Millions of people around the world are seeking the hidden secrets behind mindfulness and using it to improvise their daily lives. To achieve mindfulness doesn’t mean you have to meditate every single day. Mindfulness is an art. You can do a lot of activities like walking, reading or even eating to help to be in the state of mindfulness. Below are the 6 mindful practices that are difficult to learn but will reward you forever.
Realizing the absence
Realizing the absence of mindfulness is one of the best ways to start becoming mindful. As your day goes by, your brain tends to go on autopilot. It’s even easier to space out while doing something repetitive or boring. Having the ability to bring your brain back from being unconscious is a great start for your journey to mindfulness. Be aware and always check yourself back to reality.
Focus on your thoughts
Meditation isn’t the only way to achieve mindfulness. You can even get it while doing your day-to-day tasks. It can be as simple as monitoring your thought from time to time. Focus on your feelings about things, and understand the reason as to why you feel this way. Making it into a habit will surely benefit you during hard times. It will train your brain to reflect on everyday things and allows you to find the perfect solution to your problems.
Listen attentively
Don’t put any limitation on practicing mindfulness. Instead of doing it by yourself, you can try to do it with others as well. It is said to be more effective that way. You encounter social interaction every single day. Use this opportunity to practice mindfulness by treating every conversation as if your breath depended on it. Focus and listen attentively. Don’t just focus on looking at them. Concentrate and listen to their emotions, their body language, and their responses. This will make the communication to be more meaningful.
Conscious breathing
Breathing happens naturally to you. You never think about whether you are breathing enough or not. However, focusing of one’s breath is one of the best techniques to practice meditation. It’s very pleasing to do as it has no time limit. But note that by combining meditative breathing and another task is not mindfulness at all. Do it properly and avoid being circled by social stimuli.
A little twist for everyday task
The task that you do every single day such as driving to work or groceries shopping will become automatic over time. You will unconsciously do it as you already know what happens next. Change this habit with a little twist. Next time, look at what you’re doing from a different angle and start appreciating for what they are. If you take things for granted, you will find it less extraordinary.
Heighten your senses
The phrase ‘same old thing but a different day’ is widely used all around the world. But is it though? Of course not! If you look into your routine, you’re bound to notice new things for the first time. It can be a scratch on your car or a delicious lunch menu that goes unnoticed. You are blindly chasing the exciting until forgot the new things right in front of you.