Holistically-oriented health practitioners, spiritual teachers, psychologists, and meditation coaches all agree: mindfulness is a good thing. A mental attitude of mindfulness has wide health benefits – alleviating the effects of stress, minimizing the risk of disease, and generally making the world a better place.
But it’s hard to pin down exactly what “mindfulness” means, or how to achieve mindful stress reduction.
Check out the diverse insights into mindfulness practices on the great website Spirituality and Practice.
It’s been said that spending 20-30 minutes a day meditating is one of the most important health practices anyone can engage in. But mindfulness also pertains to the mental attitude with which we approach any of our ordinary daily activities.
Just for fun, here’s a quick chart of your day’s activities to give you insight into your own state (or lack thereof) of mindfulness.
| MINDFUL | MINDLESS | |
| Alarm goes off | A calm, deep breath gets your day off to a good start | Is it Friday yet? |
| Standing up to face the day | Engage core support muscles and relax shoulders | Harbor secret resentment about your mom always nagging you to stand up straight |
| Drive to work | Gently accelerate into traffic, saving gas. | Don’t people know how to drive around here? |
| Lunch | Thorough chewing of each morsel of your roasted root vegetables | You want fries with that? |
| Unwind after work | 30 minutes of yoga | “The Simpsons” reruns |
Dr. Lavine has been an innovator in the use of movement and touch to promote health since 1981. He practices in New York City and Princeton, NJ.
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