“Stop and smell the roses” isn’t just good advice—it’s also a powerful safeguard against stress. Mindfulness, or the practice of consciously and non-judgmentally observing the present moment, is linked to better wellbeing. People who are naturally mindful are more emotionally stable during the day and more relaxed at night.
Mindfulness can act as an emotional buffer, protecting you from the normal highs and lows of your day. People who are more mindful are able to stay somewhat separate from shifts in their body and their emotional state. They’re more observant, as opposed to reactive.
Luckily, mindfulness is a skill you can learn. So how do we become more mindful? Here are a few quick starting points:
Ease into your mornings
On an average weekday, do you abuse your snooze button before scrambling out of bed to barely make it to work/school on time. Rather than rushing through your morning agenda, take up to 30 minutes every morning to sit quietly and simply focus on your breath. When your mind wanders, come back to your breath. This gives your mind and body time to make the transition from a resting state to an active state. If sitting still for too long makes you squirm, meditating for even just five minutes is better than nothing.
Step away from your desk
You don’t have to be a smoker to excuse yourself from your office or home for a few minutes to mentally recharge. If you take a walk, observe what’s going on around you—the colour of the sky, the movement of the wind, and any physical sensations you experience. Mindfulness is the opposite of living your life on autopilot, and these mini-breaks will help train you to appreciate the here and now rather than being caught up in a lot of thoughts about the future & the past.
Take a real lunch break
We know it’s hard. The temptation to shovel food into your mouth while cruising the internet or reading the paper is hard to resist, but it prevents you from enjoying your meal. By paying attention to what you’re eating. Take time out to really zero in on texture and taste. You’ll enjoy your lunch more, slow down, feel more satiated & eat less!
Give yourself time to make transitions
In any given day, you might go from a career woman to a Zumba junkie to a domestic goddess. Rather than jumping from role to role, take a moment to mark these shifts. Doing so will help you get into the right mindset so you can better focus on the task at hand. When you sit down at your desk in the morning, for example, give yourself a full minute to centre yourself and conect with your world in that moment. Likewise, when you come home at night, try to consciously change gears. It’ll help you to be fully present for the people you’re around.
Listen up
We’re all guilty of zoning out in the middle of a conversation. And let’s be realistic —Starbucks ‘coffee-café chit chat’ isn't the most riveting but practicing mindful listening, where you focus on what the person is saying without judging or interrupting them, is a way of getting out of your own head, your own worries, your own woes & living in ‘present time’. Think of it as a vacation from your own thoughts.
Head Space:
Recently I have been using a great web site called 'Head Space' it helps demystify meditation & makes it easy to learn & fun to do. I can sure you that it really does work & within 3 days you will start to notice differences in your emotional stability, your feelings of, confidence & calm & your energy levels will be enhanced. Trust me on this one & give it a try:
http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/what-is-headspace.aspx
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