A Mindful Introduction
You Are Practicing Mindfulness Already
What is Mindfulness?
Simply defined: the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something; paying full attention to something, without evaluation
Common Mindfulness Misconceptions
The relationship to meditation and yoga: if you have never practiced yoga and have no intention to, you may think, “Well isn’t that where you practice mindfulness: sitting, meditating, doing yoga?” Nope! You can practice mindfulness anywhere.
Not knowing how to or feeling like you are not good at things, such as sitting in silence and breathing (how we usually see/think of meditation) or practicing yoga, for example. Not to worry! If sitting in stillness and silence isn’t your thing, we have other ways for you to practice mindfulness.
How To See Mindfulness In A New Light
You can start practicing mindfulness in your day to day, as it is already, and you most likely already do without knowing it. Do you ever take a deep breath when you feel overwhelmed? That’s mindfulness. How about going for a walk and not looking at your phone, or tuning into a conversation with someone, undistracted, eye contact, & listening? This is all mindfulness at work.
The next step is simply becoming conscious of it & developing that habit to just notice presence. From there, the ripple effect will continue to grow, and next thing you know, you find yourself taking a deep breath during a stressful moment and completely avoiding a crash that you usually experience.
A couple tips for starting your journey:
Choose a routine time or task in your every day where you can begin a practice to be fully present for that duration. Some good times/tasks: brushing your teeth, brewing or sipping your morning coffee/tea.etc, eating a meal like breakfast or lunch, where you usually tune into work, the news, your phone, and instead just being present with your bites.
Don’t be hard on yourself for anything you feel like you have skipped up on here! This is a process and journey, and by just being kind to yourself and accepting this, you are already on the right track
We hope this helps you on your journey!
As always, Find Your Fundati, wherever you are.