15 surprising ways to practice mindfulness in your everyday

mindfulness

noun: mindfulness

1. the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.

   “their mindfulness of the wider cinematic tradition”
2. a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

My foot soles pushed together, my back flat on the floor.  My palms facing up as my fingers slightly curl.  My eyes are now closed and I breathe in and out, filling my body deeply as I am nourished with air.

My mind begins to wander, my thoughts drift away.

Stay here in this room, come back to my mat.

I focus on my breath, the rise and fall of my ribs.  My legs start to twitch and my shopping list enters my head.

Stay here in this room, come back to my mat.

Every yoga class I  practice being present with stillness.  I practice mindfulness.

Staying in the present is a challenge for many of us.  Worries and plans whipping us off to the future.   Guilt and nostalgia pulling us back to the past.

Yoga is only one way to practice mindfulness.

I also practice active mindfulness.

I take everyday moments and separate my senses.

I may indulge in a smell or the exquisite feel of a touch.  It could be a strange taste, a decadent food or a new exotic drink.   Is it something I hear high up in a tree or a delicate noise so easy to miss?  It may be a cute photo I see in a toy out-of-place, or the patterns in the clouds as I gaze up at the sky.

Everyday moments with the ability to focus my mind bringing me to the now.  A chance to become fully present, and into a state of mindfulness.

Try this …..Step outside and close your eyes while you breathe in deeply though your nose.  Is the air damp and cool?  Warm?  Can you smell rain approaching or freshly cut grass.  Are you near a cafe and the smell of coffee is drifting by.  Is it the glorious salty smell of a nearby beach.   Allow your sense of smell to be overloaded.  Concentrate on the experience, sense it and be fully in it.

Want another?  Take off your shoes and your socks, close your eyes.  Feel the ground beneath your feet, lift your toes and spread them out again, ground them into the floor or earth beneath you.  Wiggle your toes, do you feel the fibres of a rug, the smoothness of floorboards, the chill of cold tiles.  Are you outside?  Does the grass tickle the soft arch of your foot?  Can you dig into the earth with your toes?  Is it wet, dry, uncomfortable?  Your sense of touch is overloaded, feel and experience the sensation and be in the now.

Paying attention and immersing ourselves deeply into our senses and actions is another way to practice mindfulness.

Here are 15 ways to practice mindfulness in your everyday

1. Stand under the shower, eyes closed and feel the water splash onto your body.
2. Sit alone in a cafe and look out the window, at the sky, the people the birds.  What do you see?
3. Lie down and gaze up at the sky, concentrate on what you see.
4. Sit in a shopping centre and close your eyes as you tune it to all the sounds of the hustle.
5. Eat your cereal or toast with your eyes closed as you feel all its textures on your tongue.
6. Lie in the bath with your ears under the water, close your eyes and listen to the underwater sounds.
7. Close your eyes while on a swing and feel the momentum through your body
8. Sit in a room on your own, eyes closed, TV and music off as you listen to the sounds of your pets and family elsewhere in the house.
9. Spritz on a perfume then sit eyes closed and enjoy its feminine smell.
10. Gently stroke your pet with your toes, eyes closed, see if it tickles.
11. Lie down on the floor stretch out completely, eyes closed.  Begin to wiggle every muscle from toe to head.  How do they feel?
12. Fingerpaint with your eyes closed and feel the paint ooze between your fingers.
13. Open the window, close your eyes and feel the breeze as it enters the room.
14. Hold your tea cup in your hands.   Eyes closed feel its warmth through your fingers, breathe in its smell, linger with this before you drink it.
15. Hug someone close to you, your kids, your partner.  Hold onto them feeling the arms around you, holding you, feel it and then wait for them to let go.

No need to wait for a yoga or meditation class, mindfulness can be practiced anywhere and at anytime.

Lets add to the list, leave a note in comments below telling me how  you bring yourself into the NOW?