Practicing mindfulness is a great way to find balance in your busy day and find peace within yourself. Repeating some small, easy steps each day can create a mindfulness habit that you can continue to grow over time. When you are able to connect with yourself more freely, you will find it easier to redirect your emotions when you are experiences symptoms of anxiety or dis-ease.
Here are the top 6 Tips to developing a mindfulness practice:
- Start small: Like any new habit, you need to start small when you are starting a mindfulness practice. Begin with 3-5 minutes of meditation/quiet time per day, then build onto that time to longer increments. Starting with small, achievable goals creates lasting success and you will still get the full benefit of results.
- Start a gratitude practice: Nothing uplifts your heart more than becoming aware of the gifts around you. Start a gratitude practice by writing down all of the things you are grateful for that day. Start small with 5 simple things such as, time with your children, completing an exercise, or hearing the birds singing. As you begin noticing all the simple pleasures in your life, you will soon have a LONG list of things in which you are grateful for, which will attract more beautiful gifts into your life.
- Journaling: Again, start small with 5-10 minutes of journaling per day. You can combine this with your gratitude practice if you wish. You can also just empty your thoughts onto paper and when you are feeling more confident in your skills, you can begin writing more. Some examples of journaling are writing your emotions, fears, accomplishments, or life stories that have changed you in some way. Empty your mind onto the paper and let go of all the thoughts taking up space in your mind.
Quick tip: You don’t have to read what you write in your journal. This practice is to empty your emotions and let your thoughts be free. Write without judgment or fear.
- Be aware of your senses: Have you heard the saying, “Just Be”? You can try this practice sitting outside or inside in a quiet place or while taking a walk. The goal is to quiet your mind by becoming aware of your senses.
Example: Start with a few deep breaths, quiet your mind, feel your body, listen to your surroundings, smell your surroundings, look around you and what can you see? Take deep, cleansing breaths while you are doing this practice and you will quickly be centered within yourself.
- Be judgment free! Let your thoughts come and go during your practice WITHOUT judgment. Be kind to yourself. You are a human, it’s natural to have many thoughts throughout the day, especially in our busy lives. Let your thoughts come in, become aware of them, and let them pass by. I like to visualize a calm stream taking my thoughts away as they come, and then try to re-center with some deep cleansing breaths.
- Device free time: Take a walk, a hike, watch your kids play in the yard, spend time with friends/family who uplift you, sit outside and listen to the birds sing and watch the traffic. It doesn’t matter what you are doing, you owe it to yourself to have some quiet, down time.
Practicing mindfulness everyday can make a world of difference in your mental health and your presence in the moment. As you can see, it does not need to take up a lot of time or hours in your day. You can expand your practice as you see fit and when you are ready. The most important thing is to just enjoy the peaceful moments and be kind to yourself during the practice.
Enjoy,
Brenna
