10 years ago, mindfulness was a fairly unfamiliar concept to most people, and then suddenly it was everywhere. Advice telling you to practise meditation and mindfulness for 40 minutes a day to optimise performance and health became the norm and the pressure to be more mindful started building. But what is mindfulness when it’s not 40 minutes of meditation and how can we fit it into our everyday life? I explore this in this month’s blog.
Mindfulness put simply means living in the present moment. When you live mindfully, you’re being more present and you have a greater sense of awareness in your day-to-day life. You feel more aware of yourself, those around you and your life in general, and you feel fully engaged. Traditionally mindful practises refer to mindful breathing, concentration experiences, being more aware of your body, releasing tension and walking. However, you don’t have to fit into these boxes to be more mindful.
Mindfulness doesn’t have to be activities or exercises everyone tells you “you should be doing,” it’s more about what works for you and what you have time for. You don't even have to practise it on a regular basis, you can simply rely on it in different situations to help make things better. For example:
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious, take 5 minutes to focus on your breathing. Take slow deep breaths whilst focusing completely on the breath entering and leaving your lungs. As a result, your body will slow down and you’ll feel less overwhelmed/anxious.
If you’re experiencing heightened emotions (such as stress or anger), move your body. Go outside and take a mindful walk. By mindful walk I mean take a deep breath, look up at the sky and focus on the sights, smells, sounds and sensations you feel whilst moving your body. It’ll help you gain perspective and feel more in control regardless of how long you’re outside for.
If you’re struggling to feel happy or find life satisfaction, take a moment to sit and be present. Make a list of 3 things you’re grateful for and sit with those thoughts for a moment. Try and do this as often as possible; daily, weekly, monthly. This might seem hard to begin with but as time goes by it will help shift your focus and you’ll become more mindful of the positive things in your life, even if things feel challenging at the moment.
There are also ways you can use mindfulness to relax. For example:
Mindful reading where you immerse yourself completely in the story, can help take your mind of things if you need a break from life.
Mindful colouring can give you something different to focus on both mentally and physically which helps those who have an overactive mind find peace.
Listening to your favourite music, regardless of the genre, can be another way to take a break and be more mindful of the present moment.
Finally, if being more mindful is something you’re keen to do on a daily basis there are two simple ways you can do this:
Mindful eating – be present when you eat. Enjoy the taste of the food and the pleasure of eating. Most people find that when they do this they eat less because they are more aware of their body telling them when they are satisfied.
Stretching – taking 5-10 minutes out of your day to check-in with your body can be really beneficial. Using stretching as a way to achieve this is simple but also rewarding as it helps eliminate any aches and pains you might be experiencing, improving your wellbeing as a whole.
The overall benefits of practising mindfulness speak for themselves. Research shows that sleep is improved, along with general mental and physical wellbeing, productivity and resilience, focus and memory. For me personally though, I found the biggest benefit came from feeling present in my own life, meaning I could really enjoy it and catch myself on the days I was struggling before it impacted my mood or those around me. That made such a difference to me because it meant I could show up as the best version of myself every day.
So, I encourage you to add mindfulness to your toolkit; it doesn’t matter if you don’t practise it every day, so long as you have it in your back-pocket for when you need it.
P.S, if you’re keen to know how to become more mindful on a daily basis, watch my living with intention video on YouTube where I share a simple daily exercise to help you stay present.
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