Let’s chat about some informal mindfulness practices that you can do in your day to day life to become more aware, more present, and more connected. Often times we think about meditation as sitting in a meditative seat for 30 to 45 minutes. You might think, “how on Earth and I am going to do that?” I want to reinforce how important that practice can be in an overall mindfulness practice, however, that’s not for everyone. There are many things that you could do in your daily life to become more present in your own life, become more connected, more aware and hopefully help you to live your best life.
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Three Informal Mindfulness Practices
- Find an anchor.
The most common anchor is the breath. It is a constant feature of life and is often a safe place. However, it isn’t for everyone. Others include the abdomen, chest, nose, as well as the hands, feet, and sounds. When you begin to have wandering thoughts, possibly become overwhelmed, and maybe even a little anxious, that’s a good time to use your anchor to bring you back into the present moment. Those thoughts are not your reality, they’re just thoughts. Using the breath as an example, if you could take three to five deep breaths deep diaphragmatic, you can come back into your present body, help you to tune in, connect, be aware, and it can also calm your nervous system down.
2. Name five things in the room.
When you begin to feel a little bit anxious or worried, you are thinking about the future. When you having depressive thoughts, you are thinking about the past. When either of these happen, you can look around and name five things that you see. This can connect you back into where you are right that second.
3. Use your senses.
Often times we are on autopilot. We are not tuned in to our body or surroundings. When we use sensory awareness, we can bring ourselves back into this into our own body, into this present moment. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you taste? What do you smell? What do you feel? Go through all your senses to bring you back to this very moment.
Summary
The beauty of these informal practices are that you can do them all day long to improve awareness, focus, and attention. You can do it while you’re emptying the dishwasher. You can do it while you’re working out. You could do it when you are driving your car.
You can use these simple daily practices each moment of every day and begin to cultivate mindfulness in your life. Whether or not you have a formal meditation practice or not, the goal is to integrate this into our lives
This is something that we can all adopt into our lifestyles to become more present ad aware and help us to live our best life. And remember, this very moment that you’re in right now is the most important one to be in.
If you are not sure where to start, please reach out to schedule a private session to begin your mindfulness journey or attend one of our upcoming workshops.