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.
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Following on from last week’s entry on building resilience, it is important to state that resilience don’t just help you manage stress but it fosters inner strength to help you meet goals, life challenges and achieve success. Most of my clients hold more or less physical tension which I would like you to think of as a bad habit that relaxation will help you break. Relaxation is like changing the idling speed on a car. When a car turns over too quickly, wasting expensive fuel and putting a strain on the engine, the mechanic can reset the idling speed to a much lower level. Similarly when busyness, concerns, time pressure have speeded us up too much, making us tense and irritable, we can learn how to let go and attain a much calmer state of being. So taking the time to learn what relaxes you! It is worth re-emphasising the point that it is possible to make an enormous difference to your state of mind through yoga, tai chi, relaxation and meditation and all other sorts of physical exercise. While most of celebrate our wins, it is also important to celebrate when we do good for others, as often other’s don’t notice. We all know life has its ups and downs, when your life is in turmoil, you may not do things "perfectly". Rather than worrying or simply surviving turmoil, why not ask what you can learn from the situation. But don’t beat yourself up, remember you always do your best, when you know better, you do better! One habit that I try to cultivate to help put a smile on my face especially when I am feeling down is to cultivate a gratitude attitude. However bad my day goes, before I got to sleep I try to think of three things that I am grateful for. These don’t need to be big things; it can be as simple as “I am grateful that the transport system ran on time” as I had a busy day. A gratitude attitude helps foster joy, fulfilment & peace of mind.

