I've been reading a lot about mindfulness lately, and have become quite enamored with the use of mindfulness as a stress relief strategy. It has several features that make it attractive: mindfulness works quickly, and can be practiced anytime, anywhere. It's no wonder that the practice of mindfulness has begun to capture mainstream attention!

Now there are more reasons to love this stress reliever! I recently read of a study conducted out of the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, that found new benefits to mindfulness. The study, which followed subjects through an 8-week course using meditation, gentle yoga and body scanning exercises, found that subjects enjoyed significant improvements in all of eight areas of observation: perceived stress, depression, psychological well-being, neuroticism, binge eating, energy, pain, and mindfulness! If that doesn't provide motivation to practice mindfulness techniques regularly, I'm not sure what will!

Mindfulness Resoruces:

• Benefits of Mindfulness for Health and Stress Relief
• Everyday Mindfulness Exercises For Stress Relief
• Ongoing Stress Reduction Resources

_{Source:
Smith BW, Shelley BM, Dalen J, Wiggins K, Tooley E, Bernard J. A Pilot Study Comparing the Effects of Mindfulness-Based and Cognitive-Behavioral Stress Reduction. Journal of Alternative Complementary Medicine March 27, 2008.}