Mindful living may sound complicated, something that’s hard to achieve. But in fact, it’s anything but. Everyone can live mindfully and get benefits from day one!
So, What Is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a simple ability to be present, be aware of what we’re doing, and why and think in a non-judgemental way. It can bring a lot of benefits to both mental and physical health.
Why is that important?
When we practice mindfulness, we’re less likely to have stress and anxiety. It helps to focus our attention on positivity and overall well-being, gaining awareness while observing our own mind. Learning how to to be present at the moment is a way of life, which allows you to become conscious of everything you do.
Mindful Eating
The easiest way to start being mindful is to incorporate it into your most frequent activities, habits, and needs. Just notice how you eat! If you are used to eating while scrolling the news feed on your social media or watching Netflix Series, then you eat for emotional comfort. It can contribute to overeating, consuming too much processed food, and sugar, because most of the snacks are made of this stuff.
Mindful eating means paying full attention to your cravings and physical cues when eating.
Try to use the following tips to be more conscious regarding your food and you will see positive results once you start doing it all. And as a great bonus to health and mental benefits, you’ll feel satiety even faster and get satisfaction from the eating process.
- Eat slowly and without distractions
- Listen to your body, to your physical hunger cues
- Eat until you start feeling halfway full
- Notice the smell, colors, and textures of the food
- Think about how nutritious your food is, what vitamins it consists of and how this will help your body
- Appreciate and be grateful for what you have
All these will allow you to be more conscious of your food choices, and help you to live a healthier life.
Mindfulness For Better Relationships
To live a happier life, we need to be mindful not only with ourselves but also with the people around us.
Mindfulness in relationships is about observing others in non-jugmental way and staying present when talking with them.
Pay your attention to people around you, rather than scrolling through your phone. Hear and listen carefully to what they say and be present in conversations. Not everybody can really listen to others, it’s a skill that should be learned. If you don’t agree or there’s a controversy, learn to respond more mindfully.
Take A Pause
In our fast-paced life, waiting can be really frustrating for us, whether it’s a line in the store, traffic, or simply sitting in a subway. But think about how waiting can turn into an opportunity for mindfulness. Notice your breath, pay your attention to the breath flow, how deep it is, where it begins, and where it ends. Let everything that we can’t control just be as is.
Meditation & Yoga
Practicing mindfulness somehow equals learning a new language. And meditation is a guide book for learning this language.
Multiple studies have proven that meditations and yoga help to cope with anxiety and stress, reduce depression, and cut the pain in half. These practices contribute to setting positive thinking, improving memory, self-awareness, and goal setting. People who meditate feel much happier and self-confident than those who don’t. And it actually doesn’t take long to see all these benefits! Just start doing it for at least 10-15 minutes a day and you’ll see how your brain starts thinking differently, how calm you become, and what a great spiritual shift you experience. You won’t understand until; you try doing it consistently.
