3 Massive Mindfulness Shifts

It all starts somewhere doesn't it? As I was thinking about making my life a little less chaotic and a tad more peaceful, I realized that it just doesn't happen overnight. Just like a famous singer or an actor, they are where they are now because they "put the work in" to make their dreams a reality. The same can be said for a mindfulness practice, or any practice for that matter. If you'd like to master it, you have to put the work into it.

In terms of mindfulness I've found these 3 methods to be particularly helpful. If you put any one of these into practice starting today, you'll see a shift in yourself towards a more mindful life.

Your breath. Once you master the idea that your breath truly is your greatest commodity, you begin to realize that your entire day can change as soon as you bring awareness to it. If you're running through your day, from one activity to the next, you most likely are not thinking specifically about the task your mind is probably racing. Think of these examples, when in your office you begin to mindlessly complete task after task until quitting time; or at home running from one after school activity to the next. These I'm assuming are quite common "motions" that we do each day without truly thinking about our breath. However, if you were to take even a second during these activities to just bring awareness to your breath - first, I"m positive you'd think a lot longer on your breath but second, it will bring your heart rate and your stress levels back down - 2 things you most likely didn't even realize were high.

The How: While sitting at your desk, in the car driving, waiting in line, at dinner time, wherever you happen to be tell yourself "pay attention" then begin an inhalation paying attention to how it feels having the air move down to fill your lungs. Then exhale, you may even exhale through your mouth if you felt comfortable, sigh as you do this. Keep doing this for 5-10 breaths. All of a sudden you are fully calibrated and ready to take on the rest of your day.

Mindful Tasks: I try to do as much of this as possible throughout my day. I take the most mundane of tasks and just pay attention. You know when you watch a TV show or a movie and the narrator begins a monologue about what the person is doing action by action, or feeling by feeling, or thought by thought. Mindful Tasks are exactly that. An opportunity to find yourself in the moment and "narrate" what is happening. When you narrate you begin to step out of all your other thoughts and right into your current behaviour, or the current moment. At one point I would actually just tell myself to put one foot in front of the other and would hear the narration in my mind and be able to truly just focus on my steps and push every other stress-ball out of my mind.

The How: Pick a task - putting your keys on the table, putting a pot on the stove, lighting a candle, picking up the same toy for the 15th time today, whatever it is, pick one thing. Once you've decided that this is the moment begin the narration like this "she walks over to the ___ and puts/does/picks the ___." It's truly that simple. Make your next action/task a mindful one.

The Clementine: I have a wonderful friend who loves to do this exercise. I love it too! The Clementine exercise is just one example that can be applied to other foods and experiences. It's not a huge fruit and there truly isn't anything super spectacular about a Clementine. If you pick one up you can most likely finish it in 2 bites depending upon how you eat them (and most importantly how much time you have to eat it!) So assuming you get a few minutes at lunch and you've packed one you can involve all of your senses in enjoying this tiny fruit.

The How: Begin by picking up the Clementine. Feel it in your hands. Does it feel hot, cold, cool, bumpy, smooth? Focus in on just the feeling of your finger tips as they feel the clementine. Now, bring the fruit up to your nose. Inhale. How does it smell? Focus on just the smell of the clementine, doesn't it have a beautiful aroma? Next, begin to peel your clementine, pay close attention to each piece you take off - are they larger peels or smaller bits? Take a look at what you see once you've taken the peel off. There's white and orange peeking through, there are indentations for each of the skliff's to be peeled apart. The membranes hold the juice of each slice together. Now pull it apart and take one slice and place it on your tongue inside your mouth, close your eyes. Does your mouth begin to water? Can you smell it more intensely? Begin to chew, but savour each bight. Feel all the juices as they squirt out. You've just experienced a Clementine, rather than devoured it. Try this experience with your children, they will love it too.

Try these mindful moments throughout the course of your day. See how they feel. The more you practice the better you will get.

Have a lovely day!

Heather xo