Mindfulness has gained a lot of popularity in recent years, with benefits available to anyone who invests time into a regular practice. So how do you get started?
Here are the 5 mindfulness exercises you can practice today:
- Mindful breathing
- Mindful observation
- Mindful awareness
- Mindful listening
- Mindful appreciation
Mindfulness is the ability to pay attention in the present moment without judgment. It’s also the art of paying close attention to our thoughts, feelings, emotions, and sensations.
If we pay closer attention to them, then we may find that they change over time. And if we are mindful enough to notice this change, then we can respond to these changes appropriately.
Let’s take a closer look at these simple exercises.
How to do Mindful breathing
The first mindfulness activity to try is breathing, a technique which can help you to control your feelings and your thoughts.
Step 1 – Find a comfortable position: Find a comfortable position for yourself. You don’t need to do anything fancy. Sit upright in a chair or on the floor. Make sure that you have your back supported. You can also practice mindful breathing while lying down.
Step 2 – Breathe: Inhale slowly through your nose. As you inhale, imagine that your breath is filling up your lungs. Feel the air filling up your lungs.
Hold your breath for around 5 seconds. Exhale slowly through your mouth. As you exhale, imagine that your breath is emptying out of your lungs. Feel the air emptying out of your lungs.
Notice your breath as it enters and leaves your body.
Step 3 – Repeat: Do this exercise until you feel relaxed; it could take 10 to 20 cycles.
Step 4 – Notice your body: Notice the physical sensations in your body. Feel your feet on the ground, your legs, your arms, your shoulders, your neck, your face, your hands, your head, your back, your stomach, your chest, your heart, your lungs, your breathing.
Step 5 – Notice your environment: Notice your surroundings. What can you hear? What do you feel? What is the weather like? Do you feel the sun shining down on you? The wind brushing your skin?
How to do Mindful observation
Our second activity, mindful observation, is all about looking at the world from a calm and tranquil state of mind. You try not to judge or evaluate what you see.
The approach can be really beneficial to those who are looking to de-stress. We often fill our minds with thoughts which we perceive to be negative or which make us feel anxious.
Being constantly focused on negative thoughts can result in feelings of anxiety. Mindful observation can help to alleviate this feeling.
Step 1 – Find the right place: Find a place where you can observe without being distracted. It could be in nature, at home, or somewhere else.
For example, if you are going for a hike or a walk, and you notice you are constantly focusing on the negative things, then you can try doing some mindful observation.
Step 3 – Observe the world around you: Start by noticing the objects which are around you. Start to notice the leaves of the trees and the different textures of the ground. Start to notice the sounds and the movement of the air.
Keep bringing your attention to the objects that keep appearing in front of you. Keep noticing the sounds and the movement of air.
Step 4 – Observe your thoughts: Observe your thoughts as they come and go. Observe what happens when you think about something. What are your thoughts like? Do they change? Do you notice any patterns?
Step 5 – Observe your emotions: Observe your emotions as they come and go. What are they like? Do they change? Do you notice any patterns?
When you notice you are feeling anxious, you can bring your attention back to noticing the surrounding objects.
You can also do mindful observation in thought. For example, if you are feeling anxious in a meeting or in a conversation, you can start to notice what you are thinking about.
Try to focus on the thoughts which are going through your mind. Try not to judge or evaluate the thoughts. Try just to observe them individually.
When you find yourself thinking negatively, you can bring your attention back to noticing the surrounding objects.
We know that much of the world today seems nervous and anxious. We know that this is because we have spent much time looking at everything with judgement and evaluating it.
Often we will look at something and our minds will automatically think of the worst case scenario. This is only natural because our brains are taught from an early age to judge.
Unfortunately, this mentality can lead to people being constantly stressed.
By doing ‘mindful observation’ we can train our minds to look at the world differently. We can train our minds to look at the world and notice something different.
We can train our minds to notice the good things and the bad things. We can train our minds not to judge. We can train our minds to find peace and calm.
Mindful Observation can be a great tool for people to ease anxiety. It can be a great tool for people to relax.
How to do Mindful Awareness
We live in a world that is becoming increasingly obsessed with technology and productivity. The amount of time we spend on social media, email, work, and other activities has been rising at an exponential rate for years now.
It’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind and forget to take a step back and look at what we’re doing and why. We often become so consumed with our busy lives that we lose sight of the bigger picture and end up spending less time with the people we love.
Mindful awareness is a way of being in the moment, and being aware of what’s going on around you. It’s a way of focusing on the present moment, and not getting distracted by your thoughts.
There are several ways you can practice mindful awareness. You can:
- Sit quietly for a few minutes each day;
- Meditate for 10-20 minutes a day;
- Focus on simple activities
The final point just means that when you’re doing something mundane, such as opening a window, you pause and focus on the moment. How do you feel? What can you hear? How will opening the window change your environment?
As you practice these focus moments you can use them in negative situations, recognise the moment for what they are, mentally label them as unhelpful and push the negativity out of your mind.
Once you’ve started doing mindful awareness, you’ll want to practice it every day. This can be simple moments in time or a scheduled meditation session.
How to do Mindful Listening
This is a very useful technique for use in your daily life because it can improve your relationship with others. For many of us it is something that we learn about after getting into any sort of situation which calls for us to be more aware of our thoughts and how we react to them.
Mindful listening means listening without judgement. When you listen without judgement, you are listening from a place of curiosity. You are not trying to win an argument or to agree with someone. You are listening in order to understand. You are listening with the intention to understand.
This means being present. This means listening with full attention. It also means not getting lost in your own thoughts.
Step 1 – Listen with the intention of understanding: When you listen with the intention of understanding, you will become a better listener. You will gain insight into yourself and others. You will see things differently.
Step 2 – Stop talking: It is important to stop talking and just listen. Don’t interrupt, don’t talk over, just stop until you are invited to speak.
Step 3 – Practice mindfulness: Be aware of your thoughts and feelings using the mindfulness awareness technique above.
Step 4 – Do not judge: It’s important to not judge. You cannot be critical or judgmental when listening. If you are thinking “I hate her”, then you are not listening. You are not interested in understanding. You are only interested in proving your point.
If you are judging someone, you are not listening.
Step 5 – Pay attention to the other person: You will become a better listener if you pay attention to the other person and listen with interest. Don’t allow your mind to wander off, you must give all focus to the speaker.
Step 6 – Be open-minded: It’s important to be open-minded to truly hear what the other person is saying. If you are closed-minded, you are not listening.
Step 7 – Be present: It’s important to be present. Don’t get distracted by what’s going on arround you, or check your mobile phone. You cannot be absent when listening. If you are absent, you are not listening.
Step 8 – Reflect: After listening, reflect on what was said. Did you understand what was being said? Were there any points you didn’t understand? Why did you think this person would say this? Was he/she right? Wrong
By learning to truly listen, you will have a much clearer understanding of the conversation. Because you are listening without judgement, you listen to the other person rather than reacting. This stops you from being influenced by your own thoughts and your own feelings.
You will also be able to understand the other person better. Because you are listening with full attention, you are paying attention to the words, tone and body language of the person you are talking to. This allows you to better understand what they are saying.
How to do Mindful Appreciation
Appreciation is the act of recognising something and being grateful for it. When we think about appreciation, we often think of things which are positive and producing us some benefit of some kind.
One of the main benefits of appreciation is that we are able to focus on the positive. If we can just focus on the positive, we will block out the negativity.
The simple fact is, most of the time, negative things only serve to make us feel bad. They are meaningless to us. We tend to focus on the negative far more than we realise.
If we can learn to focus on the positive, we will often find ourselves much calmer and happier.
Sit in a quiet space and think of 5 to 10 things which you appreciate in your life. Many people like to write them down in a gratitude journal, for example:
- I appreciate my partner
- I appreciate my cat
- I appreciate my health
- I appreciate I have a job I like
- I appreciate you for reading this blog
The next day you would try and come up with new items you appreciate. If you record all these items in your gratitude journal, it means you’ll have a book full of positivity!
Benefits of Mindfulness
By incorporating these simple mindfulness exercises into your daily life you will start your journey to a better quality of life.
Mindfulness can help with stress management, self-improvement, emotional health and overall well-being. It helps you to improve your ability to concentrate on what is important in life.
It helps us become aware of ourselves and others, and allows us to live life without regrets.
Improve Self-Control
Mindfulness improves self-control. This means that you’ll be able to control yourself better.
For example, if you’re angry, you won’t act impulsively. If you’re sad, you won’t cry uncontrollably. And if you’re happy, you won’t go crazy.
Reduce Stress Levels
Stress levels decrease when you practice mindfulness.
This is because stress causes negative thoughts and feelings. By learning to control these negative thoughts and feelings, you’ll be able to relax and focus on positive things.
Increase Productivity
Productivity increases when you practice mindfulness. This is because you’ll be able to concentrate better.
Concentration leads to increased productivity. For example, if you’re writing an essay, you’ll be able write faster and more accurately.
Enhance Relationships
Relationship problems decrease when you practice mindfulness because you’ll be able think clearly and objectively.
When you’re mindful, you’ll be able see things from another person’s perspective. This makes it easier to understand each other.
Live a Happier Life
Happiness increases when you practice mindfulness because it helps you appreciate the present moment.
Appreciating the present moment means appreciating everything that happens right now.
So if you’re feeling down, you’ll feel happier once you realize that you don’t have to wait until tomorrow to feel better.
Practicing mindfulness will allow you to live a happier life.
Conclusion
These simple mindful practices will help you become more aware and intentional when making decisions about who you spend time with.
There are other mindfulness practices to explore, such as mindfulness meditation or body scan, but these five are some of my favourites because they are relativly simple and have helped me learn to slow down, take notice, let go, be compassionate, and pay attention. I hope that this helps you!
