How To Practice Mindfulness In Your Daily Life
Modern lives are often hectic and stressful. We are so busy just staying afloat and managing our lives that we have no time to look after our mental health.
This can have many negative consequences: We live like machines, soullessly completing our daily chores, burning out, or developing depression. Mindfulness aims to prevent this from happening and bring you back to a happy lifestyle.
What Is Mindfulness?
The term ‘mindfulness’ may sound intimidating but all it means is that the mind is fully focused on something. This something could be anything, from drinking your morning coffee to filling in your tax return.
By being fully aware of something, we are fully present in the moment and able to take in everything we see, feel, hear, taste, or smell. Mindfulness doesn’t extend to judging these sensations or your world, it simply means being aware.
Mindful.org defines mindfulness as follows:
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.
Benefits of Mindfulness
Being mindful of yourself and your life has a number of benefits.
When you become more aware of your thoughts, you can identify those thoughts that aren’t beneficial to you. For example, it is easy to think “of course, I will fail” or “I’m not good enough for this”.
These thoughts sabotage your chances of success and mindfulness enables you to stop them in their tracks.
Mindfulness is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a way to prevent depression in people who have had three or more bouts of depression in the past.
Mindfulness also helps in other areas of your life. You can practise mindfulness in your daily life to assess who you spend your time with to avoid time wasters and people who drag you down. Or you can be more mindful about your purchase decisions to avoid buying junk and wasting money.
How to Practise Mindfulness in Your Daily Life
Before You Start
There are several methods to practise mindfulness in your daily life. As every one of us is unique, not all may work for you and you may need to try a few different ways.
The good point is that everyone can be mindful. It is an innate ability that you are born with, you may just need a bit of practice to discover it.
Note that you do not need to buy anything to practise mindfulness in your daily life. There is no need for a yoga mat, a fancy cushion, special good-mood tea, or anything else. All you need is a bit of time.
Use a Mindfulness App
There are plenty of apps that help you to be mindful. Personally, I do not use any apps but a lot of people find them useful, particularly when starting out. Many of these apps are free so it doesn’t hurt to try them out even if you’re not an app person like me. A mindfulness app can help you to simplify your life and be happier.
You may want to start with these apps (although there are plenty of others):
- Insight Timer (web, Android and iOS)
- Smiling Mind (web, Android and iOS)
- MyLife Meditation (Android and iOS)
- UCLA Mindful (Android and iOS)
- Healthy Minds Program (Android and iOS)
These free apps should be more than you need but of course, you can also explore paid options such as Headspace. Some workplaces offer free subscriptions to paid apps so it is worth checking with your employer. Or you can consider taking out free trials and then cancelling before you progress to the paid plan.
Learn Breathing Techniques
Your breathing is important when it comes to practising mindfulness in your daily life. Take a few minutes and focus on your breath, both the inhale and the exhale. You can do this in any situation and it will help you feel calmer and more relaxed.
Initially, it may help you to close your eyes and practise. Experts recommend 15 minutes per day for at least a week, although a longer duration may be associated with more benefits. If you struggle to achieve this, you can start with a shorter interval and work your way up. Even one minute is better than not doing anything at all.
Become Aware of Your Senses
When you have a moment, sit down and ask yourself some questions:
- What can I see?
- How do I feel?
- Can I hear anything?
- Am I touching anything?
- If so what do I feel?
- Are there any smells?
- What does it taste like? (if you’re eating)
Not all questions are always appropriate but you can ask yourself in any situation to focus yourself. Instantly, you will be fully present in the moment.
Practise Mindfulness in Your Daily Life
Practise is what makes perfect and mindfulness is no different. You can easily practise mindfulness in your daily life in many situations.
If you are starting out, you may want to practise in a calm location. For example, many people like to do it in the shower. Simply become aware of your surroundings and ask yourself the above-mentioned questions.
You can then expand and practise mindfulness in every aspect of your life. When eating, you can fully appreciate the tastes of your meals. When at work, you can take a few minutes to assess how you feel and go through the questions again. When spending quality time with people, you can check how the other person makes you feel.
When you are being mindful, you will discover that there are many things to do instead of watching TV.
Keep a Journal
Keeping a journal can help you reflect on your day. Firstly, it can help you identify areas and times when you weren’t mindful and fell back into your old habits. You can then try and improve on the next occasion.
Secondly, keeping a journal is also a way to practise mindfulness in your daily life in its own right. By writing down your thoughts and feelings, you cannot avoid being aware of them.
Note that a journal does not mean anything fancy. Sure, you can buy a nice journal but a simple notebook or even a Microsoft Word document fulfils the purpose well enough. Or you can set up an eco-friendly blog to use as a diary.
Develop a Morning Routine
A morning routine for success will help you start the day in the best way possible. You may think of the word “routine” as something that is the total opposite of mindfulness. And that is true in some ways: routines encourage people to mindlessly complete tasks.
However, this isn’t always bad. A good routine sets out the framework for living mindfully and also doesn’t restrict you.
The best mindfulness routine starts with the evening before. Ensure that you get quality sleep by reducing screen time at night and going to bed at a good time depending on your biorhythm.
In the morning, you could start by practising gratitude and exercises. Other ways to practise mindfulness in your daily life could be having a healthy breakfast or stretching. Caring for your skin, for example with a vegan and cruelty-free moisturiser may also be part of your plan.
What exactly you want to do in your mindfulness morning routine is completely up to you. It may take some time to find the perfect routine for you so in the beginning, you may need to make a few adjustments.
Take Breaks
During the day, try to take breaks if you can. Set reminders on your phone if you need them. During these breaks, you can assess your situation and your mindfulness state by asking the above-mentioned questions.
This will help you if you have accidentally stopped being mindful or are just feeling stressed out. It may be hard for you to take time out of your busy life but the benefit will definitely be worth it and you don’t need more than a few minutes at a time.
Exercise
It is common knowledge that a healthy body encourages a healthy mind and vice versa. Exercise is important to improve your physical health. It reduces stress and enables you to free your mind which helps with being mindful.
Good exercises include jogging, cardio-based activities, or simply stretching. If you are unable to undertake strenuous exercise you can just go for a walk and you will feel the benefit.
Walking is also something you can do when you have limited time. Even the walk to the toilet can become a mindfulness exercise if you make it one.
How to Practise Mindfulness in Your Daily Life Summary
Mindfulness means being fully present in the moment and aware of your thoughts and feelings. It is associated with several benefits, including lower stress and higher quality of life and is recommended by NICE to prevent depression.
Anyone can practise mindfulness and there is no special equipment needed. All you need is a bit of time. Methods to practise mindfulness in your daily life include:
- Use a mindfulness app
- Learn breathing techniques
- Become aware of your senses
- Practise mindfulness in your daily life
- Keep a journal
- Develop a morning routine
- Take breaks
- Exercise
Of course, this is not an exhaustive list. You may find something else that works better for you and that’s ok. After all, everyone is different.
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Thank you for your concise and helpful post. I’ve read so much about the many benefits of mindfulness that it is probably something we should all make time for.
I struggle, though, because severe tinnitus is all I can hear when I seek quiet. The managed breathing helps, though.
Oh gosh yeah I can imagine that doesn’t make things easy – mindfulness can come in different ways for everyone it doesn’t have to visulisation (something I cannot do) there are so many options out there its just finding the right one.
i really need to practice mindfulness more, I just find it so hard to switch everything else off in my busy ADHD bipolar brain. Maybe I need to set aside a little more time for it
Isn’t it weird as full grown adults we sometimes lose touch of our surroundings, what is really affecting us and our emotions. Yet through mindfulness we can reconnect with the simple things in life again like our breathing, what we are seeing, hearing and touching. It seems so easy, like thefundamentals of life and yet without mindfulness it can be so complicated and overwhelming when it doesn’t have to be.
I have found mindfulness to be a wonderful tool for so many things. It helps with my pain management, my anxiety, and when my daughter died it helped with my grief. Many schools also teach it to kids as it can help calm them down and remain focused.
A very interesting blog post. I wouldn’t want to use an app for mindfulness but I like the idea of breathing techniques and I already use a journal and take exercise daily. I used to attend a yoga class which was very helpful and I will try to find a class near me .
Really does help everyday ife – it does take work o make it prt of a daily routine but us so worth it
An app is the last mindful thing I need. It’s exactly what I must get away from sometimes. I do try