Improve Your Wellness Part 4: How to Practise Mindfulness

In the busy digital age, it’s easy to get distracted.

With everything being available at the click of a button, we tend to go from one thing to the next without being able to truly appreciate the moment.

That’s why mindfulness is so important.

But, wait, what exactly is mindfulness? Well, to put it plainly, it’s the act of being fully present in the moment by paying attention to your thoughts, feelings and the world around you.

And it’s a great way to improve your mood, mental health and overall wellbeing.

Don’t believe me? Try these 5 ways of practising mindfulness if you want to understand yourself better and enjoy life more.

1. Just Breathe

First of all, breathing exercises are a very powerful way to practise mindfulness.

Start by identifying your in-breath as in-breath when you breathe in. And then recognising your out-breath as out-breath when you breathe out.

Don’t try to prolong or slow down your breathing. Just breathe normally and pay attention to it. This clears your mind and stops you thinking about anything that isn’t your breath.

You could even take this one step further and think about how your body feels when you’re breathing.

Sure, these exercises sound simple, but they’re super effective.

Oh, and if you find your mind wandering at all, don’t be too hard on yourself. Just acknowledge the thought and then always bring yourself back to your breathing. 

2. Release Any Body Tension

Once you’re truly aware of your body through breathing exercises, you’ll likely notice some tension, pain and stress in certain areas.

And it’s important to release this.

In essence, when you breathe in, say to yourself: “I’m aware of my body.” Then, when you breathe out, say to yourself: “I release the tension in my body.”

It’s all about using the mind to bring peace to the body — and it just works.

3. Get Into a Routine

For mindfulness to be truly helpful, you have to be willing to practise it every day.

It’s a good idea to pick a regular time to do it, such as first thing in the morning or while you’re on your daily run. Then make sure you stick to this routine for best results.

4. Pick a Prompt

Struggling to remember to be mindful? Not to worry — just choose a cue you come across on a regular basis that can help you shift your brain into “mindful mode.”

For example, you might have a room in your house that you only use once a day (like your living room on a night) which could serve as your “mindful room.”

Alternatively, when you have your morning coffee, this could be an indicator that it’s time to start your daily practice.

Either way, opt for whatever works for you.

5. Notice the Every Day

Lastly, try to notice the small things about your everyday life.

From the food you eat to the feel of the wind in your hair, get out of your “autopilot” mode and learn to appreciate the little things in this world.

Why? Well, this new, regular way of engaging in the moment will aid your daily mindfulness, as well as give you a new perspective on life. Win-win.

Turning Mindfulness Into Meditation 

Once you’ve practised these techniques and you become a master of mindfulness, this can then lead to the art of meditation, where you can spend longer periods of time focusing the mind on a particular thought, object or activity. 

Consequently, you can achieve an emotionally calm and mentally clear state in a short amount of time.

However, until then, keep being mindful. And you’ll soon find that there’s a positive change in the way you see yourself — and your life.

Look out for the next blog post in the “Improve Your Wellness” series, “Part 5: Self-Care Trends To Try for Yourself,” coming very soon!