How Mindfulness is Integral to Health

I'm a big proponent of being in the NOW. She was also known as being mindful or present.

The goal of being mindful is to focus on the life in front of our eyes, to do things deliberately and purposefully, and not be distracted by our racing minds. You're probably mistaken if you think this doesn't affect you or you are 'good' at this.

It takes practice to have a fully aware presence of being all the time. Hell, the monks devote their entire lives to it.

"Meh, I'm sure it's easy if I just tried," says your skeptical-know-it-all-self.
Ok, try this: close your eyes and breathe in and out slowly for a minute.

Suppose you can successfully go that entire minute without thinking about anything outside your life beyond just feeling the sensations of your breathing and being. In that case, I apologize for my presumptions, and please teach me your secret.

The rest of us mortals must rely on meditation and mindfulness to quiet our hyperactive minds.

Meditation and mindfulness are excellent tools to help you with every aspect of your life. You can start small and progress your way into practice. You aren't expected to be able to meditate for hours on end initially--nor is that necessary to see significant benefit.

Case in point: I used to be a mega-worrier. I would worry about bills, appointments, speculation, other people, this, that, and so on.

Then I found Buddhism and was introduced to being mindful in the present. This led me to discover meditation and Stoicism as I realized the power of mental training and pursued further study.

After incorporating these practices into my daily life, I no longer suffer from a chronic-worry frame of mind. I do stress from time to time, but it's a fraction of what it used to be, thanks to these practices.