When there’s a drastic event in your life, often regardless of whether it’s a negative one or not, there’s often a period of stress and recovery involved. And if you only do the things that you normally do, there isn’t a way to really push for the balance that you’re going to need in order to get back to your physical and mental center. And that’s where a certain additional type of mindfulness can help you out.

Five cases where this type of mindfulness can help out, in particular, would be with addiction recovery, the loss of a loved one, getting a new job, moving to a new area, or even dealing with empty nest syndrome after your kids have moved out of your house, for instance.

Addiction Recovery

You’ll often notice that when it comes to addiction recovery, mindfulness exercises are often advertised as a cornerstone of the process of rehabilitation. Part of the reason behind this is that mindfulness can be associated with almost any activity, and deepens the experience and it’s impact. Additionally, mindfulness can both be mental (focusing on one thing at a time) and physical (focusing on the breath or the body).

The Loss of a Loved One

When you love a loved one, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll go through the grieving process. During this process, if you remain mentally and physically mindful, by paying close attention to real time sensory input, it can be a huge help in terms of efficiently moving through all of the stages. Every person is going to go through them differently, but the simply act of focus will help out in almost all cases.

Getting a New Job

Getting a new job, though often a great step forward in life, can be extremely stressful. There are new people, new expectations, and new habits that you’ll be expected to absorb. Using physical and mental mindfulness will help you keep stress at a manageable levels, often through variations on the idea of walking meditations

Moving To a New Area

When you’re moving your primary residence, especially if it’s to a new state or a new cultural area, it’s important to be mindful of several things. In particular, you want to make sure that you pay attention to the social norms of your new neighbors. The last things you want to do is commit some social faux pas because you simply weren’t paying attention!

Empty Nest Syndrome

If you’re a parent and your kids have finally all left the house, there’s going to be a feeling of emptiness that immediately follows. The point of mindfulness during that stage is going to be reassessing who you are as a person, and it can be both incredibly stressful and incredibly satisfying in the end.

Originally posted on November 9, 2016 @ 7:44 pm