Protection Minikin™ Lantern

5 ways to bring more mindfulness into your daily life

5 WAYS TO PRACTICE MINDFULNESS

 

The benefits of practising mindfulness are well documented. Mindfulness leads to increased awareness and feeling as one with our surroundings. Its about slowing down and living in the moment.

The advantage of mindfulness is that we don´t need to take out time to practice. We can practice it while we are engaged in other activities. 

1. Gardening can be a chore or a delight. However, when we touch the soil, breath in the colours and perfumes of the flowers, there is a connectedness and a sense of being liberated from the humdrum of the outside world.

2. We arrive at work with expectations of what awaits us, of how our colleagues might treat us or what mood the boss may be in. By practising mindfulness, we can instead put our thoughts to one side and become the observer. In this way we become more aware and be able to empathize with our co-workers.

3. Talking with a friend is not always what it appears. How many of us are truly listening. Practice mindfulness by giving your friend your full attention. Focus on her body language, listen to her voice modulation, notice her facial expressions – put yourself in the moment. Your friend will notice the difference and feel different too.

4. Addictions can be lessened by practising mindfulness. Is it the urge to eat another chocolate,, binge on sugar or a need to buy the another pair of shoes. Enter that quiet space and watch your reaction to that urge. Contemplate it for as long as you can and then look again - is the urge is still there? Is the urge as strong as it was? Do you really need that item?

5. Mindfulness while eating enables us to feel gratitude for every bite we consume. We inhale the different scents, notice the varying colours and feel the texture of different foods as we eat slowly. In a field without distractions, we can savour and give thanks for every morsel that becomes part of our body.

Mindfulness can be applied to just about any situation in life. This form of meditation can provide a buffer to the harsher realities thus providing us with the opportunity to make observations and decisions that come from a peaceful, non judgemental heart.

Koh X