Incorporating Mindfulness Into Your Day, And Reaping The Benefits
What is mindfulness? Mindfulness really just means paying attention to the present moment. By focusing your awareness on the present moment, and noticing your current experience, bodily sensations and surrounding environment, you move your thoughts away from worrying about the past or imagining the future. A key feature of mindfulness is that you simply acknowledge whatever you notice in the moment, without judging it or labelling it as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, thereby fostering acceptance and calm.
Mindfulness has become increasingly popular over the last decade or two, and studies have suggested that practising mindfulness can help you to better manage everyday life and deal with difficult times. It has been shown to help people cope better with stress, anxiety and depression, concentrate better, be more productive, and relax more. So, the evidence tells us that mindfulness can bring many benefits to your emotional and physical health, as well as to the relationships in your life.
Of course, the best evidence of whether mindfulness practices will be helpful for you is not the results from studies, but direct experience. So, why not give it a try and find out what it can do for you? It may take some practice to learn how to incorporate this practice into your everyday life, but the benefits could be well worth the effort.
Like any other good habits such as exercising and eating well, it is important to practice mindfulness regularly to reap the benefits. Luckily, you do not have to practice mindfulness formally to benefit from its positive effects. Many mindfulness techniques are not difficult, and making mindfulness a daily habit does not have to mean making big changes, setting aside large amounts of time or having special equipment. It simply requires remembering to engage in mindful practices during your normal day. It is not clear how long you need to spend doing mindfulness each day to benefit from its positive effects, but making a start and incorporating what you can each day is a great way to find out how it will ‘work’ for you.
The following 5 mindfulness techniques are simple and easy to fit into your everyday life. Try starting by including just one each day for a week, then you can add more as you become more familiar with the approach and conscious of how to make it effective for you.
Each of these activities involves focusing on something other than your thoughts and emotions. While trying to focus your awareness, you will often find that your attention wanders and other thoughts come into your mind. This is normal. When this happens, gently acknowledge the distraction or thoughts, without judgement, and bring your attention back to your current activity.
1. Mindful breathing
This very simple form of mindfulness involves focusing on your breathing. You can do this with your eyes closed or open. Take a few minutes in a quiet spot to notice your breathing, without trying to change it in any way. Simply notice what your breath feels like in your body, as it passes through your nose, and as your chest and abdomen gently rise and fall. You can practise mindful breathing for as long as you like. But you can also use it as a quick 1-2 minute way of calming yourself and focusing if you are feeling anxious about something coming up, like a test, meeting someone new or giving a presentation. You can do mindful breathing by yourself, or you can use one of the many apps or YouTube videos available if you would like some additional guidance.
2. Mindful walking
When you are walking during the day, try practicing mindful walking by bringing your attention to the experience of walking. Feel how your body moves and how it feels as you take each step. Focus on the sensation of lifting your leg and placing your foot back on the ground. Become aware of how your arms are moving and the feeling of your breath.
3. Mindful senses
By focusing on what is happening around you, you are less likely to get caught up in your emotions and thoughts and feel overwhelmed. Simply ground yourself in the present moment by noticing the physical things in your environment. Name five things you can see, five things you can hear, and five things you can feel. Look around you and name 5 different things you can see. Can you name 5 different sounds? Ask yourself whether you feel hot or cold, what the air feels like on your face or with your breathing, and where you can feel your body touching objects or clothes. What sounds can you hear? You can also notice tastes and smells when appropriate. Bring your awareness to your experience in the present moment.
4. Mindful eating
Eating can also be done mindfully. When you sit down to eat, do not do anything else at the same time, and focus on what you are eating rather than your thoughts. Take your time and notice every mouthful, paying attention to the appearance, textures, tastes and aromas of the food. Savour each mouthful. Also notice what it feels like to bite, chew and swallow the food. Eating mindfully not only focuses your awareness, but may also result in you eating less.
5. Mindful daily activities
You can engage in any daily activity mindfully. It could be making a cup of tea, driving, showering, brushing your teeth, waiting in a supermarket queue, or making your bed. Simply bring your focus to the task and notice the process and experience in detail, savouring the sensations and awareness. Rather than seeing the activity as a chore, and completing it on autopilot, experience the present moment fully noticing what you see, physical sensations, sounds, smells and tastes. If you cannot maintain focus for an entire activity, be mindful for the first part of the experience and try to hold on to the mindful approach as you move on.
Remember:
Use these simple mindfulness techniques regularly, and whenever you feel the need to take some distance from what you are thinking or feeling. They can provide important calm in amongst the stress and rush of the day.
While the techniques described here may seem like small steps, with practice they can have a significant effect on how you cope and function in life.
Mindfulness needs to be learned. Remember it can take time to train your brain, but the more you practice the better you will become at it, and the more readily you will be able to use mindfulness in more challenging moments.
When you are starting out, do not expect to be able to focus for very long. It is normal for your attention to wander and your thoughts to intrude. Just gently bring your attention back to your current activity.
With all mindfulness activities, always try and ease yourself out of the awareness and continue to be mindful into the next activity.
As you can see from these mindfulness techniques, almost any activity can incorporate some mindfulness exercises. As everyone’s experience and life is unique, experiment and find ways of fitting mindfulness into your life that work for you.
