Dear Readers,
Do you ever feel like your thoughts are controlling you? Wouldn’t it be nice if it were the other way around?
Enter, mindfulness.
“Mindfulness” is likely a term that you’ve heard floating around for a few years now. Maybe you’ve watched one of my mindfulness meditation videos.
With roots in Buddhism and Transcendentalism, the popularity of mindfulness has increased relatively recently, mostly in the last 20 years.
This is due in part to John Kabat-Zinn, who founded the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the University of Massachusetts in 1979 to treat the chronically ill.
This program sparked many new ideas and practices in medicine and inspired real-life application in schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans centers and other environments around the country.
Today, in the world of health and wellness, mindfulness is accepted as an integrative, mind-body approach that helps people manage their thoughts, feelings and mental health through meditation, breathing, and yoga.
When it comes to psychology, mindfulness exercises can be used to train the mind to become more aware of thoughts, feelings and body sensations as they arise to manage and control emotions instead of allowing emotions to overwhelm you.
The act of being mindful is merely bringing attention to things that you usually wouldn’t. By taking the time to notice things around you, you’ll be more in tune with your own feelings and emotions as well. Try one of these six tips to get started:
Don’t just move through the motions. Bring awareness to the daily activities you do on autopilot. When you’re brushing your teeth, making coffee, or riding the bus, don’t tune out, tune in.
Just take a deep breath and take in your surroundings, even if it’s just for a moment. Appreciate that you’re able to tend to yourself in these ways, and feel a bit of gratitude.
Let your mind wander. Allow yourself to daydream instead of worry. Notice the birds in the tree outside your bedroom window.
Appreciate the smell of the bakery you walk by in the morning.
Keep it short. You don’t need to set aside hours for meditation, just a few minutes here and there is a perfectly good start.
Practice while you wait. In our fast-paced world, waiting can be a significant source of frustration. So whether you’re waiting in line, stuck in traffic or on hold with someone, take a moment.
Breathe.
Sit up a little straighter. Do a quick body scan. Are you tensing your jaw? Are your shoulders hunched?
Are your knuckles white from gripping your steering wheel?
Take another breath.
Pick a prompt. Choose an object that you encounter on a daily basis to remind you to be mindful. Perhaps every time you pass a mirror, every time you see your toothbrush, or during that first cup of coffee in the morning, you can take a moment to check in with yourself.
Much love
Jason
P.S. Need some guidance through your mindfulness practice? Try this calming guided session and allow yourself to let go.