5 Tips for a Rewarding Mindfulness Practice
Engaging in a daily mindfulness practice helps us maintain a higher perspective. It allows us to perceive our daily circumstances through an illuminated lens, as we understand that our problems are nothing more than wrong perception. A healthy and fulfilling mindfulness practice enables us to feel peace among chaos, gratitude for the present, and connection to our Higher Consciousness.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present and aware of ourselves and our surroundings without being reactive or overly overwhelmed by what is taking place in and around us. It is the practice of being conscious or intensely aware of the present moment, while calmly observing, acknowledging, and accepting one’s thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations without interpretation or judgment. While we all naturally possess the ability to be mindful, it becomes a much more natural state when we practice it on a daily basis. Engagement in mindfulness practices relaxes the body and mind to help reduce stress and quiet brain chatter, and may involve methods of breathing, sensory exercises, guided imagery, body scanning, meditation, journaling, and visualization. Applying mindfulness practices throughout the day helps to alleviate the stress and anxiety that naturally arises from problem-solving, planning, and engaging in random, negative, or judgmental thinking.
I have seen major shifts in mood and performance since incorporating mindfulness practices into daily routine. Here are my 5 Tips for a Rewarding Mindfulness Practice:
Incorporate small mindfulness exercises throughout the day.
Begin when you wake up in the morning, before you even get out of bed. A simple breathing exercise or body scan meditation can help you feel refreshed and ready to go. Pointer: Pair your morning mindfulness exercise with a powerful affirmation to set the tone for your day. Continue to sprinkle in mindfulness activities throughout the day: as you drink your coffee (notice its flavor and warmth, its oils caressing your tongue, its aroma as you inhale), while taking a few minute break from work, while waiting in line at the market, while taking a walk, or stretching before the gym, in the shower, before bed. Pointer: Use activities or symbols you encounter on a daily basis to remind you to enter a mindful state (i.e. coffee, book, mirror, key). In each of these moments, lovingly notice the thoughts running through your head, mentally sweep your body from head to toe and notice all sensations. Simply be in that moment, noticing your breath, feeling the breeze on your skin (or the office air conditioning draft lol). Notice the energies present within and around you. Really feel and own this energy as you acknowledge yourself, your fleeting yet mighty existence at this moment in the world. Simply be present.
As you allow your mind to wander, do not judge your thoughts.
Simply observe them. Recognize the subjects that make their way into your consciousness, and then kindly and gently release them. By kindly and lovingly observing our thoughts without judgment, we are able to witness our internal experiences clearly. Be accepting of yourself through this process; do not judge your experiences. Regard yourself as you would a friend, as someone you love. By extending this loving kindness to ourselves as we observe our thoughts, particularly thoughts that are counterintuitive to our wellbeing, we are able to recognize that we have been perpetuating a mistaken belief, judgment, or sense of self, and through this practice this mistake can be corrected. Notice which of your thoughts are judgments that do not serve you, label them as so, and let them pass. You must be aware of your judgments before you are able to let go of them. This practice will lessen the hold they have over your mood and behavior. Mindfulness can also be the method through which you fully release these judgments and unhelpful thoughts. As you inhale deeply, notice any feelings that arise with your thoughts. And as you exhale completely, allow the thought and feeling to drift away as if it were merely a cloud.
Pointer: Do not actively try to stop thinking; this defeats the exercise of quieting the mind by giving it another task. It is natural that your thoughts will continue to flow like a river. Acknowledge your thoughts, know that they are there, but do not engage them. Allow them to slip from your mind as easily as they entered. Completely detach, and return to the present moment by returning to your breath or body sensations. As new thoughts enter, continue to observe and then gently release.
Thank yourself.
In the concluding moments of your mindfulness exercise, thank yourself for the conscious care you are lovingly providing for your inner self at this moment. Then, thank your inner self for your guidance, for delicately balancing your visions, values, beliefs, goals, and motivations amidst the demands and impositions of the outer world. Place your hand over your heart and inhale and exhale gratitude as you do so. Pointer: Incorporating gratitude throughout your mindfulness practice as well as at its completion elevates your energetic vibration, and can deeply enhance your mindfulness experience.
Spend time outdoors.
Making it a priority to spend time in nature will have a lasting impact on your health and wellbeing. Find a spot outside and allow the restorative value of nature to augment the therapeutic effects of your mindfulness practice, as it nourishes both you and the environment you move through. Contact and connectedness with the natural environment is vital to human wellbeing and flourishment. Researcher David Strayer, University of Utah states, “People have been discussing their profound experiences in nature for the last several hundred years—from Thoreau to John Muir to many other writers. Now we are seeing changes in the brain and changes in the body that suggest we are physically and mentally more healthy when we are interacting with nature.” Recent studies suggest that being in nature reduces stress, relieves attention fatigue, increases creativity, and optimizes brain and physical health. The Journal of Biological Regulators and Homeostatic Agents features a study that found that men and women who spent time forest bathing experienced an increase in human natural killer cells that combat tumor and microbial growth, as well as increased intracellular anti-cancer proteins in lymphocytes. Their immune boosts lasted seven days after their nature exposures. Researchers of a similar study conducted by Li et al. found that participants who spent time in the the forest environment had significantly increased parasympathetic nervous activity (restores body to a calm and composed state) and significantly suppressed sympathetic activity (fight or flight stimulation), compared to the participants who spent time in the urban environment. They also found markedly decreased cortisol levels and heart rates among participants immersed in the natural forest environment. Together, the reduction of cardiac output allowed by parasympathetic activity paired with decreased cortisol levels can significantly help lower blood pressure. Further studies find that simple and brief contact with nature can produce marked increases in cognitive control, mood, and creativity.
Formally learn to meditate.
“The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes” (Foundation For a Mindful Society). Mindfulness is available to us at every moment, as it is the basic human ability to be fully present. Meditation is a mindfulness practice that focuses on exploring. As we meditate, we venture into the inner workings of our minds, our thoughts, and emotions, while suspending all judgment and allowing our curiosity to flow unleashed. Meditation practices have been studied widely in clinical trials, and overall evidence supports the effectiveness of meditation for conditions including stress, anxiety, pain, insomnia, depression, and hypertension (high blood pressure), and also may help with fibromyalgia and asthma. According to Mayo Clinic, “meditation can help you experience thoughts and emotions with greater balance and acceptance. Meditation also has been shown to improve attention, decrease job burnout, improve sleep, [and] improve diabetes control.” A formal meditation practice that is conducted daily sets the framework and mental language that can better allow mindfulness to be more of a default state throughout your day.
References
Berman, M., Jonides, J., & Kaplan, S. (2008, May 28). The cognitive benefits of interacting with nature. Association for Psychological Science. http://emilkirkegaard.dk/en/wp-content/uploads/The-Cognitive-Benefits-of-Interacting-With-Nature.pdf
Getting started with mindfulness. (2020). Foundation For a Mindful Society. https://www.mindful.org/meditation/mindfulness-getting-started/
Lee, J., Park, B., Tsunetsugu, Y., Ohira, T., Kagawa, T., & Miyazaki, Y. (2011). Effect of forest bathing on physiological and psychological responses in young Japanese male subjects. Public Health, 125(2), 93-100. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0033350610003203
Li, Q., Morimoto, K., Kobayashi, M., Inagaki, H., Katsumata, M., Hirata, Y., Hirata, K., Shimizu, T., Li, Y., Wakayama, Y., Kawada, T., Ohira, T., Takayama, N., Kagawa, T., & Miyazaki, Y. (2008). A forest bathing trip increases human natural killer activity and expression of anti-cancer proteins in female subjects. Journal of Biological Regulators and Homeostatic Agents, 22(1), 45-55. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18394317/
Mindfulness exercises: See how mindfulness helps you live in the moment (2020). Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/mindfulness-exercises/art-20046356
Suttie, J. (2016). How nature can make you kinder, happier, and more creative. Greater Good Magazine: Science-Based Insights for a Meaningful Life. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_nature_makes_you_kinder_happier_more_creative