What Does It Mean To Be Mindful?
Mindfulness is a practice which means with repetition it becomes easier and easier. Our world is filled with so many distractions, so many screens, and we are often encouraged to multi-task. With all of these things going on at once learning to be mindful can actually take quite a bit of practice! Being mindful means bringing a sense of presence and intention into the task at hand.
Mindfulness can mean
Being still
Being silent
Feeling your body
Embodying your intentions
Relaxing
Breathing
Being with yourself
Paying attention to your words
Paying attention to your thoughts
Being conscious of your actions and the effects they will have on you, your surroundings, and others.
In the list above you can see a consistent pattern of having to be aware, present, and undistracted to implement mindfulness.
Most of us live very fast-paced lives filled with overbooked schedules, multiple screens being used at once, and fitting in as many things into one moment as we possibly can. We look at this as being productive, but is it really? If we are the creators of our lives, our circumstances, and our schedules…then aren’t we also in charge of our time?
I bring this to your attention because one of the messages I received from spirit that has always stuck with was this:
“The more you rush – the less time you have”
We can look at this statement and easily understand what spirit was trying to convey. If you’re rushing through your tasks very little attention is going into them. Small things get overlooked and you don’t put your conscious awareness and intention into what you are putting out into the world.
When you rush through your day you miss little moments like your kids exploring and learning. You miss your neighbor sending you a nice wave and the signs spirit is sending to you. If you’d like to look at it from a perspective of time restriction then the more you rush the more likely you are to forget something at the house, stub your toe, or spill your drink. All of these things will slow you down.
Bringing mindfulness into our everyday experiences can help us to slow down just enough to become more consciously aware of what we are doing and the intention and vibration that we are sending out.
You can start your mindfulness practice with this simple meditation:
Find a comfortable seat
Take your attention to your breath…feel it going in and out of your body. Really experience it.
Wiggle your toes and then tell them to relax.
Take your attention to your ankles and tell them to relax.
Move up to the shins and tell them to relax.
Then the thighs and release all tension.
Notice the pelvis. Feel this area and tell it to relax.
Feel the stomach and then tell it to relax and release all tension.
Take your attention to the heart center and breathe out anything that isn’t serving you.
Release all tension in the shoulders.
Move the neck side to side and then relax.
Relax the facial muscles.
Relax the skull.
Return to your breath.
The idea here is to be in the present moment by first feeling the body part and then surrendering all tension and worries. This practice is meant to help you slow down. It’s meant to help you feel your body, your emotions, and notice where you’re holding tension. After you become aware then you learn to mindfully release.
Practicing mindfulness is helpful:
In times of worry
When you’re feeling anxious
If you’re stressed
It should even be practiced when you’re feeling amazing.
It’s a space in time when you get to really be with yourself, your emotions and feel the space within and around you.
Becoming mindful of your body and your breath is a great way to bring mindfulness into your day-to- day. Meditation will help you to practice mindfulness so that it becomes easier to incorporate throughout your day!
You can begin to practice things like:
Mindful eating Mindful cleaning Mindful exercising Mindful driving (it might be helpful if we all practiced this one a bit more!)
And a big one…. Mindful parenting
If you are looking for help with learning to be mindful, being present, and becoming consciously aware of your thought patterns and the things you’re attracting into your life then I invite you to work with me one on one. I can help you to learn the practice, put it in place, move through blocks, and identify patterns that may be slowing you down in areas of life that you’re ready to amplify!
I’m ready to chat with you! Schedule your session here!