01 nov ‘Half of our lives we live on autopilot’
Aimee has no doubts: “Mindfulness is here to stay,” the psychologist and teacher mindfulness classes at mac Body & Mind says. “Do you know scientific research has shown that we do not consciously experience 47 percent of our time, just because our thoughts are elsewhere? That means almost half of our lives we live on autopilot. That is so much! Out of my own experiences I know that mindfulness helps you to actually live in the moment. It really works, so undoubtedly the popularity of this class will increase in the coming period.
You hear about mindfulness more and more. If you don’t know what it is: ‘Mindfulness is living in the now, without judgment and with mildness’. That may sound complicated, so Aimee clarifies with an example. “We brush our teeth every day. If you use the mindfulness technique for brushing your teeth, then you’ll experience this – often – routine very consciously: what do you taste? What do you feel? And if you get lost in thoughts, you take yourself back to the moment. You can train this skill in mindfulness classes.”
Intense
Maybe you wonder why it is necessary to live in the moment? “Because you experience everything in life much more intense, the good and the bad moments. Last summer I experienced a sad period in my life. Thanks to mindfulness I did not linger in sad thoughts and I managed to enjoy the small, nice moments. When you allow negative feelings at certain moments, you notice at one point they will go away. So I could handle the issues that needed attention at that specific moment and negative thoughts did not completely take over in a later moment.”
Training of the attention muscle
Not only does Aimee benefit greatly from mindfulness, she knows that members who participate in her class do too. “We train our attention muscles during mindfulness, so we learn to focus our attention. Members tell me they really like doing mindfulness in a group and not alone with some sort of app at home. Meditation at home is often difficult, because there are so many distractions! We don’t have them. In today’s world, mindfulness helps people release their stress. But the members who come to the classes are very diverse. Really, mindfulness can be very useful for everyone!”
Do you want to try oud mindfulness class? The class is every Thursday at 20.30 hours at mac Body & Mind!