How to be More Mindful
It seems that meditation is often touted as the ultimate solution for improving mental and physical health, achieving success, and enhancing productivity. While these claims hold truth, meditation is not the only path to these benefits. Meditation aids mindfulness, but there are numerous other ways to incorporate mindfulness into daily life. In the present article, we will explore why we should be more mindful, and what are the skills we need to develop in order to incorporate mindfulness into our everyday life.
THE VALUE OF MINDFULNESS
A story attributed to Native Americans tells that there are two wolves within each of us: one is fearful, vengeful, envious, resentful and deceitful; the other is compassionate, loving, generous, truthful and peaceful.
The wolf that prevails is the wolf we feed. We don’t try to harm the angry wolf but we need to calmly acknowledge it, thus neutralising its hostility. On the other hand, we nourish and support the compassionate wold so that it can become out companion throughout life.
Mindfulness is about being present and practicing acceptance of the current moment. It involves recognising when our minds wander and gently bringing our attention back. Practicing mindfulness means observing our experiences with curiosity and acceptance, creating a space between ourselves and our thoughts. This approach empowers us to discern which experiences to nourish and which to release, fostering acceptance without judgement.
Originating in Buddhist practices over two and half thousand years ago, mindfulness was intended to alleviate self-induced suffering caused by the dysfunctional ways people habitually respond to their experiences. More recently mindfulness has been adapted to Western Culture and many different forms of therapy and practices have been created with their roots into mindfulness.
THE BENEFITS OF MINDFULNESS
Mindfulness comes with physical, mental and cognitive benefits.
Mental Health Benefits
Mindfulness enhances our awareness of thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations, improving our relationships with ourselves and allowing us to be kinder towards ourselves.
Mindfulness helps manage difficult thoughts by focusing on the present moment. This can help reducing anxiety and depression. Anxiety often arises from future worries, and depression from past ruminations. Mindfulness anchors us in the present moment, alleviating symptoms of these conditions.
Physical Health Benefits
By focusing on the present, mindfulness can help us get rid of those pre-sleep worries, making it easier to go to sleep. In addition, by promoting relaxation, mindfulness can lead to better sleep quality.
Mindfulness can lead to heightened body awareness, that can help manage pain more effectively. This can be particularly beneficial for people suffering with any kind of chronic pain, and conditions such as painful periods.
Cognitive benefits
Training the mind to stay in the present reduces distractions, enhancing attention span and productivity.
DEVELOPING MINDFULNESS SKILLS
Many people believe that in order to practice mindfulness, they necessarily have to take time out of their day to meditate. However, this is not the case, and it is possible to integrate mindfulness into daily life without formal meditation sessions. It is important to remember that mindfulness is a skill, and it is formed of skills that require time and practice to master. We can divide mindfulness skills into “WHAT” and “HOW” skills.
WHAT Skills
These involve things we need to do to practice mindfulnees, and are:
Observe: Be aware of your thoughts, feelings and sensations without trying to change them,. Just notice.
Describe: Put your experiences into words. Describing what you observe helps separating feelings from facts.
Participate: Engage fully in the present moment with an open mind, which is the essence of mindfulness.
HOW Skills
Non-judgemental: Avoid making judgements about your experiences. Notice your thoughts without labelling them as good or bad. You can acknowledge the difference between helpful and harmful, or safe and dangerous, but do not judge them. If you do find yourself judging, simply it without further judgement.
Focus on one thing: Be present and do one thing at a time. For example, when eating, just eat; when walking, walk. If distractions arise, gently return to your task.
Be effective: Focus on what works, and do what is necessary to achieve your goals without letting your emotions interfere. Act skilfully according to the situation you are in, not based on the situation you wish you were in, or what is fair or comfortable.
practical mindfulness exercises
Mindfulness can be applied to any of your daily activities by using the skills we discussed above. However, if you are out of ideas on how to integrate mindfulness into your daily life, I have some for you.
Mindful eating or drinking: instead of watching TV or talking to people whilst eating or drinking, focus solely on your food or drink. Notice their smell, their taste, their texture, the sensations it creates in you body and how it makes you feel.
Mindful walking: when walking somewhere instead of listening to music or being on your phone, pay attention to your surroundings. Also notice your emotions and bodily sensations whilst walking.
Mindfully listening to music: when listening to your favourite songs, pay attention to the melody, the rhythm and the feelings and sensations that song evokes in you. For a guided practice, check out the dedicated video on my channel.
Mindful breathing: at different times of the day, pay attention to your breath for a few seconds. Notice how your breath is behaving, and how each inhale and exhale feels in your body. This practice can help promote relaxation.
Visualisation: close your eyes and visualise a relaxing scene or a happy moment from your past. You can also try to visualise the best outcome for your future life, which helps with manifestation and to attract positive things into your life.
For each of these exercises, whenever you notice your mind wandering, just bring it back to the activity without judgement or frustration.
mindfulness plan
Mindfulness is a skill, and as any skills it needs practice to be able to master it. If you're worried you might not be consistent with your mindfulness practice, you can create a mindfulness plan. Studies show that planning increases the likelihood of committing to your goals. In the plan you should include:
Your why: understand why you want to practice mindfulness. Is it to reduce stress, increase your attention span or become more self aware? What is it that motivates you to develop these new habits?
Your favourite techniques: decide which mindfulness practices to incorporate. When choosing, think about what is it that you would most enjoy doing.
Your schedule: determine when you are going to practice your chosen skills. For example, are you going to practice mindful walking on your journey to work? Mindful drinking when having your morning coffee?
Make sure to put your plan somewhere visible so that you can always be reminded of it throughout your days.
conclusion
In conclusion, mindfulness offers numerous benefits for mental and physical wellbeing. It is a skill that, like any other, requires time and practice to master. By creating a plan and committing to it, you can integrate mindfulness into your life, leading to positive changes and improved overall well-being.