“Be where you are; otherwise you will miss your life.” – Buddha
Practicing mindfulness doesn’t necessarily mean sitting in one place with eyes closed for 30 minutes or more. Although…if you can do that, it’s amazing! You should definitely continue that or at least try. But, there are many ways to find stillness in our everyday life.
Mindfulness is the ability to stay in the present moment and focus your mind on what is happening now with acceptance. This practice allows you to reach into your calmness, state of alertness, pause and appreciate the things around you. Mindfulness is achieved by paying attention to your thoughts and sensations, internally and externally.
AND there are many benefits to this practice as well:
- It improves your memory and concentration.
- Reduces stress and anxiety.
- Improves your sleep.
- Helps you feel less distracted.
- More in tune with your actions and mind.
You can incorporate the practice of mindfulness in your everyday routine as you go about your day. The mini check-ins you do with yourself throughout your day, allows you to move with a sense of calmness and attentiveness which allows you to be more productive and efficient in your daily life.
5 Simple Ways to Integrate Mindfulness in Your Routine
- Practice Gratitude
You can take a few moments throughout your day to say your thank you to everything and everyone around you. As you come across things that bring you happiness in your life, you can simply take a moment to give thanks to it. The practice of gratitude forces you to focus on the good and positive aspects in our life at that moment. It is a form of mindfulness which allows us to anchor our thoughts to what brings us joy and being present with our feelings and sensations.
- Body Check
One of the essential practices you can do through your daily routine is check in with your body, both physically and mentally. Take a few minutes of your day to focus on breathing. Pay attention to the pace of your breath as you inhale and exhale and the beat of your heart. Bring your attention to any pains or aches you feel in the body…you can also try a few stretches and see how your body responds to them.
While physical check ins are important, it’s equally beneficial to check in with your emotional state. Ask yourself questions, such “how am I feeling right now?”, “Am I feeling anxious, stressed or calm?” Taking time out of your busy day to check in with yourself can easily shift your focus to the present moment and bring a state of mindfulness.
- Mindful Eating
Eating is one of the significant parts of our daily life and it’s important to be mindful when doing so. We are all guilty of watching something while eating or often rushing without properly chewing. When eating with distraction or lack of focus, we often neglect our body by overeating. Mindful eating is focusing on the food and how it feels and tastes in your mouth as you chew.
This form of eating in fact can help us digest the food better and allow us to be in more tune with our hunger cues and needs. This can significantly prevent us from overeating which can greatly benefit our body and mind.
- Observing your Surroundings
This may sound a bit odd but you can bring about mindfulness by taking time to sit and observe what’s in your surroundings. Pay attention to what’s in your immediate environment, what do you see, hear, smell or feel? By asking these questions and observing your space non-judgmentally without adding any thoughts to it, you bring your focus and mind to what’s really happening in the now. This is a great way to be mindful and ground yourself to the present moment.
- Mindful Interaction
We come across many interactions in our day, whether it’s our own family, friends, colleagues or even strangers. You can practice mindfulness in every conversation you have in your day by staying in the present during those interactions. We often can catch our mind wandering into other thoughts or thinking of ways to reply before we even get the chance to hear them out completely.
Being mindful during our conversations is achieved by active listening and giving the other person undivided attention. This allows us to focus on the conversation and respond mindfully rather than for the sake of it.
CUP OF FINAL THOUGHTS ????
There is no denying we are living in a fast paced world, where there is a constant need to increase our wealth, assets, knowledge, productivity and value. And living in the social media era definitely does not help, we are repeatedly bombarded with distractions that take our focus and attention away from what truly matters to us. We lose our ability to be still and be in the present, leading to a decrease in our capacity to be attentive for a long period of time.
The idea that we must be in a constant state of “busy” to be accounted as being productive has taken a mental toll on ourselves. This has led to us feeling guilty for slowing down, taking a step back, and just being still in the present moment.
Let this be a reminder that it’s important to take those steps no matter how small to practice mindfulness throughout your day in any way possible to ground yourself to the present moment and simply be.
I hope this post was a helpful reminder for you to live in the present!
