindfulness has boomed in popularity in the Western world.

Nowadays, one of the best forms of mediation is mindfulness based stress reduction, MBSR, which was developed in the USA by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1970. Buddhist meditation techniques and yoga practices are combined and increasingly used in psychotherapy and coaching.

Mindfulness is seen as the key to rest a preoccupied mind. Various scientific studies have shown that mindfulness is a simple and effective way to relieve stress and to improve our physical and mental wellbeing. When practising mindfulness meditation, our autopilot function is switched off and we become aware of the present moment. Our senses are sharpened and we focus on what we feel, taste, smell and where our thoughts are going. This helps stop our automatic reaction to stressful situations and makes us more conscious of more positive ways of managing stress. A brilliant start to a more stress-free life is to take time out in relaxing surroundings at one of our Wellness-Hotels & Resorts’ hotels. With the support of our experienced coaches, as well as being away from the usual stresses and strains of daily life, it’s the perfect environment to learn techniques for stress reduction and mindfulness.

 Modern life has caused an increasing number of us to feel stressed, which is why Wellness-Hotels & Resorts’ primary focus is on mindfulness. We will rediscover the importance of valuing ourselves and the nature around us. Treatments like baths, massages, having a sauna or attending a yoga class activate the body’s awareness. During slow down walks and guided meditation participants learn to concentrate completely on the here and now and stop worrying about what the future might hold or mulling over what happened in the past. This way all the senses are addressed, resulting in an enjoyable, healthy and successful life.

Fight stress with mindfulness training

Eating while watching television or checking messages on our smart phones – does this sound familiar? Modern life has forced us to multi-task to the extreme! Simply pausing long enough to enjoy an apple or taking a moment to become aware of your breath seem like small things but just concentrating on the present moment can make a huge difference to our lives and lead to a more self-defined and calmer life.

Some helpful tips for practicing mindfulness...

• Live in the moment: Try to resist the urge to cram your day with as much as possible. Instead, why not try unitasking? Buddhist monks have perfected this ability – for example when working in the Zen garden.
• Change your perspective: “You are going to be tomorrow what you think today,” said Buddha. Exaggerated self-doubts only weaken the ego. To look at yourself objectively, as if through the eyes of someone else, is a good way to reflect on yourself.
• Cope with worries differently: Instead of thinking about yesterday’s problems, learn to detach those negative thoughts from your past and focus on doing it better in the future. The Zen Buddhism philosophy teaches us that it is a waste of time to torture yourself with dark thoughts.