Mindfulness
Mindfulness.
The first time I heard the word mindfulness was in Murmansk, Russia. I was one in a group of Swedish journalists visiting Murmansk and had the unique opportunity to get inside a nuclear plant. Who knew then about the Ukraine war! One of the journalists, Mikael Andersson, had changed his career from journalist and he was now offering courses in how to rebuild your life. Mindfulness was an important part of his education. As was being outdoors. I thought, woow, what a silly word. I will never do anything as weird as that. That was 4 years ago. There’s been a dramatic change since then!
A bit more than 2 years ago I had my accident on the inland ice in Greenland. Concussion. I would say I got rid of 99.99% of it in Namibia. But it brought other issues in its wake. Like a tiny stroke only 6 months ago. That kind of turned up the heat of how to live my life. I knew stress and “genetic” angst were the main culprits, because I spend much time outdoors, train hard and eat healthy. I had already through my friend Sofie been slightly introduced into mindfulness and when Hannah turned up with her convincing ways in my life, I started meditating, continued my yoga and introduced breathing and cold baths.
It takes time for things to make a difference in your life, especially when changing your ways of living. I would say, after the great Namibian cycling ride with the girls, mindfulness to a 100%, finally every session I do at home, feels like a huge breath of air. Especially when my mind in some ways is troubled. And the breathing exercises have been of great help in normal daily life when everything becomes too much.
Right now -this will change of course, since life is a roller coaster ride- I feel at the best place in life. I feel very content, stimulated, sleep well, strong and relaxed. Mindfulness is definitely a major part of this. And there are apps and podcasts that help, see the links below. The Helathy Minds App, Rich Roll and Huberman Labs podcast inspires.
Links:
Healthy App: https://hminnovations.org/meditation-app
Rich Roll Podcast https://www.richroll.com/all-episodes/
Huberman Lab https://www.hubermanlab.com/
