Published on January 09, 2023
Healthy Tips Video: Mindfulness
Hi. I'm Christa Flamion, a counselor here at Employee Assistance Program with Owensboro Health. And today's health tip is mindfulness. So what is mindfulness you might ask? Mindfulness is a state of awareness where you are aware of how you're interacting in an environment in a non-judgmental manner. So for instance, if I'm talking to you and you appear to be nervous, I might simply say, are you nervous? You don't need to be.
So for example, mindfulness is understanding your environment. Like right now, I'm on camera being filmed and I'm looking into a camera and I'm not understanding or I'm feeling that I don't know who I'm talking to. Perhaps I'm talking to you and in relations perhaps maybe you're understanding how I feel right now. You're becoming mindful right now on this real time watching this video. Kind of neat, ain't it?
So when we start understanding how we feel, it kind of loosens up the moment. It kind of gets us-- it kind of gets us into the real of the situation, normalcy, and becoming in a normal transparent, non-judgment situation. Makes it easier for us to relate to the situation at hand, the situation at moment.
How do you practice these things? One thing is understanding how you feel. Getting more in touch with your environment. Slowing down. Smell in the roses. We hear that all the time, but do we really take it for what it's worth? Do we really slow down? Hear our breaths. Feel our thoughts. Understand what we're really doing. Otherwise, that we also can practice mindfulness as meditation.
Some people use yoga and mindfulness meditations, mindfulness walks. Walking is one of my preferred mindfulness because you actually interact with your four basic senses. You smell flowers, you hear noises, you're really slowing down, and you're really thinking. You think thoughts, deep thoughts, more than what you normally would if you're just putting one foot in front of the other.
So I encourage you to think about how mindful are you? How mindful are you and how are you interacting with yourself, not only your environment right now? For more information on this topic or other resources, contact the Employee Assistance Program at 270-688-1547.
About Owensboro Health
Owensboro Health is a nonprofit health system with a mission to heal the sick and to improve the health of the communities it serves in Kentucky and Indiana. The system includes Owensboro Health Regional Hospital, nationally recognized for design, architecture and engineering; Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital; Owensboro Health Twin Lakes Medical Center; the Owensboro Health Medical Group comprised of over 350 providers at more than 30 locations; three outpatient Healthplex facilities, a certified medical fitness facility, the Healthpark; a weight management program, and the Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center.
On average each year, we have more than 19,000 inpatient admissions, deliver 2,000 babies and provide the region’s only Level III NICU. Owensboro Health physicians perform nearly 33,000 surgical procedures, including nearly 150 open-heart surgeries. Our physicians and staff have 90,000 Emergency Department visits and more than 1.25 million outpatient visits annually. Visit our home page for more information.