An Interview About What Mindfulness Means to Me With Tools That You Can Use {Mindfulness | Whole | Stress Management}

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This video is an excerpt from my best-selling The Whole Cure Lifestyle Transformation Program: Mind Module!

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I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Authority Magazine to share my career path, inspirations, views on the meaning of mindfulness and strategies for coping with uncertainty and stress using tools from mindfulness. If you are interested in learning more about why I became a preventive and lifestyle medicine physician, how I practice and teach mindfulness and which tools I believe can help you to develop mindfulness and serenity during stressful or uncertain times you can click the photo below to read the complete interview on Medium and also featured on Thrive Global!

From your experience or research, how would you define and describe the state of being mindful?

Being mindful is simply defined as paying attention on purpose. Looking at your life through the lens of mindfulness empowers you with a new way to relate to your body and mind. Mindfulness is about being in the moment and remaining aware of what is going on in your body and mind. It involves

• intention,
• attention, and
• attitude.

You can start by paying attention to where your attention actually is. Present moment awareness serves as an anchor to keep you grounded despite uncertainty. This supports you to maintain your perspective on what’s truly important without getting caught up in anxiety and fear.

This might be intuitive to you, but it will be instructive to spell this out. Can you share with our readers a few of the physical, mental, and emotional benefits of becoming mindful?

Science shows that mindfulness is a powerful tool for improving mind-body health. Different mental states can positively or negatively affect biological functioning. This occurs since the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems share a common chemical language, which allows constant communication between the mind and body through messengers like hormones and neurotransmitters. These intersecting systems help to establish the mind-body connection that influences the maintenance of health or the development of the disease.

For example, emotions like anxiety can trigger increased stress hormones, which may suppress the immune system and set the stage for the development of infections or chronic diseases. Similarly, fear is a survival instinct alerting you to impending danger. But this instinct can become a threat when your thoughts become stuck in a repetitive cycle without awareness. Once the fear pathways in the brain are ramped up, the brain short-circuits more rational processing paths and reacts immediately to signals from the amygdala. In this overactive state, the brain more readily perceives events as purely negative, threatening and fearful and remembers them that way. This can trigger physical and emotional responses every time a similar fear stimulus shows up.

With mindfulness, fear and anxiety can be approached as a call to action. The ability to remain calmly mindful, aware and present that you cultivate through practicing mindfulness gives you the presence to approach the emotion of fear as a signal. This can allow you to avoid what is harmful and take affirmative action towards considered, purposeful action.

Since fear is a future occurrence, it is a reminder to reconnect to the present moment. When fear and anxiety are approached and processed mindfully, they become less formidable. You gain the mental flexibility and calm perspective to discover spaces of safety amid uncertainty.

What are the best resources you would suggest for someone to learn how to be more mindful and serene in their everyday life?

One of the first mindfulness tools I help people learn is how to harness the power of the breath. The breath is a beautiful tool that is free, is always with you, requires no equipment and can be used simply to improve your health. Regularly practicing mindful breathing can be both calming and energizing. You can control your breath and use it to reduce stress and achieve a relaxed state.

There are many resources online, and I offer many audio breathing exercises and guided relaxation experiences on my blog which can be used anywhere and at any time of day. Try using them when you feel panic, stress, anxiety or just want a few moments of calm in your day. They are also helpful for coping with pain and helping the body prepare for rest and relaxation.

Another readily available resource for most people that can be tremendously healing is nature. Connecting with the cycles and beauty of nature is one way to connect with your inner beauty and limitless wisdom which helps you to find spaces of calm and rest amidst uncertainty, fear, anxiety or sadness. Standing beneath the canopy of a tree or simply looking at a picture of a beautiful scene and noticing all the patterns and shapes of the leaves and branches or feeling the grass or sand beneath your feet can help you become more grounded in the present moment.

Throughout my book, The Whole Cure: 52 Essential Prescriptions to Overcome Overwhelm, Reclaim Balance and Reconnect with a Life You Love!, the exercises I share are designed to help you build mindfulness into your everyday life, strengthen resiliency and find that space between your triggers and response. These types of practices allow you to regain the space and ability to pause, observe your thoughts and emotions and gain clarity to act in a compassionate, considered and creative manner.

Mindfulness Resources for Self-Healing:
      

• Download your free chapters and wellness prescriptions now and get started incorporating a more mindful approach into your life and building resiliency. You can also get your copy of The Whole Cure in paperback or Kindle edition from Amazon.
• My Mindfulness Resources for Crisis and Self-Healing Package provides you with professionally-designed worksheets, handouts and workbooks for creating habits and practicing tools that support optimal stress management, resilience and coping with difficulty.
• Guided meditations and relaxation exercises from my Breathe CD.

Mindfulness Resources for Health Care Practitioners:

   

• If you are a health coach or other health care professional,  I heard from many of you requesting done-for-you content and tools for easy-to-incorporate mindfulness practices that you could use during this time with your clients and patients. To address this need, I want to offer my Done-for-You Package of Mindfulness Resources for Crisis and Calm at 70% off the regular price. Right now you can get the complete package for only $67 here. This Done-for-You Package of Mindfulness Resources for Crisis and Calm provides professional mindfulness resources for coaching and sharing self-healing tools and practices to empower you to teach others how to disconnect from panic, fear and anxiety and build inner peace.
• My newest done-for-you workshop package Rest, Restore & Rejuvenate to Mindfully Manage Stress is the perfect way to offer support for stressful times and everyday optimal health. You can use this completely done-for-you workshop package with your clients or for a virtual teleworkshop or series of sessions. You get everything done for you, from a complete word-for-word script to handouts for your clients to a guided exercise to a complete instruction guide so you are ready to confidently share this guidance with people right away. 

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

A quote that I have been returning to recently is “Move, but don’t move the way fear makes you move.” from the poem Keep Walking by Rumi.

To process fear you must feel and express it and not repress or ignore the emotion. This is a time when we are all challenged to figure out our way of being, moving and surviving. In a crisis as in times of calm, mindfulness is about being present — about noticing what’s going on right in front of you and responding to that instead of to stories about the past or future that may run around your mind.

One of the questions I have learned to ask myself when faced with stressful situations or uncertainty is “Do I want to run away, freeze, run towards, or stand still and learn how to surf the waves?” There is often something to be gained by slowing down our pace, including the pace of our thoughts.

Mindfulness and meditation teach us that our endless meandering down the streams of “past” and “future,” the buying into “what-ifs,” leads us only to distance ourselves from reality, ourselves and each other.

What Rumi suggests in the quote above is not that we should pretend that we are not empty or fearful but that we must express it, not repress it. To best process what is actually going on in the present moment, get what is inside out in a constructive, creative way instead of getting stuck replaying old stories and distractions.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Especially when things are uncertain, compassion–for ourselves and others–and connection are needed more than ever. Living your life from a place of unconditional kindness, for yourself and others, is a key element of mindfulness practices.

Kindness enhances your connections with yourself, with those you interact with, and with the world around you. When you act with kindness and compassion toward yourself and those around you, you add much-needed ease and grace to your life.

Self-compassion is not just about feeling good about yourself or carving out me-time. It’s a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from actions that support your physical, psychological and spiritual growth. Self-compassion provides you with space to gently forgive yourself while granting you the clarity to acknowledge your strengths. Having compassion for yourself as you move through life moves you toward finding personal meaning and fulfillment.

Self-compassion is a dynamic experience that grows with you as you change, experience life, and evolve. Being connected to what you feel, think and want allows you to remain mindful of who you are and act on this knowledge. Together, mindfulness and self-compassion comprise a state of positive, connected presence that helps to balance the physiology of the body and carry you through difficult moments in your life.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

You can read more about my journey and some of the tools that can help you to develop mindfulness and serenity in the complete interview on Authority Magazine!

What does mindfulness mean to you?

You can also join me on Instagram for mini-mindfulness moments, exercises and discussions on how to add ease and purpose into life.

Join us on Instagram for more mindfulness moments!

I would love to have you in my Insider’s Community! Join for free and receive your FREE Chapters from The Whole Cure: 52 Essential Prescriptions to Overcome Overwhelm, Reclaim Balance and Reconnect with a Life You Love! You can pick up a full paperback or Kindle copy on Amazon for a wealth of insights, exercises and complete toolkit to help you uncover your true passions, authentic purpose and calm confidence as well.

To keep building your healthy lifestyle and best self through everyday habits, take the next step today to commit to a life you truly love and feel fully alive!

• Pick up a copy of The Whole Cure to build resilience and manage stress in a way that makes life flow with greater ease and joy!
• Access guided relaxation exercises utilizing the power of the breath and mind here.
• Join my next online group Whole Cure Lifestyle Transformation Programs to build more powerful coping strategies and skills for meaningful stress management and a calmer life! Contact me to form your own guided online group or register for the next scheduled online program!

I also support health coaches, physicians and other health professionals in sharing mindfulness and self-healing techniques with their clients and patients. To support you in supporting them, I am offering my Done-for-You Package of Mindfulness Resources for Crisis and Calm as well as my newest done-for-you workshop package Rest, Restore & Rejuvenate to Mindfully Manage Stress at a sliding scale so we can reach as many people as possible with support for this stressful time. You can use this completely done-for-you workshop package with your clients or for a virtual teleworkshop or series of sessions. You get everything done for you, from a complete word-for-word script to handouts for your clients to a guided exercise to a complete instruction guide so you are ready to confidently share this guidance with people right away. Contact me for sliding scale prices so we can reach as many people with this guidance. Pay what is most suitable for your current situation so that we can share this with the most people possible and provide more mindful energy into the world. 

Medical Disclaimer: Information provided in this post and related resources are for informational purposes only. Jennifer Weinberg is not providing medical advice, diagnosis or treatment information. The information is NOT intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other healthcare professional. Every body is unique so be sure to check with your healthcare professional before making any dietary or lifestyle changes, taking any medication or nutritional supplement or using any treatment for a health issue. Do not use this information provided for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. If you suspect you have a medical problem please contact your healthcare provider promptly and do not disregard professional medical advice based on anything on this website. This website and related resources are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease and do not create a doctor-patient relationship between you and Jennifer Weinberg. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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