How to Start Implementing Mindfulness into Your Daily Life
Implementing mindfulness into your daily life can be beneficial in a myriad of ways. It can help you calm your mind and remain present in the moment.
What is Mindfulness
Mindfulness is noticing and observing the world around you; often by utilizing your five senses: smell, taste, sight, touch, and sound. It can be observing how you feel, what you think about what is happening, and noticing your current environment. It is important to realize that being mindful and acknowledging what is going on around you, does not mean you need to act on your thoughts or allow them to distract you from the present moment.
Why is Mindfulness Beneficial
Practicing mindfulness is a great way to ground yourself when you feel overwhelmed, stressed, or anxious. Once you grow this habit overtime, you will be able to pick what mindfulness practice is best for you in the moment and implement it, which is simultaneously a great approach for stress-management. Practicing mindfulness fills you with a sense and feeling of calmness, improves your focus, and generally leads to greater well-being.
Mindfulness Practices
There are several ways to practice mindfulness, but I’ve listed five options below that can get you started.
1. Breathing Exercises
Breathing exercises allow your mind to focus directly on your breath and can be extremely beneficial. They can teach you how to focus on one thing at a time (single-tasking), reduce distractions, improve your overall mood and help regulate your emotions.
You are literally already breathing so this is an easy one to try and incorporate in your daily life.
You know when you pull up to your house after work and you just sit in your car in silence for an extra 2 minutes… because you’re tired and drained and even just getting out the car to go do the next thing sounds like too much? Insert breathing exercises here.
Seriously, it sounds so simple and that’s because it is. There are several breathing techniques you can try, but I’d suggest to just start by noticing your breath. Is it shallow? Fast? Are you holding your breath because you’re anxious? Take a slow, steady, deep breath in through your nose and count to four. Pause at the top of the inhale. Exhale for a slow and steady count of four. Repeat a few times, notice the rise and fall of your chest or abdomen, feel the breath entering and leaving your nostrils, and then notice how you feel afterward. Are you more relaxed? Focusing on your breath can be a solid anchor to the present moment.
2. Mindful Eating
When was the last time you had a meal without distractions? Can you start to focus on the food that’s in front of you? Bring the five senses into it.
- Can you hear the food sizzling?
- What does each bite taste like?
- What colors are on your plate?
- What texture is your food?
- Can you note the aroma of the food?
3. Mindful Movement
Whether you’re walking, working out, or stretching, bring awareness to your body as it moves. Really experience the world around you while you’re practicing mindful movement and you’ll certainly begin to enjoy it more.
- Do you feel tension anywhere? Aches? Pains?
- Can you feel the entire surface of your foot touching the ground beneath you when you step?
- Notice the weather around you if you’re outside; is it hot, cold, wet, or dry? Is it cloudy, windy, sunny, or dark? What color is the sky? What do you hear; birds chirping, water flowing, wind blowing?
4. Gratitude Practice
Taking a few minutes daily to express gratitude in your life can be a great way to bring mindfulness into your day. It creates time for you to pause and teaches you to cherish the simple things in your life. An example of this could be a gratitude journal where you write down three things you are grateful for everyday. Another example could be before bed, taking a few seconds to identify three things you are grateful for and just take note of them in your mind without writing them down.
5. Meditation
Meditation isn’t about sitting still without thoughts. Practicing meditation creates mindfulness within yourself where you are encouraged to notice the thoughts that arise, accept them as they are, and then let them flow through you. You are encouraged to notice your thoughts, not judge them, and practice bringing your mind back to the present moment. It is normal for our minds to wander and race; meditation is a great practice in order to slow our thoughts and build the ability to better manage them. There are guided 3–5-minute meditation videos out there if you’re interested; it doesn’t have to be a long time commitment and you still get great benefits over time.
Tips for Making Mindfulness a Habit
Making mindfulness a habit does not have to be difficult. I’ve listed 5 tips below on how to guide you to building a habit of mindfulness.
1. Set Your Intention
Why are you practicing mindfulness? Is it to reduce stress or anxiety? Improve focus? Live more intentionally? Be present in daily life? Define why you are building this habit for yourself.
2. As Always, Start Small
Anytime you start a new habit, I will encourage you to start small. Small, attainable habits will be easier to stick to long-term and allow you to remain consistent with your efforts. Another key point is that if you start small and limit your new habit to 5 minutes at a time; not having the time is no longer an excuse not to accomplish your intention.
3. Set Aside Time
Can you sit with your eyes closed for 3-5 minutes in the morning while you’re sipping on coffee before the rest of your house wakes up? What about during your daily movement; a cool down period is a great time to schedule being mindful with how your body feels. You can even schedule mindfulness practices right before bed like noting what you’re grateful for today. If you set the intention and schedule the time to show up for yourself in this way, it will more likely develop into a habit.
4. Show Up For Yourself
There are a million and a half excuses we could pull out of thin air not to show up for ourselves. We all live busy and often chaotic lives, but it is important to hold yourself accountable or find a friend to hold you accountable. Do what you need to do in order to start showing up for yourself. Do you need to set an alarm or a reminder on your phone? Do you need to share your progress with a friend?
5. Be Kind, Flexible, and Patient (this is new for you)
Remember, we are all human and it’s natural to have days when our plans fall through. Becoming intentional with our time and practicing mindfulness is a lifelong journey. It’s something we remind ourselves to practice by gently bringing our focus back to the present moment when distractions arise. Being distracted is part of life; be kind to yourself as you take steps to lead a more simple, balanced life.
Conclusion
Implementing mindfulness into your daily life, all things considered, does not have to be a burden or difficult; it can be eye-opening, freeing, and ultimately simple. Pay attention to how you feel after you practice mindfulness. As a result, are you more relaxed, less stressed, enjoying your food or movement more than normal? Being mindful of how these practices are making you feel and recognizing your growth can be a great motivator for you to keep going. 
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