What Do We Understand By Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a basic human ability to be fully present; to be aware of where we are and what we are doing, and not be overly reactive or feel weighed down by what’s going on around us.
Mindfulness is an already innate ability that doesn’t need to be conjured up but practiced to reach its full potential. One can increase their level of mindfulness with the help of a few proven practices.
Simple Mindfulness Practices To Begin With
It is a stated fact that mindfulness begins and ends within the body. It refers to taking time to pay attention to where you are and what is going around you. Mindfulness starts with being aware of our body.
Here are a few mindfulness practices that you can start with to increase your awareness:
- Try & Pay Close Attention To A Sensory Level To What Is Going On Around You: Tune into sounds you hear, the things you can see, the smell or taste you experience, the temperature which you are within the moment. Pay close attention to these and bring awareness to everything going around you.
- Connect With The Physical Sensations Of Your Body: Remember the experience of how you are feeling while being in your body. Be in the moment of it. Focus your attention to the tingling feeling in your body. Notice the energy that is flowing within and the ongoing movements within your body.
- Listen Carefully, With Full Attention When Someone Is Talking To You: Focus your attention to the person conversing with you. Try and notice if you get distracted in between the conversation. Bring back your attention to the person talking to you.
- Use The STOP Signal As A Reminder: When you are distracted, use the STOP signal like that of a traffic light to bring your attention back to your breathing. It will help you get less distracted by the task you have been assigned. You can use other reminders too that are a part of your daily routine.
- Focus All Your Attention To The Task You’re Doing: When doing a task, try and give your undivided attention to it. Try not to get preoccupied with other things, focus your energy in completing one task then move on to the next. Turn off all those things that distract you away from completing your task-at-hand.
- Eat Slowly, Chew Well: Experience the taste, the flavours and the texture of the food you eat in your mouth. Let the aroma round up in your nostril. Let the taste set on your tongue. Feel what you are eating and listen to your body when it tells you it is full and it is time to stop.
- Notice Your Emotions: Become aware of how you are feeling at the moment, be it negative or positive. Whenever you feel tensed, wounded up, pay attention to your breathing. Let your attention land softly on them, without the need to change or to understand them.
Conclusion
Practicing Mindfulness is about creating a space for your experiences to ‘be’. You will be able to feel the awareness of anything and everything when you are ready for it. There are several opportunities for starting to practice mindfulness every day in our lives. Engaging with your daily tasks but also being within them fully, with being able to notice even the tiniest tinge, without having being drifted into the future, or the past is a powerful way to strengthen our mind, body and spirit.
