How to be more mindful

So if mindfulness is doesn’t requires lots of effort, and its really beneficial, why aren’t we all doing it?

While exploring a new city is naturally interesting, we rarely have the same enthusiasm for brushing our teeth, loading the washing machine or my commute.  So if you are like me, these are just some of the activities that I do on a regular basis that I have labelled “boring” and I go into autopilot (mindlessness).

So the simplest way to practice mindfulness is to bring awareness to the daily activities you consider “boring”.

Another great way time to practice mindfulness is while you wait.  We are all so short of time that waiting is a huge source of frustration, whether its waiting for a train to turn up, waiting in line or being stuck in traffic.  These are all ideal times to just be mindful.  You can do this by focusing on your breathing and left everything else just be.  Start by breathing in and out slowly – one cycle should last for approximately 6 seconds.  Breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.  Letting your breath flow effortlessly in and out of your body.

Our brains respond to short burst of mindfulness, so its ok to keep it short, a few minutes per day.

 

 

Related Posts

  • Power Poses

    Like most people I am interested in body language.  Like most people I noticed awkward social interactions in day to day life.  Until recently I considered that body language is about

    • what you are communicating others
    • what they are communicating to you
    I always viewed body language as a tool people use to help them understand how other people think & feel.  What I never considered is the impact my body language had on me.  The influence my body language hand on my thoughts, feelings and physiology. We all have situations in our life when we would like to feel more optimistic and confident basically more powerful.  Social science has show that powerful leaders have low levels of cortisol (i.e. low levels of the stress hormone) and high levels of testosterone (i.e. high levels of the dominance hormone).  So what if we could use our body language to make ourselves feel more powerful in challenging situations, it turns out we can by adopting the wonder woman pose. wonderwomanBy adopting the Wonder Woman pose for 2 minutes, social scientists have proven that it will increase your confidence, assertiveness and help you feel more comfortable in a situation.  This is due to the impact holding this "high power" pose for two minutes has on your body, its reduces your cortisol levels and increases your testosterone levels.  Meaning you are less reactive to stressful situations. So can you apply this in real life.  Last weekend I was on my sports massage course and each weekend we have a written test we need to pass.  For some reason I had misunderstood what the test was on and forgot to review the whole subject.  I discovered this about 30 minutes before the test.  So I was in a highly stressful situation.  So I decided to give this power pose a try and did it during the next 30 minutes while revising.  The science says 2 minutes but I felt I needed all the help I could get.  It turns out that I passed.  While this isn't irrevocable proof, I would recommend people try it. As Amy Cuddy says "our body's change our minds, our minds change our behavior and our behavior changes our outcomes."  For a more detailed understanding of power poses, the science behind them, watch Amy Cuddy's Your body language shapes who you are.  

  • Am I stressed?

    If you ask people are they stressed, most people will say no.  The reality is that people rarely feel stressed out.  So I wanted to publish a guide to helping you becoming more aware of when your stress goes to high. Psychologist Connie Lillas uses a driving analogy to describe the three most common ways people respond when they’re overwhelmed by stress:

    • Foot on the gas – An angry, agitated, or “fight” stress response. You’re heated, keyed up, overly emotional, and unable to sit still.
    • Foot on the brake – A withdrawn, depressed, or “flight” stress response. You shut down, pull away, space out, and show very little energy or emotion.
    • Foot on both – A tense or “freeze” stress response. You become frozen under pressure and can’t do anything. You look paralyzed, but under the surface you’re extremely agitated.
    Signs and Symptoms of Stress Overload The following table lists some of the common warning signs and symptoms of stress. The more signs and symptoms you notice in yourself, the closer you may be to stress overload.
    Cognitive Symptoms Emotional Symptoms
    • Memory problems
    • Inability to concentrate
    • Poor judgment
    • Seeing only the negative
    • Anxious or racing thoughts
    • Constant worrying
    • Moodiness
    • Irritability or short temper
    • Agitation, inability to relax
    • Feeling overwhelmed
    • Sense of loneliness and isolation
    • Depression or general unhappiness
    Physical Symptoms Behavioral Symptoms
    • Aches and pains
    • Diarrhea or constipation
    • Nausea, dizziness
    • Chest pain, rapid heartbeat
    • Loss of sex drive
    • Frequent colds
    • Eating more or less
    • Sleeping too much or too little
    • Isolating yourself from others
    • Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities
    • Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax
    • Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)

  • How to prevent Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness?

    If your training was effective, you should feel some soreness the next day, and for two days at the most. If the second day is significantly worse than the first, and your soreness lasts into a 3rd day or beyond, you have what they call delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), and it’s a sign that you trained too hard for you.  There are no hard and fast rules on what is too hard as DOMS varies from individual to individual. So now I want to talk about how to prevent Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.

    1. Anti-Inflamatories
    As DOMS is created as a result of inflamation, in the past it was considered a good idea for those susceptible to DOMS to take anti-inflamatories e.g. ibiprofen.  However the downside of this approach is that anti-inflmatories reduce muscle growth and excessive use can damage your liver.  Hence this approach has fallen out of favour.

    2. Static Stretching

    As its not that beneficial to stretch cold muscles, start with a gentle warm up to wam up your muscles.  So both your joints and muscls are prepared and get the most benefits from stretching.

    3. Constrast Showering

    Ideally after stretching, jump in the shower and give yourself around of contrast hydrotherapy by alternating the temperature between hot and cold every two minutes. The contrast effect has definitely proven to be effective for reducing soreness and restoring muscle performance more quickly when its used the day after the workout, and any other day that a muscle is sore.

    4. Warm Up

    Ensuring that you warm up before exercising by lightly working the same muscles that you are going to train can go a long way to reducing DOMS and injuries. References Vaile JM, Gill ND, Blazevich AJ. The effect of contrast water therapy on symptoms of delayed onset muscle soreness. J Strength Cond Res. 2007 Aug;21(3):697-702.