How well are you using that time?
Or
Are you wasting your time?
According to the latest WHO data published in 2015, the average human lifespan of Malaysia is just 75 years: 77.3 years if you are a woman and 72.7 years if you are a man. During that time, most adults sleep 7-9 hours per day, leaving the average person with 16 hours a day to work, eat, play, exercise, have fun, and to live.
Studies by Harvard University has shown that the average person spends about 47% of waking time lost in thoughts, stressing over plans, overthinking about problems, or otherwise caught up in how to live life instead or living it. The act of overthinking life cuts the meaningful hours in a day down to an average of 8.5 hours. So, at the end of the day, the average human is only really living for about 1/3rd of their available time.
Most of us tend to think in one way, and that is overthinking. With the advance technology and up growing environment, we grow up in families where parents stress about money; partners worry about weight loss or appearance; where television ads throw us with never ending ideas about everything from finances to the color of our teeth. We worry about what’s for dinner; whether the email asking for a meeting after work will be good or bad; whether we should be buying things we do not need; and even about the people around us.
All these over thinking make us Anxious, Depressed, and Not Enjoying Life as much as we could.
Mindfulness helps to fix that by getting you out of your own head. Mindfulness is the systematic process of cultivating attention and awareness in your present environment, without judgment, and therefore influencing the quality of your experiences and interactions with the world. Mindfulness can be practiced is many situations ranging from breathing, eating, working, studying, and even when doing your chores.
To simply kick start mindfulness, below is a quick exercise that you can start with.
Stop what you are doing, sit down or lay down in a room with no sounds or people to disturb you, and stay there. You can turn on the music if you want, but ensure that is it quiet without lyrics to distract you. You want to ensure that you are in a comfortable position and place. Use your phone or alarm to set an alarm for 10 minutes (to ensure that you are not interrupted). Silent your phone to ensure you will not receive phone calls or texts during this time.
Stop what you are doing, sit down or lay down in a room with no sounds or people to disturb you, and stay there. You can turn on the music if you want, but ensure that is it quiet without lyrics to distract you. You want to ensure that you are in a comfortable position and place. Use your phone or alarm to set an alarm for 10 minutes (to ensure that you are not interrupted). Silent your phone to ensure you will not receive phone calls or texts during this time.
Sit or lie down and focus on slowing your breath. Inhale for 3 seconds, exhale for 3 seconds, and repeat. After few repetitions, slow your breath to 4 seconds, pausing for 1 second in between each breath. Focusing on long, slow, even breaths. You can decrease it to 2 depending on how comfortable you are.
Remember, you have no other agenda but to sit still, breathe, and pay attention to your body and its rhythms.
When your thoughts begin to wander, simply focus on the breath. Do not reprimand yourself, simply consciously shift the attention back to your inhalation and exhalation.
For many of us, this short exercise is one that we have not done before. And it can be surprising for many that this process of intentionally stopping all activity and focusing on the body can create emotion, relaxation, or even enjoyment.
Like any other habits, mindfulness takes time to build. The more you practice, the more you create a mindful experience. With time and practice, mindfulness will become a habit, and will eventually become effortless. By being mindful in your everyday activity, you spend time more effectively, more efficiently, resulting you in better mood, less stress, and more energetic.
Stay tune for more about Mindfulness.
To know more about how Mindfulness can help you, visit Spectrum of Life (SOL) or give us a call @ +603-4022 6689. or LiveChat us now :)
By: Ms Jolene Yeo - SOL Psychologist
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