12 easy ways to be mindful
The term mindfulness is a scary word for many, and one that has become commonplace in our society. It has also become synonymous with sitting still and not thinking, and is often accidentally conflated with meditation. Like many things in life, mindfulness is seen as a chore; something you have to spend energy on and carve out time in your day for. But mindfulness can be much easier than we make it out to be.
Mindfulness is:
The act of being without the pressure of doing anything else
Observing and noticing without judgment
We live in the time of overstimulation. Mindfulness helps us to slow down. And slowing down allows us to:
Regulate our nervous system
Focus better
Take in more experiences
Build more self-awareness
Whether we realize it or not, therapy is a prime example of mindfulness, and many theories that therapists work through also incorporate mindfulness. Why? Because the first step to change is developing awareness. It is observing and noticing our thoughts, actions, and feelings. It is mindfulness.
There are unlimited ways to achieve a state of mindfulness without meditation. It is a skill we build up and a muscle we can train, just like how we build our muscles through consistency and patience. Here are some activities we can do to practice this. Some of these don’t take up extra time in our days that we don’t have to give, and can be done on our drive to work. Some are activities we can do with a friend. But all of them can help us to come back to the present moment:
Listen to a song and trying to follow one instrument the whole time. Play it over again until you’ve done so with each instrument.
Look up a far away place on the internet and imagine what it would be like to walk along the roads. Engage your five sense.
Play a song from childhood and notice what emotions, senses, and memories come up
Light a 20 minute candle and watch the flame’s movement for a few minutes.
Do a smell/taste testing with a friend - get 5 essential oils, candles, drinks etc., and describe and rate the scents/flavors
Ring a bell or chime and listen intently to the ring as it fades, and notice when you stop hearing it
If you’re stuck in traffic, find someone in another car and make up a story about where they are headed
In the shower, follow one drop of water on the wall. Continue with more drops.
As you’re trying to fall asleep, go through the alphabet and name something from a category (foods, music artists, etc.) for each letter
Play iSpy with a friend while you take a walk around the block
Every time the light turns green on a drive, take a deep breath
Imagine putting your worries/negative thoughts in a tiny box and slingshotting it into the abyss where it can’t come back up again
These activities show us that mindfulness doesn’t have to be this daunting thing that demands perfection, but rather something that we can slip into our day to build up a practice. This in turn makes us more mindful beings.