5 Ways To Be More Mindful (Even If You Don’t Have Time)
Mindfulness is about being present.
Really being in your present moment.
Present moment awareness is key to having a healthy mind-set.
It’s easy to say we want to become more mindful and yet the question is ‘how’ do we do it?
I get asked this a lot so wanted to share some tips with you here…
- How do you feel? This is the quickest way to start working out whats going on for you. Are you feeling good or are you feeling not so good? If it’s the latter you need to think about what you are thinking about. Get a pen, write it down and start questioning your thoughts. Get mindful about what you are thinking. People think that we don’t get a choice on our thoughts, that they simply just ‘happen’. Its not true. It takes 2 seconds to stop, think about what thought you are having and work out if its helping or hindering you. You are more powerful than you think.
- Take a deep breath. Slowing down is super important in becoming more mindful. We cannot be mindful going at 100 mph. Stopping is easy. It doesn’t matter if you are standing on a busy street, rushing around a department store, in the middle of a workout or sitting at your desk. Stop. For 10 seconds. Just stop, take a breath and get some oxygen into your lungs. When you stop like this you are giving your brain time to remember that actually, you are more than a person who is just doing you are also, a being. Focusing on your breath is key. There is a little gap between your in breath and out breath, sometimes just focusing on that is enough to turn everything down a little pace, making you want to go slower.
- Electroinc break time! Take a break. Seriously, just like the kit kat advert. Its so important to stop the electronics for a certain amount of time during your day. Being consistently stuck to a screen whether it be ipad, computer, laptop, applemac, iphone (the list could go on) is just not healthy for your mind. Whether its 2 mins, 5 mins, 30 mins or a whole hour, make sure you have at least some time in your day to get away from your electronics and breathe.
- Practice mindfulness anywhere. The beautiful thing about mindfulness is you can practice it anywhere you go. you can be standing in a shopping que, sitting on a bus or train or even in your car at the traffic lights (there willl always be someone there to remind you when your time is up – trust me). Waiting somewhere can be thought of as an ‘opportinity to practice slowing down’. It’s a great thought to have which will lead to a great action…that being stopping and focussing on slowing down your mind.
- Mediation is key to mindfulness. Again, this is something you will want to practice. Don’t expect yourself to be a budda in a day. Sometimes even 5 mins is amazingly helpful for you and it is ceartianly better than nothing. Thiknk of your mind like a little puppy dog. A puppy dog you will need to take time to train. When you walk the puppy it will heal for a moment then go and find a thousand other things it thinks is more exciting, this is just like your brain. So slowly, slowly train it. Allow it to wander, it’s a natrual part of meditaton. Don’t judge and don’t get frustrated. Allow the process to take its time and grow. You will be amazed at how far you can come in just 5 mins a day.
Happy Friday
Love,
Jacqueline x