How To Practice Mindfulness In Daily Life?

The term “mindfulness” probably sounds silly or confusing, but for those of us who understand it, we know it’s about being present in each moment. Practicing mindfulness in daily life keeps us from getting lost in past regrets or future worries. We know that these simple techniques are incredibly powerful for living life to the fullest.

I want to share the secret of mindfulness with anyone who is just discovering it. It’s such a simple and powerful process that anyone can practice it. And believe me, mindfulness can transform how you experience your daily life. It can bring more peace, clarity and wellbeing into each moment of your life.

Mental clarity, decision making, relationships, and overall wellbeing seems to magically improve. Mindfulness is not about making your mind anything at all other than what’s happening in the right this moment.

How To Practice Mindfulness In Daily Life

Practicing mindfulness promises a more peaceful and intentional way of living. Let’s explore the topic of mindfulness, what it is, and you can incorporate mindfulness into your daily life.

What is Mindfulness?

In a nutshell, it’s being present. Cleared that right up, didn’t I?

Being mindful is essentially allowing thoughts to happen but not control you. It’s being in the moment and processing your thoughts so you can make better choices.

The mindfulness practice keeps things in the here and now without deflecting to the judgment of past regrets or future worries. It is knowing and truly believing you are not your thoughts. It’s a skill that will take your emotional wellbeing to new heights.

How Do You Jumpstart Mindfulness?

If you haven’t already jumped on the mindfulness train, this breaks it down into easy steps that virtually anyone can follow.

Be advised: Mindfulness is a practice, not a one-and-done type of decision. It gets much easier and more effective with repetition.

So, start small and work your way up to the big stuff. In the beginning the idea is to gain confidence. If you aren’t successful immediately, that’s okay. Being mindful is about striving to do better, not throttling yourself if you goof up. It’s about a path to greater health and joy in life.

Ready? Let’s get the show on the road!

We will start with a simple craving. We’ve all dealt with a food craving before, and probably lost the battle more times than we’d like to admit. For this exercise, we will say there’s a candy bar on the counter. It just happens to be your favorite, but you know it’s intended for someone else.

Stop thinking about it!

Can’t, can you?

It’s there and it’s calling your name! So how to you stop thinking about it?
In short, you don’t. Your brain is a finicky organ and does what it wants.

Here is where mindfulness starts:

  1. Identify the urge/decision/question/problem. Here we are obviously perseverating over the tasty candy bar just sitting there, begging for attention. Begging to be scooped up and devoured.
  2. Don’t fight your thought. If you fight it, you’re going to be in a losing battle with your brain. After all, it’s your brain delivering this thought, not you per se.
    • You don’t want to think this, but your brain keeps sneaking it in there, putting it right in your face. So, let it. It’s okay to have thoughts. Just don’t act, not yet.
  3. Be mindful. In this step you are going to pay special attention to your senses: How are you feeling? What are your surroundings? Is it hot or cold in the room? What do you smell? What do you hear?
  4. Ride the wave. If you try to stop the wave, you’ll fall. If you try to go faster than the wave, you fall. If you ignore the wave, the wave crashed into you. So, ride it out. Because the neat thing about a wave is that it always passes. If you need a mantra, try something like “This too shall pass.”
  5. Exhale. That’s it. Just breathe. Take as much time as you need. Over time it gets easier and takes less time.

Will this end all your cravings? Well, I doubt it! The thing is, overtime, we (those of us with severe sugar cravings) have got to the point where there is no thought process. We think about it either half through the candy bar, or after we’ve eaten it. If it’s half way through it, we give up and finish the deed.

But, the moment you experience a thought BEFORE you do the deed, try to immediately practice these 5 steps. Maybe it will stop the craving for you, or maybe not. However, every time you are mindful about what is happening, you get closer to ending the thoughtless eating or whatever else is at hand.

What is Mindfulness?

In a nutshell, it’s being present. Cleared that right up, didn’t it?
Being mindful is essentially allowing thoughts to happen but not control you. It’s being in the moment, processing your thoughts so you can make better choices.

The mindfulness practice keeps things in the here and now without deflecting to the judgment of past regrets or future worries. It is knowing and truly believing you are not your thoughts.

How Does Mindfulness Apply to Health?

As a society we are becoming more and more aware of what we put into our bodies. From the foods we eat to the pills we take; we want to know the ingredient list. And that’s a good thing!

For far too long we’ve just taken the easy way out and ignored health risks of over-indulging in highly processed foods. Not to mention the obvious and very public warnings on smoking and excessive drinking. Add a lack of physical exercise to the list, because we are finally getting off the couch and getting to the gym.

We are learning to live our lives more with intention rather than convenience. We no longer have our heads in the sand just hoping we don’t end up morbidly obese and in a carb-coma because we basically crash and burn 30 minutes after yet another double cheeseburger and up-sized fries. We should be proud of us!

Choices, Choices, Choices

Life is a series of choices. When you are faced with healthy lifestyle choices, try mindfulness routines to help you make the best decision and actually follow through with it. Excuses are a dime a dozen, but then we are left to deal with regret and negative self-talk.

Make things as easy as possible for yourself. When you are thinking of making a positive lifestyle change for the betterment of your health, make sure you aren’t creating a bigger chore than you are willing to take on for the long-haul.

If you choose a way of eating that becomes cumbersome and time-consuming, failure is on the horizon.

Be mindful of your decisions to make the right decisions.

Mindful choices are a confidence booster. And when we have confidence in something, we tend to repeat it. You can’t stop negative thoughts, but you can definitely surf those thoughts and come out on top in the end.

Conclusion

So, my friend, that’s a real short and direct way to tell you about mindfulness. It probably sounds odd, or just too simple at first. But trust me, once you learn how to practice mindfulness in daily life, your life will be much more peaceful and just better.

With practice, little by little, you will be avoiding the past memories and regrets as well as fretting over the future.

That one technique, where I talked about the candy bar can bring a lot of peace and clarity to your life. That’s because once you’ve learned how to apply mindfulness to just one part of your life, you’ll see how easy it flows into all of your life.

So, I’m saying learn how to practice mindfulness in daily life and you’ll quickly see how powerful it is for living your best life.



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