Mindfulness
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is considered the process of purposefully observing your thoughts and the present moment without judgment. The future is left in the future and the past left in the past, meaning you are only focusing on your feelings and situation that are happening right now.
Mindfulness reduces negative emotions, increases positive emotions, and boosts the immune system. By doing so, mindfulness buffers the stress response and supports healing. In addition, mindful thinking underlies the practice of every resiliency strategy on this site, compounding your healing potential.
Mindfulness takes daily practice to reprogram your default thinking. Lead your days observing your thoughts. Can you recognize when your mind wanders to the troubling past or the uncontrollable future?
Dispute any assumptions that you do not know to be true. Challenge yourself to leave your interpretation open-ended rather than fixed. For example, you cannot completely know the future outcome of your injury, so control what you can today—your physical therapy and your mindset. Don’t fix your mind on a certain negative or unrealistic recovery but rather let the day you return to a new normal come itself.
Resources
Check out these free guided meditations from UCLA Health.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction is particularly helpful after injury. Check out this free online training.
Take a free course on Mindfulness and Well-being Foundations.
Deepak Chopra offers a free 21-day mindfulness class.
If you have Netflix, headspace Guide to Meditation might be helpful.