How to Be More Mindful
Mindfulness is the ability to be fully aware of your thoughts, feelings and actions in the present moment. But how to be more mindful when all the distractions of the modern world are constantly fighting for your attention?
Fortunately, there are quick and easy ways to be mindful, and here we will take a look at three ways to be more mindful with the help of meditation, as well as without taking the time to meditate.
This ties in with an article from two weeks ago about how to live in the moment and stop worrying, so you might want to read that too.
Mindfulness is nothing too complicated. Just bring your awareness to what you’re experiencing at the moment via your senses, or to your state of mind via your thoughts and emotions, and you are being mindful.
Mindfulness is awareness
Whenever you are in a place where you can take the time to relax and stop worrying, you are naturally being mindful. You start to focus your awareness on how you feel and what you think at the moment instead of getting anxious about upcoming events or upset about the past.
The trick is of course to be able to do this in the midst of the chaos of our modern way of living. Stress at work, hectic schedules, balancing work and personal life, and problem-solving, all take a toll on our minds and make it almost impossible to be mindful spontaneously.
That’s where practising mindfulness comes in. If you want to learn how to be more mindful, try to make mindfulness a daily habit. Schedule some time to stop and be mindful, even for just a couple of minutes a few times a day.
Being mindful can help you direct your attention away from negative thoughts and feelings, and approach your tasks with better focus and energy.
How to be more mindful?
There are many methods for practising mindfulness, for example breathing methods, guided imagery, and meditation that aim to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress. Here are three of my favourite methods for learning how to be mindful.
1. Mindfulness meditation
The goal of mindfulness is to learn to be aware of your thoughts and feelings each moment. When you are aware of your thoughts, you can weed out the negative ones and replace them with positive thoughts.
Perhaps surprisingly, you can do the same with your feelings! Yes, it’s possible to learn to choose how you feel.
Here’s a simple meditation that will teach you how to be more mindful.
This meditation is done in part with your eyes open, which may feel strange at first. Yet this is the perfect way to learn to be more aware of your thoughts and feelings despite what’s going on around you.
Practice this meditation once a day at your preferred time and place.
15 Minute mindfulness meditation
Sit with your back straight but relaxed
- You can sit on a chair, couch, or a pillow on the floor
- You do not need to cross your legs, just sit comfortably - the most important thing is that your back is straight
- Push your chest out slightly
- Place your hands on your legs with palms facing up.
Alternatively you can also lie down
- Lie down on your back with your feet about shoulder-width apart and arms relaxed on your side with palms facing upward
Close your eyes
Breathe deeply in and out three times
- Take a deep breath in through your nose
- Hold for a few seconds
- Exhale through your mouth
- Repeat for three rounds
Focus on your breathing for a moment
- What thoughts come to mind?
- What do you feel?
Keep breathing slowly
- Relax your body and mind
Open your eyes
- Fix your gaze on a spot about three feet in front of you
- Keep observing your thoughts while breathing deep
When you are ready take a long deep breath
2. Deep Breathing
This is another one of my go-to practices for pretty much everything. Stress relief, instant meditation, clarity and focus, mindfulness.
It’s a simple yet effective mindfulness practice that does not require more than a minute or two and no sitting down and meditating.
Focusing on your breathing for just a minute is a great way of bringing your attention to the present moment.
Try to remind yourself throughout the day to stop and take a couple of deep breaths. Set reminders on your calendar every hour. Try post-it notes, desktop backgrounds, and tattoos on your forehead (ok, maybe not that last one) to remind yourself to stop and breathe.
- Close your eyes (optional)
- Take a deep breath
- Hold your breath as you count slowly to three
- Exhale slowly through your mouth
- Hold and count slowly to three
- Repeat three times
- Open your eyes slowly and bring your attention to your surroundings and how you feel
It works even better if you time your breathing so that each step takes the same amount of time. Count slowly to four as you inhale, hold, exhale and hold your breath. This signals your nervous system to relax.
3. Try a different perspective on life
How you view the world around you will determine your thoughts, words and actions in it. Changing your perception of your life will allow you to think new thoughts, speak new words and do new things. They in turn will eventually form your new beliefs about life.
The more you can change your perception, the more your life will change. If you can come to an understanding that everything in your life happens perfectly for you, not to you, peace and gratitude will fill your days.
Life itself becomes a form of “constant meditation” in which you see perfection in everything.
This is what I call true mindfulness.
It’s not the easiest thing to achieve, but it’s just what this whole website is for. Download my free eBook to get started,
or take a look at changing your perception in this blog post here.
More ways to be mindful
There are more ways to be mindful of course, including:
- Pay close attention to whatever you are doing. Try mindful eating for example. When you eat, limit all distractions and just sit and focus on the food and the sensation of eating, the smell, the taste, how the food looks etc.
- Live in the moment, which I have written about here
- Accept yourself. There’s an exercise for accepting and loving yourself here.
- Body scan meditation. Learn how to do it on youtube
- Walking meditation. I like to do this outside in the woods or by the sea. As you walk, focus on the experience of walking while being aware of the movements of your body as well as your thoughts.
In any case, try one of the methods we discussed here for learning how to be more mindful. Choose a method and stick with it for 21 days. That’s usually the amount of time it takes for your mind to form a new habit.
Conclusion
Mindfulness is the ability to be fully aware of your thoughts, feelings and actions in the present moment.
Being mindful can help you direct your attention away from negative thoughts and feelings, and approach your tasks with better focus and energy.
There are many methods for practising mindfulness, for example breathing methods, guided imagery, and meditation that aim to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress.
To get the most out of mindfulness, try to make it a daily habit.
Practices you can try to be more mindful:
- Meditation
- Deep breathing
- Change your perception
Disclaimer
The entire contents of this blog are based upon the opinions of the author. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. The information in this blog is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your health care professional before trying any of the products or methods based on this content. I cannot guarantee that you will be free of stress, anxiety or depression, or that you will be happy. I simply want to share with you what I have discovered during my twenty years of seeking happiness and what has worked for me may not work for you.
