Stress. We all experience it at one time or another. Whether it’s studying for a big exam or figuring out how to pay bills, there’s no shortage of stressors present in our day-to-day lives. While a certain amount of stress can be healthy and motivate you, excessive stress can negatively impact your physical and mental well-being.
The level of impact depends on each person’s unique stressors and ability to cope with them. Stress looks different for everyone, so there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. That said, practicing mindfulness techniques is an excellent place for anyone to start.
Understanding Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the act of giving your full attention to the current moment. It allows you to observe your surroundings without feeling overwhelmed. Regularly practicing mindfulness can improve your mental state and your daily experiences.
Mentally and emotionally, mindfulness promotes stability and minimizes stress. It also improves your concentration, attention span, and memory while increasing your compassion for yourself and others. This increased capacity for empathy enhances relationship success and satisfaction, equipping you to disengage from unhealthy relationships to make room for healthy ones.
Mindfulness starts by focusing on your current experience, and you can do this by paying attention to your breath, body, or the sights and sounds around you. Concentrating on your everyday sensory experiences keeps your mind focused on the present and allows you to accept your experiences without judgment. And getting started might be easier than you think. Simply observe your thoughts, emotions, and sensations without attaching labels to them. This non-judgemental awareness keeps you from getting caught up in self-criticism.
When practicing mindfulness, observe your thoughts as they come without being consumed by them. Acknowledge them and let them pass. Recognizing your thought patterns and habits will go a long way toward helping you achieve greater mental clarity — and that’s something that will benefit every area of your life.
Ultimately, practicing mindfulness keeps us from simply going through the motions every day. It encourages us to engage with each moment with full intentionality and presence.
Mindfulness and Stress Reduction
The increased awareness that results from mindfulness can help you pick up on signs and causes of stress more quickly. This awareness makes it easier for you to respond promptly. Mindfulness also practices reduced reactivity, which makes you less likely to react impulsively to stressors and allows you to choose more measured reactions.
When responding to stress, cognitive reframing helps you view stress as something that can be managed rather than an overwhelming force. You’ll be able to face stressors with a calm and centered mind that keeps you from feeling overwhelmed.
Many mindfulness practices trigger a relaxation response, reducing the physical symptoms of stress. By changing the way you see and feel stress, you can develop more effective coping strategies. Here are a few mindfulness techniques you can try:
1) Mindful breathing
It’s as easy as it sounds. Your breath is an anchor for your awareness and helps you stay present in the moment. Find a quiet place, close your eyes, and focus on the rhythm and feel of your breath. By practicing simple breathing exercises, you can learn to focus on your breath to calm your mind and reduce the impact of stress.
2) Visualizations
Visualization entails creating mental images of places or scenarios to promote relaxation and reduce stress. It allows you to shift your focus away from stressors and into a more positive mental space. To practice visualization, close your eyes and focus on building a relaxing scene. If your mind starts to wander, redirect your attention to the scene you’ve created and stay there for a few minutes to fully immerse yourself in the experience.
3) Body scan
If this is a new concept for you, you’re not alone. Many people experience a little uncertainty when starting this practice. Fortunately, it’s something you can master with a little practice. To do a body scan, direct your attention to different parts of your body. Sit in a quiet room and close your eyes. Slowly move your attention up your body, from your toes to the top of your head. Notice and acknowledge any sensations without judgment and spend more time on areas that are tense or require more attention. By regularly performing body scans, you’ll become more in tune with your body, release physical tension, and experience more relaxation.
4) Journaling
Journaling provides a safe place to explore your mind and emotions. It also promotes awareness and non-judgmental observation. The act of writing down your thoughts can help you understand your inner world better and gain insights into the ideas and feelings that you experience every day. All you have to do is take time to write what you’re thinking and feeling. Be honest, but be compassionate toward yourself and withhold judgment. Use journaling to reflect on what you feel and why you feel it.
As we said earlier, stress looks different for everyone, so find a mindfulness practice that works best for you. The most important thing is taking time to be present in the moment without distractions and to acknowledge everything without judgment.
How Stress Impacts Mental Clarity
Stress and mental clarity can go hand in hand — for better and for worse. But to understand how the two affect each other, we must first understand what mental clarity is.
Mental clarity is the state in which your mind is fully active and engaged. It’s needed to solve problems and stay productive, but it’s not necessarily our default state. When you have mental clarity, your perception is unclouded, and you are fully present in the moment — the exact state mindfulness promotes.
The problem is that stress and worry tend to get in the way of our mental clarity. When it becomes difficult to concentrate or you start to experience memory problems, mental fog has set in. A lack of mental clarity can be caused by sleep deprivation, stress, poor nutrition, and excessive distractions. While there’s no single cause of mental fog, each factor can play a role in its development.
1) Lack of sleep
Your body needs sleep. Without enough of it, you’ll experience impaired cognitive performance, decreased energy levels, changes in mood, and poor memory — all of which contribute to a lack of mental clarity.
2) Stress
While a healthy amount of stress can drive high performance, chronic stress is detrimental to your mental and physical well-being. Chronic stress causes elevated cortisol levels, weakening circulation and preventing the heart from sending enough oxygen to the brain. And if the brain doesn’t have enough oxygen, it won’t be able to work the way it should.
3) Nutrient deficiency
Believe it or not, certain foods can directly affect your brain. B12, omega-3 fatty acids, and polyphenols found in colorful fruits and vegetables are examples of foods that can help improve your mental clarity. On the other hand, trigger foods like gluten, dairy, and refined sugar can lead to brain fog.
4) Distractions
At the risk of overstating the obvious, distractions can impair your focus. External and internal distractions can bombard your mind with unnecessary information. The human brain can only process so much information at once, so distractions overload your brain and keep you from focusing.
While stress is listed among these factors, it can cause others. Stress is your body’s way of reacting to external threats. Excessive and ongoing stress can cause physical, mental, and behavioral symptoms. Those suffering from chronic stress experience sleep problems, memory problems, an inability to concentrate, poor eating habits, and withdrawal from others. So, while a lack of sleep may play a big role in your lack of mental clarity, the root cause could still be stress.
Creating a Habit of Mindfulness
Long story short, mindfulness is vital to managing stress and achieving mental clarity. But how do you start? The first step is recognizing the importance of regularly practicing mindfulness. From there, we recommend taking these steps:
1) Start small
Nobody develops a habit of mindfulness overnight — it takes time. Start with short sessions each day and slowly increase the time spent on mindfulness as you become more comfortable.
2) Find a regular time
You can practice mindfulness at any time of the day, so find a time that works for you and try to stick to it. Consistency will help you build a lasting habit of mindfulness.
3) Integrate mindfulness with existing habits
Believe it or not, certain foods can directly affect your brain. B12, omega-3 fatty acids, and polyphenols found in colorful fruits and vegetables are examples of foods that can help improve your mental clarity. On the other hand, trigger foods like gluten, dairy, and refined sugar can lead to brain fog.
4) Find what works
Choose a mindfulness technique that feels achievable and meets your individual needs.
5) Be patient
Building a habit takes time, so be patient with yourself and know that it’s alright to miss a session occasionally. The key is not to get discouraged but to return to the practice as quickly as possible.
6) Adjust as needed
Life changes, so leave room for your routine to change, too. Adapting your mindfulness practice to align with your current stage of life will help you maintain consistency.
Ultimately, paying attention to your mental and physical health will help you determine which mindfulness practices are best for you. There is no right or wrong way to approach mindfulness — the important thing is to stay consistent and be aware of how it impacts you. When you develop a consistent approach, you’ll find a rhythm of mindfulness that allows you to approach every day with less stress and more clarity.
