Simple Ways To Bring More Mindfulness Into Your Life
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a practice that involves becoming more aware of the present moment by bringing your attention to your thoughts and senses. This can range from mindfulness meditation, which involves setting aside time each day to be still and listen to your body, or mindful eating, which is the practice of minimizing distractions during meals to pay more attention to how your food tastes, smells and looks.
In addition to improving mental health and clarity, mindfulness is also believed to reduce anxiety, decrease stress levels and improve physical health as well. Plus, it’s great for bringing together mind and body to develop a more balanced relationship with ourselves and the world around us.
DOWNLOAD MY FREE E-BOOK FOR MORE WELLNESS & NUTRITION TIPS!
How to practice mindfulness
While mindfulness might seem simple, it’s not necessarily all that easy. The real work is to make time every day to just keep doing it. Here’s a short practice to get you started:
Take a seat
-
Find a place to sit that feels calm and quiet to you.
Set a time limit
-
If you’re just beginning, it can help to choose a short time like 5 or 10 minutes.
Notice your body
-
You can sit in a chair with your feet on the floor, you can sit loosely cross-legged, in lotus posture, you can kneel. Just make sure you are stable and in a position you can stay in for a while.
Feel your breath
-
Follow the sensation of your breath as it goes out and as it goes in.
Notice when your mind has wandered
-
Inevitably, your attention will leave the sensations of the breath and wander to other places. When you get around to noticing this, whether that’s in a few seconds, a minute, five minutes, simply return your attention to the breath.
Be kind to your wandering mind
-
Don’t judge yourself or obsess over the content of the thoughts you find yourself lost in. Just come back.
What you need to know before practicing mindfulness
You don’t need to buy anything
You can practice anywhere, there’s no need to go out and buy a special cushion or bench. All you need is to devote a little time and space to accessing your mindfulness skills every day.
There’s no way to quiet your mind
That’s not the goal here. There’s no bliss state or otherworldly communion. All you’re trying to do is pay attention to the present moment, without judgment.
Your mind will wander
As you practice paying attention to what’s going on in your body and mind at the present moment, you’ll find that many thoughts arise. Your mind will try to be anywhere but where you are, but the wandering mind isn’t something to fear, it’s part of human nature and it provides the magic moment for the essential piece of mindfulness practice.
Your judgy brain will try to take over
The second part of the puzzle is the without judgment part. We’re all guilty of listening to the critic in our heads a little more than we should, but when we practice investigating our judgments and diffusing them, we can learn to choose how we look at things and react to them. When you practice mindfulness, try not to judge yourself for whatever thoughts pop up. Notice judgments arise, make a mental note of them and let them pass, recognizing the sensations they might leave in your body, and letting those pass as well.
It’s all about returning your attention again and again to the present moment
It seems like our minds are wired to get carried away in thought. That’s why mindfulness is the practice of returning, again and again, to the breath. We use the sensation of the breath as an anchor to the present moment. And every time we return to the breath, we reinforce our ability to do it again.
Additionally, there are plenty of other mindfulness exercises that you can practice to discover and strengthen the power of your subconscious mind, without forcing you to make a major overhaul of your daily routine. Instead, practicing these tips can help squeeze in some mindfulness therapy by setting aside just a few minutes per day.
Other ways to practice mindfulness everyday
During your morning routine
While you’re brushing your teeth, as you sip on a breakfast smoothie, or while you’re in the shower, really concentrate on what you’re doing. Think about the toothbrush running across your teeth, about the smell, taste, and feel of that smoothie in your mouth, or about the water running over you in the shower. Focus on each step, rather than thinking about all the other things you have to accomplish that day. It’s a much slower, relaxed start to your morning.
On your commute
Lots of people like to zone out on the way to work, whether that’s with music, podcasts or a book. Try to tune into your surroundings at least one day this week. Look and observe the people around you, notice the smells and sights, take in the feel of the car you’re driving or the bus or train you’re riding to help strengthen your mind power.
As you walk
Walking meditations can be really de-stressing and super peaceful, especially if you take it out in nature. Forest bathing, which involves meditating among trees, plants, and dirt, is a type of outdoor meditation that can provide soothing and awe-inspiring benefits for the body, mind, and spirit, including stress relief.
Before bed
Take just a few minutes before you put your head on the pillow to sit in bed and just breathe. Focus on how your body feels and use this time to calm your mind, trying to get rid of negative thoughts from the day or any stressors still weighing on your shoulders. When you feel mentally at peace, you just might sleep better.
When you wake up
Wouldn’t your day start out so much better if you had an extra five minutes in bed, a few seconds to yourself? It’s time to make that happen. Try getting up just five minutes earlier and pressing play on a guided meditation or taking time to focus on your breathing. This can really start your day on a calmer, less-crazed foot.
Practice mindful eating as well
Mindful eating is based on mindfulness, a Buddhist concept. Mindfulness is a form of meditation that helps you recognize and cope with your emotions and physical sensations. Mindful eating is about using mindfulness to reach a state of full attention to your experiences, cravings, and physical cues when eating.
Mindful eating isn’t about being perfect, always eating the right things, or never allowing yourself to eat on the go again. And it’s not about establishing strict rules for how many calories you can eat or which foods you have to include or avoid in your diet. Rather, it’s about focusing all your senses and being present as you shop for, cook, serve, and eat your food.
WHY YOU SHOULD TRY IT
In today’s world, distractions have shifted our attention away from the actual act of eating and more toward televisions, computers, and smartphones. Eating has become a mindless act for many, and is often done quickly. Some may find themselves eating in the car commuting to work, at the desk in front of a computer screen, or on the couch watching TV. When you eat mindlessly, you’re usually shoveling food down regardless of whether you’re still hungry or not. And sometimes mindless eating can be an emotional response rather than a physical response to your hunger.
Mindful eating vs. Mindless eating
When it comes to eating it’s important to know how to distinguish mindless eating and mindful eating. And if you regularly eat mindlessly, finding the difference between the two might be a little more difficult. But there are clues you can look for to help tell the two apart.
The signs of mindful eating can be any or all of the following:
-
Focusing all of your attention on food and the experience of eating
-
Eating only to satisfy physical hunger
-
Eating nutritionally healthy meals and snacks
-
Eating slowly and savoring every bite
The signs of mindless eating can be any or all of the following:
-
Eating on autopilot or while multitasking
-
Eating to fill a void like stress or depression
-
Eating junk or comfort food
-
Eating food as quickly as possible
Mindful eating can also help you distinguish between emotional and physical hunger, which can increase your awareness of food-related triggers and gives you the freedom to choose your response to them.
How to practice mindful eating
In order to practice mindfulness, you need to participate in an activity with total awareness. So when it comes to mindful eating, you’ll want to eat with all your attention rather than on autopilot or while you’re doing something else. Here are a few simple steps to get started with mindful eating, with each step having powerful benefits of their own:
-
Eat slowly and don’t rush your meals
-
Chew thoroughly
-
Eliminate distractions by turning off the TV and putting down your phone
-
Eat in silence
-
Focus on how the food makes you feel
-
Stop eating when you’re full
Try practicing mindful eating for short, five-minute periods at first and gradually build up from there. You can also begin mindful eating when you’re making your shopping list or browsing the menu at a restaurant, it doesn’t have to start when you’re already eating.
*********
Mindfulness is a natural quality that we all have. It’s available to us in every moment if we take the time to appreciate it. When we practice mindfulness, we’re practicing the art of creating space for ourselves—space to think, space to breathe, space between ourselves and our reactions.
Extra tips about mindfulness
-
Mindfulness practice cultivates universal human qualities and does not require anyone to change their beliefs. Everyone can benefit and it’s easy to learn.
-
Mindfulness is more than just a practice. It brings awareness and caring into everything we do—and it cuts down needless stress. Even a little makes our lives better.
-
As we deal with our world’s increasing complexity and uncertainty, mindfulness can lead us to effective, resilient, low-cost responses to seemingly intransigent problems.
