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Mindfulness is the practice of being present, appreciating each moment, and acknowledging without judging. You can reduce stress and anxiety among many other benefits by adding more mindfulness to your day. One way to do that is with daily mindfulness rituals, which are small things you can do each day where you practice mindfulness.
Start Your Day With a Mindfulness Meditation
A simple way to begin practicing mindfulness each day is with a mindfulness meditation. This combines clearing your mindspace with meditation, and acknowledging the thoughts that come in with mindfulness. Even if you have never meditated before, this can be really easy to start.
Just find somewhere comfortable to sit, and close your eyes. Make sure you are in a calm and relaxed state, without a lot of distractions around you. Begin inhaling and exhaling, focusing only on your breaths. Count slowly to 5 as you inhale, hold it for a moment, then count to 5 as you exhale.
Notice everything that happens during this breathing meditation. Focus on how your body feels, what your mind goes to, what you’re feeling at that time. You can perform a body scan where you focus on different parts of your body.
Set Your Intentions
To be more mindful, it helps to first set your intentions. Be aware of what you are doing in any given moment, and what you want to get out of it. For example, if you tend to get flustered a lot when you have to talk on the phone, you can first set your intentions in your mind. Think about how you want to feel and what you want to say during that phone call. Find something to focus on during the call that will keep you present, without worrying about anything else. Keep remembering these intentions during your call when your mind starts to waver or you feel nervous.
Be Mindful During Simple, Everyday Tasks
An easy mindfulness ritual you can try is by being mindful and present during simple, everyday tasks. Think of the more menial tasks that don’t require a lot of thinking or concentration. These are the ones where it is simpler to remain mindful. This might be while taking a shower, brushing your teeth, driving to work, going for a walk, or eating a meal.
Stay present during the activity, letting your thoughts to flow naturally, but always come back to the present moment and what you are doing right then. When you begin thinking of what you have to do later or something in the past that you regret, come back to the present gently, reminding yourself none of that you have to worry about in this moment.
