There are so many instances where you are physically present in one place but your mind is occupied with other things. Our lives have become so fast-paced, we spend our days juggling between responsibilities, deadlines, and expectations. Maybe you’re like me, and a million little thoughts rush to your brain when you’ve finally tucked yourself in for sleep. Physically, you might be resting, but your mind is always at work resulting in stress. Or maybe you’re a shower thinker, where ideas pop up in the middle of shampooing instead of taking a few moments to just be. If you’ve experienced this stress or difficulty living in the moment, consider trying mindfulness. It’s free and doesn’t require experience.
Mindfulness is the art of letting things go, living in the moment, and not being judgmental about it. It is a form a meditation that helps you relax the mind and body, and focus on the present rather than staying in a whirlpool of thoughts. But why do we need to incorporate a centuries old practice into our self-care?
There are many benefits to developing a mindfulness practice including reducing stress, tapping into your emotional intelligence, developing empathy, increasing focus, and promoting holistic physical wellbeing. It’s also free and customizable. What’s better than that?! You can follow Hinduisim or Kabbalah meditation practices or combine ancient wisdom with popular science. You can download an app, watch a video, or sit in silence.
Focus on the present
Mindfulness is the habit of living in the present moment. Why does this matter? Thinking about past events often triggers regret or other negative emotions like “if only I hadn’t dropped everything for that person” or “if only I were the same pants size as I was in college”. The past can also bring up fond memories of people or places no longer present, focusing the mind on absence.
Conversely, the future can lead to focus of anxiety and “what could be”. Borrowing trouble from tomorrow by playing out countless potential scenarios takes away from what’s actually happening. Creating possible narratives for future events has the potential to misalign expectations from reality.
Access to information and social media has placed an overabundance of distraction into our lives. Work hours far exceed living hours, bleeding into our early mornings, lunch breaks, and weekends. Modern multitasking, social comparison, and constant news cycles have been linked to depression and stress.
Focusing on the present doesn’t mean that reflecting on the past or dreaming for the future doesn’t have a healthy or important place in your life. But it can be difficult to self-regulate our thinking. Therefore, we can get trapped in vicious cycles—of overthinking, obsession, not-enoughness, and storytelling—instead of truly living and experiencing the moment. Oftentimes our minds wander.
Increase focus
Mindfulness is a series of techniques that increase focus. Practicing mindfulness doesn’t require a unique talent or training certificate. You don’t need to prescribe to a specific philosophy or religious doctrine. You just need to be willing to try and try again when your brain drifts away from the moment. Meditation, arguably the most popular mindfulness technique, brings mind and body into alignment.
“Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on ‘anchors’ such as breath, sounds, sensations in the body, and even visual objects. Having an anchor is an important way to begin improving concentration and awareness, which can then help you be more mindful — the goal is to ultimately pay attention to your own mind without judging your feelings.”
https://www.insider.com/what-is-meditation
Bringing breath, posture, and thinking together can create a balance. This integration can lead to greater happiness, engagement, and purposeful lives. If meditation is intimidating or not your thing, consider other techniques like visualization, affirmations (or mantras), or walking meditation.
- Visualization: relies on imagination and involves picturing in your mind the outcome of something before it’s happened (think: speaking on a large stage)
- Mantras/Affirmations: repetitive sounds or phrases used to penetrate or focus the unconscious mind (think: “om” or “I am light”)
- Walking meditation: deliberately thinking about and doing actions that you normally do automatically (think: purposeful, focused toothbrushing)
Incorporating mindfulness techniques is like learning any other skill. It takes consistent practice to get comfortable. It requires trial and error to figure out what fits best. Below you’ll find five easy steps to incorporate mindful practices into your busy, sometimes distracting, life.
Incorporate Mindfulness Into Your Life
1. Prepare
The first thing to do is prepare to exercise mindfulness. You need to be comfortable before you start. Look for the most comfortable couch or place in your house and sit down. Initially, try to be alone and in a quiet and calm atmosphere when you are beginning. Waking up 30 minutes before the little one usually rises or taking out a little time before going to bed might be your best option.
Don’t allow yourself to make excuses for skipping mindfulness. Try establishing a time for meditation or affirmations every day. Consider creating a comfy space in your house for your daily practice. I usually get out my favorite yoga pillow and light a candle to create a comfy environment. I also try to put my phone face-down to not distract me.
Similarly to making the time to practice, prepare how to end the session. Think about adding a timer or creating a soothing sounds playlist that gently reminds you that the time you’ve set aside has ended.
Start small–give yourself a few moments to get comfy!
2. Breathe
It’s a necessary bodily function, so it should be simple, right? Wrong. While breathing to live happens without thought for most of us, breathing as a mindful activity takes focus. Why? Because our breathing is influenced by fear, stress, or activity.
If you want to practice mindful breathwork, sit back, relax, and breathe. Focus all your attention on it. While breathing, make sure the belly is moving properly and you are taking it slow. Are you relaxed? Is your mind clear? But wait, are the thoughts just coming to you? No worries. Let them come and let them go naturally. All you need to do at this point is to ACKNOWLEDGE that your mind is wandering off, then concentrate on your breathing harder. Challenge your mind think only about that.
By focusing on your breath, you have the opportunity to clear and truly rest your mind.
3. Physical Sensations and Emotions
Get in touch with your body. Take a few minute to try to realize what your body is telling you. Are you feeling dread? Maybe you are dreading what the day has in store for you. Are you feeling happy? Does your lower back hurt? Are your feet or ankles swollen or falling asleep? Make a mental list of your feelings and sensations and let them go. Acknowledge the existence, thank your body/mind for its hard work, and then clear your mind. This is hard to do because it takes consistent practice. So create a checklist or order to make it easier to repeat regularly. I usually to a “top-down” scan, starting with my head and mind and ending with my feet and toes.
When can you incorporate a check-in with your body?
4. Resist Automation
There are so many things you do in a day, which are out of habit or routine and you don’t think twice about them. You do them as soon as the urge develops. Feel like taking a shower? Boom, all you need to do is get up and go in the shower. Resist this urge. Wait for a while. When we do things instantaneously, we develop an automatic response that kills the essence of mindfulness.
How can you incorporate mindfulness into those ‘automatic’ tasks?
5. Everyday Tasks
If postponing your routines isn’t realistic for you, find a way to practice mindfulness during these daily repetitions. I like to think of gratitudes while I brush my teeth (2 minutes of thanks!) or do a top-down scan while I’m shampooing my hair. Try to break up automatic tasks by incorporating mindful practices.
If this is new to you, try to take a mindful shower. Don’t rush through your shower. Instead, take the time to notice the water temperature, the feel of the water against your body, the sound of the water, the calm feelings, the smell of the soap, etc.
Is there something you do daily that can be repurposed for a mindful check-in?
You can practice mindfulness any time, any where. It just requires focus! Don’t worry if other thoughts pop up or if you can only focus for a few minutes. That’s totally natural. Keep practicing. You’ll find that the amount of time focusing on your breaths or feelings increases naturally with repetition. xoxo Mo
