Finding Magical Mindful Moments

Want to take a pause on your busy life and increase the experience of mindfulness? There are so many good reasons to bring mindfulness into your daily existence and many benefits that tuning in to the present moment can bring:

• Reduced stress and anxiety
• Bringing on a state of relaxation
• Regulation of emotions
• Clearing your mind of thoughts
• Helping your brain and mind feel clearer
• Increasing your attention span
• Lowering your heart rate…and it feels good too!

This post has been written by request for a very busy friend who is wanting some ideas on how to bring little “breathing moments” into her day. Here you go! J

It can be tricky making or committing to regular time to just pause and live in the moment. I have tried many, many things over the years only to let it all go when I found the commitment too much. What I have found to work for me now is to go small. Introduce little moments of mindfulness multiple times a day without routine or expectation. Even one minute's break from your busy thoughts and actions is one minute of peace and connection to the here and now. I find now that I rarely “can’t be bothered” or find myself “too tired”. All I can put it down to is the lowered expectation to do more or for longer or even to do it at all.

Maybe it’s also really believing that living a life with more mindful moments is beneficial and pleasant and my soul starts to crave these little daily rituals I now carry out. I have only listed below activities that I REALLY enjoy, but there are so many ideas out there, that anything can essentially be turned into a mindful activity. I don’t do all of these daily (maybe only 3 of them are regulars), but I know the others are there when I really feel inspired to bring in something a little different.

Yoga – sun salutation:
I wrote a few weeks ago about my 10 minute mindful yoga ritual. I carry this out every night before bed during the week, and usually in the morning during the weekend. It is so easy to do and makes me feel so good.

Make a cup of tea or coffee:
I am a tea drinker and probably drink about 8 cups of tea a day. When I remember, I slow down the process and really tune in to my awareness of every step I am taking as I make my tea.

Clear out a drawer or space:
This is an old favourite of mine and something I have been doing since I was a teenager! Once again, start small if you have a lot of clutter to work through and I generally like to pick an area where I can see the results. But, take it slow and enjoy the process!

Shine the sink:
This one makes me smile, but I actually still do it occasionally! When my children were little I came across FlyLady.net. FlyLady has a regular routine of shining your sink J While I don’t do it daily, do still find joy in making this tiny space within my home shine - and it only takes a few minutes.

5 senses activity:
This is something I have been doing for a few years and came across it after experiencing a panic attack at work. For a while after the incident whenever I was in the same situation I found myself experiencing the early signs of panic…so I started to carry out this ritual which is very mindful and brings me back into my body and out of the racing thoughts in my head. Focus on 5 things that you can see, listen for 4 things that you can hear, reach out and make contact with 3 things that you can touch, identify 2 things that you can smell, and take note of one thing that you can taste.

Make the bed mindfully:
While it’s not something I do during my work week, I really enjoy making the bed in the weekend. I like to tune in to the moment as I slowly make the bed and make it look nice.

Walking meditation:
This is something that can be done anywhere and at any time. You can do it at home or walking to or climbing those stairs at work. Really tune in to your body’s responses and the breaths that you take.

Nature boost:
If you don’t feel like going out for a big walk or don’t have the time, just step outside the door and take in the view, breathe in the air, feel the sun on your face, pick up a leaf, or go hug a tree!

Daily writing:
After reading The Artist’s Way, I really liked what the author proposed about writing Morning Pages which consists of writing (typed or handwritten) a stream-of-consciousness (which is a method of capturing the flow of your conscious thoughts) for 750 words – this can take about 15 minutes. During this exercise you don’t judge, don’t think, don’t plan, don’t aim to write anything in particular, and don’t edit it as you go, just bang out what comes to mind. What this activity is great at is to clear out all those messy thoughts or chatterings that might otherwise take up mental space throughout the day and allows me more moments to fully tune in to the present moment. Often creative thoughts and ideas pop in as I’m allowing my mind to simultaneously switch off as well as clearing my thoughts.

Take a photo of something seemingly insignificant:

I find sometimes a little thing within my home or when out and about brings me such a feeling of peace when I notice it, that I just want to capture it. It's not so much so I can go back and reflect on it, but I think it's going through the process of tuning in for that moment and it's just a quick little thing to do as I bring my attention to the here and now. 

Doodle art:

I have always been a doodler for as long as I can remember. About four years ago I discovered the art of creating tiny versions of these using intentional, simple, repetitive patterns that allow your mind to take a break, to let it move into creative mode and just zone out for 15-20 minutes (depending on how big you want to make it). I use a very fine ink pen (mine has a 0.4mm nib) and good quality sketching paper in that is no more than 10 cm square. That way I don't need to create a large masterpiece or get to a place where I feel bored, but it's long enough to tune into the moment and let the world around me slip away. Recently I have started doing them on square post-it notes at the end of my working day and attach them to the front of my work laptop as a little reminder to tune in throughout the next day.

What every day activities or rituals do you already do that you can attach mindfulness techniques to (such as slowing down and tuning in to the present moment) and thereby bringing mindfulness into your everyday life with ease and enjoyment?

Need to breathe and take a pause on life?

  

I have written before about how to bring meaningful little rituals into your daily life in ways that work with the lifestyle that you have, the time you have, and the situation you are currently in. One activity that I like to make a part of my daily routine even if I’m short on time or not really in the mood for it is a little bit of yoga. And because I don't often have a large amount of time to dedicate to both yoga and mediation, I tend to bring some meditation into my yoga to get mindful yoga.

I might not get the same benefits as if I were to do a one hour session with a larger range of poses, but this is my version of taking a little pause on life and giving myself 10 minutes of attention and self-care. My mind can rest and my body can stretch and ease any tension. I will do it either at the end of a day or the start of the day – either works for me. If I do it in the morning the focus I put on the sequence is one of stretching, warming, and invigorating myself for the day ahead with positive active affirmations and words if gratitude to set me up for a wonderful day ahead – the sequence is carried out with a little more pep and speed. If I do this sequence before bed it is one of slowing down and really taking my time to breathe, restore my body and mind, easing the aches of the day, and resting my mind and turning into my body and bringing it back to the present moment ready for sleep.

The routine that I have always loved right from the moment that I learned it almost 20 years ago is the Sun Salutation / Surya Namaskar. This sequence is a great set of flowing poses that align and stretch and strengthen your body. I have even done this routine on my stand up paddle board  and it’s particularly nice on a late summer evening when the sun is actually going down!

I tend to only do three repetitions on an ordinary day. Because I tend to take my time to move through the poses, and take between 3 and 5 deep, slow breaths in each pose it can take me 10 minutes to get through. I also find 7 repetitions a good number, but really it’s up to you. It’s your choice on what mindset or intention you want to bring to your practice and how long, slow, or fast you do it. There are benefits for all approaches. There are also many versions of this routine, so if you want to add other poses such as lunges there are lots of options.

This simple version of the classic Sun Salutation is made up of the following poses:

1 – Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

2 – Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute)

3 – Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend)

4 – Ardha Uttanasana (Half Standing Forward Bend)

5 – Chaturanga Dandasana (Four Limbed Staff pose)

6 – Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog)

7 – Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog)

8 – Ardha Uttanasana (Half Standing Forward Bend)

9 – Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend)

10 – Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute)

11 – Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

How do you take a pause on life and give yourself a bit of self-care?