What is mindfulness:
Mindfulness is basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we're doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what's happening around us. It is observing the life as it is happening, thoughts that arise, allowing feelings to not drive the actions, and acceptance of the present without being judgemental- It is the consciousness in living the life.
As simple as this may sound, this is not something we always do. Mostly because while we physically perform a task especially from muscle/reflex memory, we tend to think about other things. We might be talking in presentation mentally while driving to work physically. We cook physically while thinking about the movie scene running on the living room TV.
Why should we practice mindfulness:
Mindfulness is the key to living the life in itself; its the living in the present which is all there is in the dimension of time. Once this is practiced, the stress, health and general awareness, handling emotions and all other aspects fall in place. Enhanced mental health allows more room to self improvement in various areas of life, exploring the creativity that underlies in each of us, improved conscious living.
How I practice mindfulness:
Here are a list of 10 things I do to practice mindfulness in my everyday life.
1. Force it till its the force of nature:
Living 23 years with minimal mindfulness is not a habit to overcome in a day. Once I learned about it, I realized what I was missing in essentially living the life. So, everyday, I make a conscious effort to be mindful in the present situation. Staying aware of daily routine activities is the beginning for me. When I wake up, I actually feel being awake, eyes open, conscious of body movements; when I shower, I focus on how the foam and scrub feel against my body; when I wash the dishes, I see and consciously use the scrub to remove dirt and then wash away the bubbles. My mind often drifts away but I consciously make an effort to focus on the Present- everyday.
2. Meditation:
It doesn't require half an hour routine to meditate nevertheless, that is amazing. It can be as short as a 5 minute routine that focusses on respiration. Breathing in fully, feeling the lungs expand, then exhaling the CO2, feeling the lungs getting empty is the best way to start. Initially when I sit, the mind wanders to every places from work to the kitchen to the next month to India, but consciously choosing to focus on breathing helps me eliminate as much thoughts as possible. A calm environment with a soothing music, a good posture- usually Padmasana with a straight back, closed eyes- all these can make this a less effort act as these minimize distractions.
3. Paying attention to senses:
While we are on minimizing the distractions, I would also like to mention about consciously giving a pleasant experience to every senses. If weather permits, I like outdoor walks to feel the fresh air against my skin. A basic skin care routine, a warm bath or shower, wearing a clothe that feels good on skin can help with this sense. For ears, listening to a calming music, green and lively plants for eyes, essential oil diffuser for nose, a wholesome breakfast and a well done hot beverage for taste. I would recommend finding a calming place- a lakeshore, a park, a space at your home, that immediately negates overwhelming amount of thoughts and calms the brain.
4. Morning pages:
When a pot is full, it can take no more of anything. So, if we want fresher thoughts, emptying the overflowing brain is mandatory. I take this religiously as I reap its benefits the same day. I do this using Morning pages: The idea extracted from the book The Artist's Way written by Julia Cameron which is essentially writing 3 pages of stream of consciousness free hand using a pen on a notebook not in a laptop or computer or phone, but on a paper old school. This is important because we use digital sources to write to others while the purpose of morning pages is to write to ourselves.Something that no one would ever read except you would push you to be true to yourself.
5. Mind mapping:
Another powerful tool to get me connected to the present self is to map my thoughts running in my mind, which is very unorganized. This is an attempt to empty the brain again, but with just keywords to give us the glimpse of all those constant talking that brain does to us. I pick up a long piece of paper or a chart, make 3 or 4 sections, with each section, I write the generic focal point, say health, then I let my brain come up with all the ideas, concepts, dreams, goals and regret that it can think of related to this area. I write those one by one as they rise up around the focal point and then branch out the ideas with every step of the way.
What are your mindfulness ideas?
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