Why Mindfulness May Be the Most Underrated Mental Health Skill

Here it is, mid-summer, and I’m willing to bet that most of you are busier than ever. You have kids, vacations, work, and life to navigate.  You may be battling a chronic illness or stress on top of that.  You have forgotten how to be a human being-instead you are a human doer.  The problem is our society.  We see hustle culture as always striving for the next thing. But it leads to stress. Do you have racing thoughts at 2AM? Are you snapping at the kids?  Is it hard to just slow down?  Maybe you are functionally frozen, disconnected, and scrolling on Instagram…

If you have ever driven home and realized, you don’t remember how you got there… Or finished an entire meal without tasting it, you aren’t mentally present.

Chronic stress leads to inflammation, and chronic inflammation can lead to disease.  How do you slow down---and more to the point, why is it necessary?  Will it change the outcome?  The answer is yes.  While it doesn’t take the tasks off the to do list (and yes, I can totally identify with that), mindfulness can help with how you interpret stress.  It can help you to slow down, choose to engage, and practice self-care.  When your nervous system is always in fight or flight, burnout is inevitable.  And that’s where the trauma response comes in.  Too much anxiety leads to feeling checked out and numb. And it can affect your relationships with others.

So, what can you do about it? That’s where mindfulness comes in.  What exactly does it mean to be mindful? First, our brains struggle with uncertainty- brains predict danger, scan for threat, replay mistakes, and worry about the future. Mindfulness is the practice of intentionally paying attention to present-moment experience with openness, curiosity, and without immediately judging or trying to change it.  When we can put aside painful emotions, mindfulness can help us to navigate our relationship with them.  Rather than labeling the self as anxious or irritated, I can ask myself, “I notice I am sitting with anxiety now.  What is it trying to tell me?” 

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Here is what the research says.  Practicing mindfulness can reduce catastrophizing, interrupt worry looping, tolerate uncertainty, and reduce heightened emotions which can make us reactive.  It can help to prevent relapsing in depression by acknowledging a spiral is beginning to happen.  But it also helps to increase resilience for post traumatic growth by increasing self-compassion and acceptance.  Other benefits to mindfulness include better, deeper sleep, increased focus and attention, improved executive functioning, reduced chronic pain symptoms, and it improves emotional regulation to stave off burnout by helping the amygdala (fight or flight) adapt to the stress response.

You can start right now by building in a few minutes of slowing down a day.  It might be a walk, grounding exercises, using scent to relax, and soothing music to slow down.  Mindfulness is walking the dog, making coffee, brushing your teeth, and even making the bed!

You don't need an empty mind to practice mindfulness. You don't need perfect focus or endless free time. You only need the willingness to notice this moment, exactly as it is. Every time you gently return your attention, you're strengthening a skill that can support resilience, emotional balance, and a deeper connection with yourself.