“I’m too busy to be Mindful”

Let’s imagine standing in a bath of water that stops right below your chin. You’re still standing, right? You’re well aware of the water below, but you’re still able to breathe…so you’re fine, right? This is the analogy Dr. Pamela Wells provided us with, introducing them to a familiar feeling we all may have experienced. We may be so overwhelmed by things that when people ask us how we are we simply reply, “I’m okay,” when we are actually close to drowning. Dr. Wells introduced the idea of mindlessness to rid our minds of anything other than the task at hand. “Pay attention, on purpose, in the moment,” one of her slides read. Dr. Wells continued to explain the importance of living in the moment. Dr. Wells asked her audience to take two minutes to just focus on your breathing. It was incredibly hard to just focus on my breathing. My mind wondered from what I would eat for dinner, to the homework I had due that night. Other in the audience experienced the same things. Dr. Wells explained to us to practicing focusing on “the moment” will not only distress our lives but reduce chronic pain, lower blood pressure, and improve your sleep.

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• mindfulness