Practice mindfulness in everyday life by doing one thing at the time.
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Practice Formal Mindfulness
Today I’m taking a moment to remind you to be more mindful and find appreciation in ordinary little things by sharing with you a short mindfulness meditation practice.
Simply take a moment to be with your breath by noticing subtle sensations. Shallow or deep, fast or slow, warm or cool without trying to change it but notice it. This meditation technique, mindfulness of breathing body, is great for developing focus. Your mind runs from one subject to the next, can’t stay in one spot. So, it needs a mental object in order to stay focused. One object that is available to you 24/7 is your breath. Mind can easily find the breath. And breathing is a process that is always happening in the present moment.
You focus your mind on your breath at the nostrils and every time it wanders you return to your breath. Here you’re using meditation as an exercise in concentration. Concentration and mindfulness go hand in hand. Every time you exercise mindfulness, it gets a little bit stronger. If you want to be more productive and accomplish your tasks efficiently you need right concentration.
Luckily there is a handy little tool called mindfulness of breath.
To practice it, click on the picture.
Practice mindfulness in everyday life
To me meditation is all about training my mind to be the present moment. If you are still not into meditation, formal mindfulness, there is another way to practice mindfulness in everyday life.
Informal mindfulness simply means paying attention as you engage in any daily activity. Whether it is brushing your teeth, walking the dog, washing dishes, driving …each activity is a great opportunity to practice being present. You are interested and curious, using your senses to ground you down as you are noticing things in the present moment.
I find that doing one thing at the time is the key to practicing mindfulness in everyday life.
We humans always try to do two things at the time: iron and watch TV, eat and scroll through social media, watch a movie and play games on the phone, walk the dog and talk on the phone… We constantly reach for different distractions in order to entertain our minds and avoid boredom. It’s scientifically proven that the mind can focus only on one activity at the time. When “focused” on two tasks at once, it’s actually switching between them.
Guilty as charged. I used to do yoga and look for different recipe ideas when I lived in China. There is a reason for everything you do. When you don’t do things that make you comfortable then you see why you are doing them at the first pace.
I was avoiding overthinking and my restless mind. Instead of being mentally absent in yoga poses, I started paying attention to my breathing and exploring different body sensations. This was a turning point in my yoga practice. Gradually, it stopped being just stretching but a moment to get in touch with my body, to marry my breath with the movements and to stretch my mind.
If you catch yourself being bored doing an ordinary task, get curious about boredom instead of reaching for a distraction. What does it feel like? Do you feel it in your body somewhere? While you’re showering become aware of different sensations in your body. Use fully your senses while you are eating – notice the taste, smell, look, sounds around you.
When you pick one thing at a time and concentrate on it, you become more productive, creative, and intentional which results in a high-quality experience.
Wherever you are, be all there. Whatever you are doing, give your full attention to every step of the way.
“The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear” – Rumi
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