Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last decade, then you’ve probably heard of mindfulness by now.
Even if you’re not entirely sure what it is, you likely know that it’s related to how we manage stress and anxiety. This is correct, yet despite the fact that the demands of modern life afflict millions of people with these things, not many people consciously practice mindfulness in the course of their everyday lives. But this is starting to change.
The reason more people are picking it up is not just greater awareness of the concept. It’s because once people properly understand it, they learn that it’s not just about journaling or meditation – time-consuming tasks that they don’t really look forward to. They realise that it can be practiced anytime, anywhere, for as long or as little time as you please. You can fit it into the busiest of schedules, and it can even heighten the pleasure of things you enjoy.
This article contains a short primer on mindfulness and its benefits, then suggests some of the ways you could practice it in everyday life.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a skill which can be learned and which improves with practice, just like any other. It is the skill of deliberately becoming aware of what is presently happening in and around us. We sometimes slip into this sort of state without trying if something around us really captures our attention, but most of the time we are interrupted by our thoughts, and they carry us away from the present moment. Mindfulness is when you can conjure up this awareness on demand. It’s simple, but not easy. Mindfulness practitioners use a number of exercises to hone their skills, the most well-known of which is meditation. However, there are many others.
The benefits of mindfulness
Although its popularity has only recently surged in Western and secular societies, Buddhists have been practising mindfulness for over 2,500 years. The fact that it has endured so long tells us that people have found it beneficial, and recently scientists have started to isolate and study some of these benefits. Here are a few examples.
Stress reduction
This is probably the outcome that most people associate with mindfulness, and there is a good amount of evidence to support it. This includes a meta-analysis of 39 studies, the results of which suggested that mindfulness could be a useful therapeutic tool for a number of psychological disorders.
Another study found involved participants watching sad movies before and after an eight-week mindfulness course. Those who completed the course reacted less to the sad film than those who did not do it, and they also reacted differently than themselves before they watched the film.
Less rumination
The idea of mindfulness is that by becoming aware of intrusive thoughts as they crop up in your mind, you can progress to preventing them entirely. This will allow you to be more aware of your surroundings and the present moment instead, and there is some scientific evidence for this.
Better memory
There are also some less well-known benefits that may result from mindfulness. One of these is an improved working memory, and others include enhanced focus, better management of fear, and more satisfaction with relationships.
How to practice mindfulness in everyday life
The benefits above are not only available to those who meditate like monks. They can be yours too if you put in the work. As with cultivating any skill, it is less about how much time you spend practicing and more about putting in real effort and doing it consistently.
Here are a few common and less common ways that you can fit a mindfulness practice into your life, no matter what your schedule.
Meditation
Okay, this one can be time-consuming, and it’s not exactly an activity that many people look forward to. However, as the most popular and proven method of acquiring mindfulness, it would be remiss if it wasn’t mentioned. Plus, it might be easier than you think. There’s no need to sit on the floor with your legs crossed, and you don’t even need to close your eyes for mindfulness meditation. And you can benefit from doing it for as little as five or ten minutes a day.
Thought observation
Okay, if you really can’t spare five or ten minutes to find a quiet spot and meditate, then how about a few seconds? One mindfulness exercise you can do anywhere is to simply notice a thought when it enters your mind. Mindfulness is not about judging our thoughts or trying to suppress them, but maintaining a sort of detached, non-reactive awareness of them. That’s why the goal is simply to notice and acknowledge a thought or two during your day instead of acting on it.
Focus on something you enjoy
It’s a lot easier to be in the present moment when you are only doing one thing instead of several, and when it’s something that you really enjoy. So pick something you like doing, ideally something that involves all the senses and that you can do on your own somewhere where there are few distractions. Then, really focus on it. Eating chocolate is a popular choice, as is drinking coffee. Or you could pick out a new tea to try from Tea Vision. It doesn’t matter so much what the focus of the exercise is as long as you spend time focusing on the sensory experience it delivers. That includes the temperature, aroma, taste, and more. This is a proven way to practice mindfulness, and lots of people find that it also increases the joy they get from the activity.
Breathe deeply
There’s no excuse for skipping this one because you’re going to have to breathe anyway. So why not make them nice deep breaths? Even if it’s just for a few seconds, focus on them by closing your eyes and feeling the air enter and leave your body. This is such a proven stressbuster that the Navy SEALs use something similar.
Conclusion
Long meditations may be effective, but they are not necessary to bring more mindfulness into your daily life. Even short exercises like those described above can positively affect your satisfaction and mental health.
