There are so many unique benefits that come with practicing mindfulness and of being more mindful in your everyday life. Many people find that mindfulness is their key to deal with stress and anxiety, increasing their productivity and managing the uncertainty that they may carry.  However, there are other unique benefits of mindfulness as well. There are many people who find that practicing mindfulness can actually help benefit the relationships that they have, whether it is a relationship with family, friends or a significant other.

Relationships can be so complex and very difficult to navigate. In fact, many of us spend so much of our time trying to figure out how we can make the relationships in our lives work, yet most of us feel as though we just don’t understand them, no matter how hard we try. There are many reasons why navigating the delicate waters of relationships presents such a struggle for so many, but one of the biggest reasons is because most people can’t see beyond their own wants and needs in order to understand what others want and need as well.

Many times, the key to working on your external relationships starts with working on the relationship that you have with yourself. When you are more self-aware, you can learn to be more compassionate, understanding and loving and learn to overcome insecurities in order to be the best partner in a relationship possible. This isn’t the only benefit of mindfulness either. Here are other ways that mindfulness can help strengthen the relationships that you have in your life for the better.

It Can Help You Be a Better Listener

Unfortunately, many times, no matter how they try, most people fail to actually be good listeners. Most people don’t actually listen, they just think about how they are going to respond, or wait for their turn to talk. This happens not because of callousness, but because the mind tends to get agitated and focused on what is ahead, not in the present. Mindfulness can help train your mind to stay in the present so that you can focus and be a better listener. If there is one thing that can drastically help any relationship, whether friendly, or romantic, it is being a better listener.

It Can Help You Be More Mindful of What You Say

How many times has a conflict developed in one of your relationships just because you said something without thinking about how it sounds? How many conflicts started from a simple misunderstanding? This is perhaps one of the biggest reasons there is tension in many people’s relationships. When you learn to be more mindful of your everyday life, you also learn to be more mindful of what you say and how it can both be interpreted and impact the other party. Good communication is the key to any good relationship and a great starting point is being able to be more careful with what you say.

It Can Help You Be More Appreciative

Mindfulness is all about being in the present, in the here and now. Mindfulness can teach you to be grateful and appreciative of where you are in life and what is in front of you. Many people find that they quickly become more aware of and appreciative of the things around them, like the food they have in front of them and the roof over their heads. This also translates into being more appreciative of the people and the relationships that you have in your life. Can you imagine how much stronger your relationships would be if you were simply more appreciative of the other party?

Mindfulness is such a powerful tool and It is so easy to practice, you just need a few minutes a day to meditate, sit still or simply take a walk. If you can teach yourself how to stay in the present, it will have a powerful impact not only on your life but on the lives of those that you have the deepest relationships with.