It’s the perfect time to implement healthy habits and change our mindset so that we can achieve more and feel better. Mindfulness is one tool that you can implement into your daily life that will offer so much value. Mindfulness is easy to learn and can be helpful to anyone, including kids!
In this post, you’ll learn 5 mindfulness tips that will make your 2022 more productive, meaningful, and calm.
What is Mindfulness?
According to mindfulness.org, “Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.”
Mindfulness makes your life better because it gives you the resilience to overcome overwhelming situations, emotions, and consciously direct your behavior. Without mindfulness, you can feel fatigued, lack direction, and feel overwhelmed when it comes to decisions and feelings.
With a mindfulness practice, you gain insight and self-awareness, reduce stress, and enhance performance. It also gives you the opportunity to suspend judgment and approach your experience with self-compassion and warmth – to ourselves and others.
1. Be in the here & now.
Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Nothing exists but now! Living anywhere else takes you away from all the beauty that is happening here. The more mental energy you waste on something that hasn’t happened yet, or something that happened 6 weeks ago, the more energy you take away from being able to appreciate and exist in this moment.
2. Practice nonjudgmental acceptance.
In Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements, the 2nd is to not take anything personal. Most of our judgments come from our own inner fears, and not so much from the outside world. By adjusting your perception and remembering that everything happening outside of you is out of your control, you can settle into the peace that comes from knowing – the world isn’t out to get you.
3. Pay attention to the small unexciting details of everyday experience and interaction
One example of this in my life is putting my phone away when I walk my dog. This allows me to tune into nature, and connect with my pup while he literally lives his best life, exploring outside. I feel like even though walking my dog is super mundane, I appreciate it because it’s a moment that makes up my life. Plus, mindful walking has proven to improve stress, anxiety, and overall quality of life.
Another way to pay attention to the unexciting details of life and find meaning in small interactions is by connecting with others. You can ask a cashier how their day is going, or smile at someone you pass on the street. Spend time connecting instead of perpetuating disconnection and isolation!
4. Focus on the present moment.
You can do this using your senses, like touching, smelling, hearing, seeing, and tasting.
By tuning into your experience and labeling it, you are focusing on the present. You can do this while at dinner with friends, saying “this tastes super salty but bomb”, or smelling a flower and describing what it smells like to yourself.
Another way to focus on the present moment is to use active listening while connecting with others.
5. Have clarity and focus on immediate tasks
Be deliberate about what you’re supposed to be working on and limit multitasking. I’m a chronic multitasker. I love the satisfaction of completing multiple things at the same time. I feel so efficient ?!! Unfortunately, studies show that trying to juggle multiple tasks actually weakens our attention span, memory, and social skills.
A way to combat this, is by asking yourself “What really matters right now?”. By tuning it to what’s important, you can direct your attention and energy effectively.
* Please note – Mindfulness is not something that you can fail at! Mindfulness allows you to honor yourself and your experience, as they are.
Mindfulness is more than a practice, it is a way of living, that brings care and attention to everything we do. <3
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ABOUT ME
I received my training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where I learned about more than one hundred dietary theories and studied a variety of practical lifestyle coaching methods. Drawing on this knowledge, I will help you create a completely personalized “roadmap to health” that suits your unique body, lifestyle, preferences, and goals.
