5 ways to bring mindfulness to your day
How easily distracted do you get throughout your day? How could you not? Today, the world is filled with distractions, all fighting for your attention. The truth is, they’re not going to lessen. Work on your laptop leads to browsing playlists on Spotify for your Friday night dinner party. An ad on Spotify leads you down a Google search wormhole reading reviews for a yoni egg that promises to center your sexual chi (a crystal especially made to insert into your vagina, mhm). Suddenly you jump from your chair, startled by your alarm reminding you to rush to Thursday night hot yoga.
By the time the day ends, you find yourself reflecting on what you actually did...and well you just stare blankly at your TV and switch on Netflix. And finally, as your head hits your pillow, you begrudgingly close your eyes knowing tomorrow won’t be much different.
Maybe you are wondering what mindfulness has got to do with all of this? Well for starters, mindfulness is when an individual is fully present – not thinking about the past, not thinking about the future, only just being and focusing on whatever is happening in that moment.
When one is mindful, there is an overwhelming calmness that can take over the body. Being mindful can also bring joy to the most mundane of tasks. Yet it’s often overlooked as the simplest path to finding peace because simultaneously it’s somehow also quite difficult... Remember all the distractions we spoke about earlier?
That’s why we’ve put together a list of 5 ways to help bring mindfulness to your day. Adopting these tools requires effort in the beginning, but like with anything, it’s a practice. Over time you will find more joy in your day, more peace, and you may even say goodbye to that uncomfortable feeling as your head hits the pillow before another long day of work...
1. Establish an anchor
Choose a familiar item, activity, or daily ritual. This will be your anchor. It could be the trees blowing in the wind, a long queue, or even taking a sip of water. You choose, but these are just examples to help you get started.
Now every time you come across this anchor or begin acting on it, let it serve as a reminder to you to come back into the present moment. Let go of the thoughts that are consuming you, whether they are from the past or pertain to the future. Once you lose sight of your anchor and continue on to the next moment, bring that mindfulness with you.
2. Begin your day with meditation
As soon as you wake up, grab a pillow, find a quiet place and set a timer for however long you’d like. It can be as little as five minutes. Take a deep breath in and a long exhale out. Close your eyes and be with yourself. It’s okay if your mind wanders, just accept the thoughts as they come and focus on your breath. Once your meditation is over, bring this little slice of mindfulness with you into your next moment. Watch as inner peace overcomes you.
3. Limit your screen time
Looking at screens on a daily basis cannot be avoided for a lot of us. The screens of our laptops, mobile phones, tablets, televisions, our faces artificially light up from the screen’s glow and we enter into a mode that may be classified as the opposite of mindfulness. That is why limiting your screen time is the quickest strategy to bringing more mindfulness to your day. Leave your phone behind whilst you eat your meals and keep your phone tucked away while you’re commuting (headphones off, too, you sneaky one). This forces you to be present and mindful of the flavors bursting in your mouth as you take bite after bite. When you are on the train, simply pick a point to look at and focus on your breath. The usual anxieties of commuting will melt away.
4. Try breathwork
Breathwork is not just breathing or just focusing on your breath. Breathwork refers to different breathing exercises and techniques used to improve your well-being and...drum roll...makes you more mindful!
With breathwork, we highly recommend using a mobile app or Youtube video to guide you. One we enjoy using is called Breathwrk. It’s a mobile application that makes breathwork as easy as opening Instagram for a mindless scroll – except this experience won’t be mindless at all, it will be quite the opposite.
5. Get physical
Before you dismiss us here, we know sweating and rigorous exercise may seem like the complete opposite of mindfulness, but listen here. When you move your body intentionally, whether that’s through dance, yoga, running, or even sex, your mind is focusing on each step or move. This automatically forces you to be more mindful. And you not only gain the benefits of being present, but you also gain a rush of endorphins or better yet… a wild orgasm.
Now tell us, what are ways in which you bring mindfulness to your every day?
Take your mindful movements a step further with mindfully made equipment like our casa origin yoga mat produced from recycled materials. Ethically designed to empower and inspire your inner oasis.
