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If you’re following a previous article, you know we’ve covered mindfulness. However, in that article, it was about mindfulness’ benefits in boosting sex life.
Moreover, it’s not just about sex life in which mindfulness can help. Mindfulness is an ancient practice as a form of meditation. However, as societies are immersed in technological advancements along with busy lifestyle practices, mindfulness has been forgotten.
However, not all people forget practicing mindfulness. There are still many people practicing it today. Fortunately, modern science has picked it up and recognized its health benefits.
10 Minutes of MindEx Equals 44 Minutes of Sleep
In a recent study1, researchers found that even as short as 10 minutes of mindfulness exercise can equal a 44-minute of sleep. The study says that the people who enjoy the beneficial effect are entrepreneurs.
People running businesses are both busy physically and mentally. They tend to forget to relax and get enough amount of sleep. However, taking a 10-minute MindEx (mindfulness exercise) is such a helpful tool to maintain productivity, mental and physical health.
…we find that both sleep and mindfulness exercises provide avenues for entrepreneurs to combat exhaustion. More interestingly, we find that these two factors compensate for one another; as the usage of one increases, the efficacy of the other decreases.
Charles Y.MurnieksaJonathan D.ArthursbMelissa S.CardoncNusratFarahdJasonStornellieJ.Michael Haynie https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2018.12.004
MindEx Benefits Extends Beyond Entrepreneurs
While this study focused on mindfulness benefits on entrepreneurs, the overall health benefits extend to anyone who does it. The key to reaping its long-term benefits is doing it consistently.
The bare minimum of doing mindfulness is once a day. However, it can be done several times a day, particularly during noontime. Instead of taking a nap, a well-done mindfulness exercise for as short as 10-minutes is a lot better.
Moreover, instead of watching TV, reading mainstream news, or even playing video games, allocate 10-minutes for mindfulness. However, during the initial stage of doing it, you may not feel the tremendous effect.
As mentioned, the key to mindfulness is consistent practice. While it is good to do mindfulness once daily; doing it 2 or 3 times is better. For instance, in the morning upon waking up, instead of immediately getting up off the bed, take 10-minutes doing mindfulness and be grateful.
At noon, right after eating your lunch or even if you’re not eating lunch but taking a break, spend 10-minutes doing mindfulness. The great thing about mindfulness exercise, you can do it anywhere while sitting in the office, commuting, or even lying down.
Then, at night before sleep, spend another 10-minutes doing mindfulness feeling grateful for the day.
How To Do Mindfulness?
While there are many suggestions on how to do mindfulness, always keep it simple always. Upon beginning your 10-minute mindfulness exercise, take deep breaths. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Perform this deep breathing very slowly.
There is a proper way of doing relaxation breathing, the belly breathing. Here is how to do belly breathing. Again, this takes practice to make your body adapt and be able to coordinate the brain-body connection.
It is relaxing. Upon inhalation, inhale fully until you feel all the tension in your entire body. Then, upon long exhalation, relax and feel all the tension gone along with the exhale.
Doing this 5 to 10 times helps control your emotion and focus the good feeling. It is now easy to feel good. Feeling good alone and observing it mindfully throughout your body especially in the heart section is a good mindfulness practice.
Immerse yourself in this good and relaxing feeling. Eventually, the more often you do it, the easier you will be able to be grateful and even have full control over your stress and anxiety.
It leads to many health benefits including clear thinking, better productivity, and even improve your sex life.
Utilizing Technology For Mindfulness
Most entrepreneurs and average individuals have something in common. The carry a small high performance computer that fits in a hand. It is the smartphone.
Since most of us has it, why not use for further advantage? Whether you’re using IOS for Apple or Android, there are many mindfulness apps you can use.
Simply go to Apple Store if you’re using Apple or PlayStore if you’re using Android. Search for mindfulness apps and you’ll find a lot of them.
At first, you may feel overwhelmed, but just take the first step. Of course, do your due diligence by checking the review if such an app is worth trying. Then if the reviews are good especially the detailed reviews, go for it.
On the other hand, some app may require payment; some one-time while others in a subscription basis. But before you pay for something, test it whether it’s worth spending the money.
You will easily recognize it base on how you feel after using the app for a few days. Even some app can give you an idea if it works for you after a day of using it.
However, since you’re using your smartphone for mindfulness, it is a good idea to turn the Airplane Mode while doing it. The same useful technique when reading eBooks. It means taking a break without any disruption from notifications.