In the midst of all those chores it may be tempting to do several things at once – in other words multi-task. Yet, however effective this may seem, several studies suggest that multi-taking in fact reduces performance and increases the body’s stress level.
„People who multitask all the time can’t filter out irrelevancy. They can’t manage a working memory. They’re chronically distracted. They initiate much larger parts of their brain that are irrelevant to the task at hand.„
Clifford Nass, professor of communications at Stanford University in California, author of “The Man Who Lied to His Laptop.”
It does not take long to bump into all sorts of „good advice” on the internet on how to be more mindful. A simply Google search on the term „mindfulness” will produce an endless list of hits giving you reading stuff for months. There are a whole lot of mindfulness apps readily available either for free or for a fee, that you can download in an instant, and immediately you’ll have tons of guided meditations to choose from.
Yet, I find that we tend to get lost in the abundance of information. What is on the internet is often incomplete, sometimes confusing or conflicting. How do I know which source to trust? How do I translate what I read into practice? How do I „customize” the formal and informal practices to make them fit into my busy life? How do you make it all “doable”?
With several years experience as a market researcher, I began searching for engaging ways to bring this transformative practice into my daily routine. I have been collecting and putting to the test mindfulness exercises to answer the questions above. I have done a whole lot of reading and synthetizing what I have found. This online course shares with you what I have found to work best for me.
Therefore we humans are built with an automatic response mechanism to deal with stress. In order to help us get prepared for challenges in the face of stressful events, a series of physical changes take place in our body. Our heart rate increases, our blood vessels tighten, even our digestive and immune systems slow down.
Of course not all stress is bad though: in limited doses stressors can be motivating. It is when your are exposed to constant or prolonged stress that the body and mind have no chance to recover.
Also, people differ from each other in the way they react to stressors. Hightened blood pressure, concentration difficulties, irritated mood, insomnia, various kinds of digestive disorders, weakened immune system and decreased brain power are just a few of the health challenges that raise a red flag: maybe you could use some new tools to handle stress and cope with everyday challenges.
…. maybe you could use some new tools to handle stress and cope with everyday challenges.
Mindfulness is an amazingly simple techique allowing you to respond to stressful situations in a DIFFERENT WAY. In a way that reduces the harmful impact on your body, improves your decision-making skills, and changes your brain for the better.
It is a MINDSET which will allow you to separate yourself from bad habits like eating when you are stressed, having the same old argument with that person over and over again, or applying an outdated solution to a new challenge.
Mindfulness is rapidly gaining momentum in mainstream media. There is an ever increasing number of, articles, blog posts, TED-Talks and all sorts of books on the countless benefits of mindfulness …. so then what prevents us from living our life more presently?
Contrary to popular belief mindfulness in not ‘just being there’ – it is indeed a mindset which requires certain skills. And learning a new skill is always a lenghty process.It takes practice just as in the case of learning to master a new sport.
The mind has a wandering character – a character of its own. Just sit still for a while trying NOT to think. Clear your head completely from thoughts. It is virtually impossible.
Practising without any guidance can easily lead to distractions and side-tracks. Instead of learning it the hard way, make a commitment and dedicate twelve weeks to experimenting with mindful living. Sign up for Fruits of Now’s brand new course
and
to an easy-to-follow online platform reserved for a closed group of members
of learning in the comfort of your home or any other place that suits you best
when circumstances are ideal to do formal exercises
of stress and worry and regain control of your reactions
mindful parenting and mindfulness at work.
your most creative state of mind and
What is this all about? Introduction to Mindfulness
Different Modes of Operation, Anchor Points
Breathing as an Anchor, The Power of Rhythm
An Embodied Experience, On Physical Activities
Fight or Flight Response, Unity of Body and Soul
Negativity Bias, Detaching from Thoughts
Mindfulness and Daily Routine, Consolidation
The Overall Picture, Farewell Notes
Aside from easy-to-digest reading materials with hands-on hints and tips the SEEDS OF NOW course also includes a bunch of formal and informal exercises on how to translate all those learning into practice. Audio-guided recordings are an inevitable part of each chapter. The online course also contains two separate chapters dedicated to Mindful Parenting and Mindfulness At Work.
Because this is a self-paced course, once you get access to the closed platform, all reading materials and audios will be readily available to you for a period of twelve weeks. The main body of the course was designed to be completed in six consecutive weeks. An additional six weeks will be reserved for the remaining chapters as well as for experimenting.
There is a conscious decision behind limiting access – it is meant to urge you to work yourself through the course within reasonable time and put the content into practice.
