Where do I start with Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a hot word right now, with lots of medical and mental health professionals talking about it. Mindfulness is a conscious, non-judgmental focus on the present moment. You’re still probably thinking “BUT WHAT DO I ACTUALLY DO?! “ Mindfulness is a skill, and something to practice, any time anywhere. Focus on the process of doing these things, and not so much on the outcome. You don’t have to start meditating for hours every day. Here are 5 things you can do to experience mindfulness, or develop present moment awareness, starting today.

Perhaps you've seen this cartoon around the internet:

1. Take a few moments every hour to focus on your breathing. Right now, feel the breath as it enters your nose, and as it exits. Expand your lungs from the bottom to the top, even to the sides. Every time you do this, you strengthen your innate ability to calm yourself. When you focus on your breathing, you are activating your parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is your body’s internal calming system. Taking a few moments every day to focus on your breathing starts to strength that system.

2. When you are in your car or waiting in line, resist the urge to look at your devices. I love the smart phone and you’re probably reading this on your iToy right now. Next time you are in the car, or a line, do that breathing thing, but add in feeling your feet in your shoes. Notice how your toes come into contact with the innersoles. It’s try to press your weight evenly through your feet. Take a breath. Look at the people around you, they’re probably looking at their phones and missing the life right in front of them.

3. When you eat, do not turn on the TV or look at your devices. Look at your food. Smell it. Feel the textures on your tongue. Start by doing this when you first sit down, start by doing it for at least 3-5 minutes before you start looking at something else.

4. Start or end your day with meditation or prayer. That’s more tricky, but to get the full benefit and to really start working that parasympathetic response, you need to start meditating. Even 3 minutes a day has benefits. Try a guided meditation or visualization. These types of meditations are usually easier to start with. There will be some links at the bottom of this page to direct you to some meditation resources. Prayer is also helpful because it is purposeful time for you to focus on something bigger than yourself, and taking time to connect internally with the spiritual. It’s more active than meditation, but having this spiritual practice is just as important. Again, you are purposefully focusing your attention, which is mindfulness.

5. Experience FLOW states. Have you even been doing something that was so interesting or engrossing, that you lose track of time? For those moments, there is nothing but you and your task. This is called flow and is considered an "optimal experience." It happens when your task is just challenging enough to hold your attention. Your skill level and the challenge meet up perfectly to keep your brain quiet for a little while. Recreation is an important part of a healthy life. It’s easy to put that on the back burner when you’ve got kids, career, or basically modern life. It doesn’t have to be done every day, or even every week, but you need to make fulfilling recreation a part of your life. Once a quarter at the least. Some people run or do craft/hobby projects. Some people fish, golf, paint, hike, mow the grass, do a puzzle, color, or do yoga. There are tons of options. It needs to be challenging enough that you are able to just do the activity. Not so hard that you get frustrated or angry, not too passive so you get distracted. Having these types of experiences are just as important as meditating or other daily mindfulness practices and are an integral part of caring for yourself. Find what that is for you, and then do it. Seriously. Make time for yourself to have these experiences.

All of these are things you can start doing this week. Focus on just doing the tasks, and try to let go of the outcome, the changes you expect, or wondering if you are doing it “right.” Just try and see what starts to happen.

Meditation Resources:
Fragrant Heart Free Guided Meditation Audio
Shannon Ball Meditation Mondays  One of my teachers and all around awesome human, Shannon Ball makes inspiring meditation videos which she posts on her blog from time to time.
UCLA Mindfulness Awareness Center
Mindful Muscle

More Info on Flow States:
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Theory of Flow