A recent article at CNNhealth.com shared that practicing mindfulness help relieve stress. You can read it here.
Mindfulness has come up on my radar several times over the last year. As such, I am attempting to integrate it more with my daily life.
I’m sure you can remember times when you drove from one location to another, arriving to find you could hardly recall the trip. Or you sat down to a meal, only to find it suddenly consumed.
We end up with habits of nonattention, not being present to the moments of our lives. As such, the stressful events of life can build up and cause psychological, and even physical, problems.
Practicing mindfulness means being aware in the present moment. This can be powerful in reducing stress in particular and in personal development and growth overall.
Here are two ways you can integrate mindfulness into your life:
1. Mindfulness Meditation
I try to practice this as a part of a Morning Mindset (A Morning Mindset is a block of time set aside each morning for activities that build and strengthen a positive, success-oriented mindset. I am almost finished with a Morning Mindset guide, so stay tuned.)
The meditation part of mindfulness is simple:
- Sit comfortable, somewhere you won’t be interrupted.
- Breathe full and deep.
- Focus on your breath as it enters and leaves your body. Sometimes it helps to count the seconds in and the seconds out.
That’s it. The suggestion I received was to start with 7 minutes, with the intention of increasing to 15 when it feels right. Once you manage 15 minutes regularly, you can explore increased periods of time and subtle nuances in meditation practice.
Tips:
- Your mind will wander! When you identify a thought leading your attention away, recognize it and return to observing your breathing.
- You might judge your inability harshly in the beginning, which is only another thought. Again, recognize it, let it pass and return to your breathing.
- It takes practice. It is a discipline that takes time.
2. Mindfulness Moments
For a Mindfulness Moment, simply pay attention to one task as you do it.
For example, you could eat a piece of fruit and, instead of looking out the window, talking to a friend, or reading a book, you could focus your attention on the act of eating. Use your five senses as a guide: sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste.
You can incorporate these moments any time throughout your day for any task, whether it’s driving, shopping, sightseeing or exercising. Take 5 to 10 minute segments and focus your mindfulness.
Practicing mindfulness is still fairly new to me. In my Morning Mindset it often feels like I spend more time letting go of thoughts then I do being calm and still. Nevertheless, when combined with my morning program, my day is definitely easier to manage and less stressful.
