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The benefits of mindfulness
are many:
• When you slow down and stop
doing so many things, you
have the opportunity to notice
the endless thoughts that pop
into your head.
• When you are mindful during
everyday activities, you notice
the thought patterns that
dominate your thinking.
• You notice your feelings
in various situations and
• By observing yourself from a
more objective perspective,
you can gain insights into
why you feel the way you do,
eventually noticing triggers,
beliefs, values and other filters
that you use.
Meditating
When you first start meditating,
you often catch yourself getting
drawn to other thoughts or
images before consciously
pulling your attention back
to your breath, mantra or
meditative movement, only
to have your mind wander yet
again. It can seem as though you
are never going to catch on to
meditating. But if you persist you
will find that, at some point, you
are able to notice the thoughts
and images more objectively,
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recognize the difference
between being in calming,
peaceful situations and being
in situations that make you
feel stressed, angry or sad.
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The benefits of meditation and
mindfulness can be difficult to
appreciate until you experience
them firsthand. In addition to
helping you become calmer and
more focused, meditation can
help you get more in touch with
your real self. In fact, this is one
of its primary goals. Meditation
helps you to go inside yourself
and experience emotions and
feelings that you may have
neglected, ignored or been unable
to confront in the past.
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with the awareness that these
are only diversions—they are
not who you are. This allows you
to acknowledge the thoughts
without getting drawn into them.
Becoming more aware of the
sea of thoughts constantly
moving through your head may
initially make you feel as t