Four reasons why you should not use Mindfulness

There are four situations when Mindfulness might not be the answer and setting it aside might be the healthier option.

First, we'll explore the importance of analytical thinking and how it sometimes conflicts with mindfulness.
We'll then tackle the complexities of anxiety and fear, and how trying to force mindfulness during these high-stress moments can do more harm than good.
From there, we'll discuss the danger of using mindfulness as an escape and the need for addressing life's challenges head-on.
Finally, we’ll delve into the sensitive topic of personal trauma and why professional help is crucial in these situations.

This episode aims to emphasize the importance of the balance of mindfulness and the awareness of when you need more thought-provoking times in your life.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

For Hypnosis or Coaching  go on over to  Cheryljreynolds.com

How do I know if I'm mindful 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I am a huge advocate for mindfulness.
I know for myself that when Ido not focus on myself and
practice mindfulness, I noticeit and I feel it, but there are
a few times when you shouldconsider not being mindful, and
we're going to talk about thaton this podcast episode.
So let's get started.

(00:20):
Welcome to Mindful HypnosisPodcast.
It is time to cultivate apurposeful life.
Learn all about how to createnew helpful habits and mindset
changes with integrativehypnosis Plus.
With a sprinkle of mindfulnessthroughout your day, you can
easily shift into a calmer stateof mind.

(00:40):
I am Cheryl, your hypnotist andpodcast host, and I welcome you
to a better way of living yourlife, one minute at a time.
Would you like to melt away theworries of the day?
?
Go on over to Cheryljreynolds.

(01:07):
com/ grounding.
.
As you know, I am a hugecomponent of mindfulness.
I think it is one of the bestways to allow us to really feel
alive and settled and calm, andthere is something magical that

(01:33):
happens when you allow thatspaciousness of mindfulness to
take over.
However, there are times whenyou should not be mindful, and
we're going to talk about thaton this podcast episode.
So let's get right to it.
So, first off, as you know,mindfulness is being fully

(01:55):
present in the moment, withoutjudgment.
If you think about that, thatright there can give you an
indication of when you shouldnot be mindful.
Now, mindfulness has so manybenefits and most often the
benefits will outweigh anyreason not to be mindful.

(02:16):
But let me give you these fourreasons why you should not be
mindful.
Number one has to do with thereason behind mindfulness and
what it is it's to be presentwithout judgment.
So number one is if you need tobe judgmental In this way, when
you need to process informationor think about something

(02:37):
important, mindfulness is notgoing to be helpful to you at
that time.
When you need to think and toneed to rationalize the
situation, recall a memory orpull up information, you need to
step out of mindfulness to doso, because you need to use your
analytical side of your brain.
Now, I'm not saying thatthroughout this process, you
can't settle your mind intomindfulness and then go back and

(03:00):
process information to settleyour mind.
In some ways, that is good,because it gives you space
between doing this, where youmight instead overthink or
overanalyze too much.
So there is a balance there.
But it is really hard to bemindful when you're trying to
think and be judgmental about asituation.

(03:20):
This is also in the same senseof when you need to distinguish
between what is right or wrongin your situation.
Therefore, you need to take twosides of the coin, look at them
, evaluate them and decide thebest route to go.
And you can't do that whenyou're mindful, because when
you're mindful, you're in thepresent moment and you're not

(03:42):
analyzing, you're absorbing andyou're pulling in the moment, so
you're not thinking in the sameway.
Number two when you are in themidst of severe anxiety or fear,
it is very difficult to dropyourself into that state of

(04:03):
mindfulness.
See, anxiety and fearautomatically throw out all
those chemicals and they narrowyour focus.
They narrow your focus toprotect you and keep you safe
when you have that flight, fightor freeze response.
So automatically your brainwants you to analyze and look at

(04:23):
the situation and todistinguish where safety is and
where the bad thing is, and soit automatically pulls you out
of mindfulness to do so.
And if you were trying to dropinto mindfulness during that
time.
It can be very uncomfortable.
My suggestion instead is to usecalming effects first, like

(04:47):
activate your vagus nerve withsome breathing or do some
powerful hypnosis technique todecrease the anxiety and then,
once you have the anxietydecreased a bit or that fear
decreased, then you can usemindfulness to develop a more
relaxed state and to begin toregulate your emotions a little

(05:07):
bit.
Number three when mindfulnessbecomes a crutch.
In other words, if you wouldrather walk out to the park and
sit under a tree and be mindfuland not to think about your
problems, it is not a good thingfor you at the time.
Mindfulness is not escapism, itis experiential.

(05:30):
It is being in the now.
But there are some situationswhere you want so bad to be in
the now that you're willing tosteer at your navel and watch
your thoughts to the point whereyou're not taking care of the
situations in your life thatneed your attention.

(05:50):
It is not helpful when youdon't take care of life
situations.
It can be harmful.
This was something that I wasdoing this past year and it is
one of the reasons I steppedaway from the podcast and I
pulled myself back.
I didn't pull myself back frommindfulness completely, but I
had so much I had to take careof and I was trying to force it,

(06:15):
if that makes sense, and itwasn't helpful.
And this also brings me to thelast part is processing.
Number four is processing yourtrauma.
Mindfulness can and will helpyou become more resilient and
more in touch with the worldaround you and it will help you

(06:39):
to feel more settled.
But when you suffer greattrauma, you need to process it.
You need to deal with itpersonally and with professional
people, because if you don't dothat, the memories that your
trauma is associated with, allthat information is held there

(06:59):
and it is attached to an emotionand it will stay there and it
can come up at certain times foryou.
It can come up as unresolvedissues for you and it can also
come up as triggers for you.
So to process that trauma isnot easy.
It is uncomfortable.
But as you start to process it,you can bring mindfulness into

(07:21):
it to settle you and to help youwith the processing.
But it can't be just you beingmindful and not dealing with the
situation at hand.
Please seek a counselor forthat.
That is really important.
Having said all that,mindfulness is who you are.

(07:43):
It is not what you do.
It is your natural state ofbeing.
But we are in a time when lifeis busy and life can be
challenging, but it also has alot of information coming at us.
So we do need a time toreprieve and just to be present
and just to watch and notice andsee without judgment.
But there are also times whenwe do need to take ourselves out

(08:06):
of mindfulness and think andreact and analyze and just
understand and use our mind forthat.
And sometimes it is fun to lookat a future as the magic that
it may be, or to recall a memoryand to become nostalgic.
That is okay.

(08:26):
You can do all that and you cansprinkle that mindfulness on
top of it Because again, it willmake you stronger.
It will connect you to theworld around you, the people you
love, you'll become moreconfident and you'll be able to
handle stress much better.
But don't discount the otherpart of your life.
And another thing to remember100% of anything is never good.

(08:50):
There are layers and we arecomplex people and it is okay.
All right, take a big, deepbreath in and exhale.
Thank you for listening to theend of this podcast.
Go on over to the show notes atcheryljreynolds.
com for more information andvaluable resources.

(09:11):
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me one-on-one, you can find itthere.
Remember, you have a powerfulmind and it can be changed to
support the life you want tolive.
In the meantime, enjoy your dayone minute at a time.