Mindfulness is a term that people frequently use these days in a very lofty manner. But really, it is the simplest concept imaginable. When you are “mindful” that simply means that you are “paying attention.” In other words, you are fully focused on whatever it is that you are doing or that is happening in the present moment.
But while the concept of mindfulness is incredibly simple, being mindful is quite difficult! For instance, when I woke up this morning, I was not remotely focused on the present moment. Instead, I lay in bed and thought about how sad I am that my mother recently passed away. Then I worried about my career for a little bit. After that, I gave some time to being irritated about someone who was rude to me three years ago. And eventually I decided to get up.
It was an absolutely stupid way to start the day. Because I could have started the day in a state of mindfulness. I could have woken up and paid attention to what was happening in the present moment. I could have appreciated the very comfortable bed that I was lying in. Then I could have looked out the window and enjoyed the morning light. Perhaps I might have seen a bird or two flitting through the trees. In short, I could have chosen to be fully present in the moment. And that would have been a lovely way to start the day. But instead, I chose to let my mind wander to things that upset me and over which I have no control.
The problem is that trying to control your mind is like trying to herd cats. The mind can be unwieldy and hard to control. As a result, on occasion, we all have mornings like the one I had today. But the good news is that with practice, over time you can gain control over your mind. You can train your brain to become more attuned to the present moment. And the best way to do that is to make mindfulness a lifestyle.
Below are ways to practice mindfulness throughout your day. Follow these approaches, make mindfulness a lifestyle, and see how much happier and more relaxed you can be!
Meditate
One of the best ways to practice being mindful is to do mindfulness meditation. In mindfulness meditation, we practice paying attention to what is happening in this moment by focusing on something in our immediate experience, like our breath. Or we might focus on a body part, such as our hands. In mindfulness meditation, we are practicing on giving our full attention to our present experience.
Meditation is fascinating because it teaches you something about your mind – it wanders! For example, you might decide to meditate by focusing on your breath for 5 minutes. But after 2 minutes, out of nowhere, you mind starts thinking about your To Do List. Or you might start thinking about a health issue that you are facing. And soon you recognize that your mind has wandered, and you have to return your focus to your breath.
But that is how mindfulness meditation works. You focus on something in the present. Your mind inevitably wanders. And then you bring it back to the present.
The good news is that the more you practice meditation, the less often your mind wanders. With practice, you become better at being fully present in the moment. In short, you become much better at being mindful.
So, if you wish to make mindfulness part of your lifestyle, consider starting a meditation practice. The more you train your brain to be mindful during meditation, the more you’ll be fully present during the rest of your day!
Commune with Nature Regularly
A wonderful way to practice mindfulness is to spend time in nature. When we are in nature, it is so very easy to be fully present. After all, there is so much to take in! The magnificence of the tall trees. The birds singing. The occasional sighting of a squirrel, chipmunk or frog.
So, if you have an unruly mind, instead of frustrating yourself with a meditation practice which may be too challenging, start with some mindfulness walks in nature. For instance, weather permitting, I try to do a mindfulness walk at least once a day. I’m blessed with a fenced in property, and my dog considers it his job to run the perimeter to make sure that we’re safe! So, he and I wander the property, and while he is looking for potential perimeter invaders, I do my mindfulness walk.
I find that being mindful is so easy once I am in nature. My mind is fully attuned to the plants, trees and wildlife. I don’t struggle with staying focused in the moment as I do when I try to simply sit in one place and focus on my breath. Of course, both activities are valuable ways to train my brain, but I simply find my nature walks to be an easier way to practice being fully present.
So, if you are trying to make mindfulness part of your lifestyle, then consider taking daily walks in nature. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how much easier it is to be fully present when communing with the natural world!
Practice Being Present in the Mundane
Of course, few of us have the luxury to simply spend all our time walking in the woods. That isn’t how life works. Instead, we have jobs, housework and other responsibilities. But even though life isn’t one long nature walk, that doesn’t mean that you can’t find ways to practice mindfulness all day long!
Consider practicing mindfulness even in your mundane activities. For instance, you can be fully present while folding and putting away the laundry. As you fold each piece of clothing, you might notice its texture and color. You can check to see if an article of clothing needs mending. If you are cooking, try paying attention to every step in the cooking process. You might take extra care to chop each vegetable evenly. And as you clean up the dishes, you might pay close attention to the warmth of the water or the dish soap suds.
Admittedly, being mindful while doing mundane activities is the most challenging way to be mindful. After all, it’s when we are doing household chores that we tend to multi-task and do one thing (e.g. mopping the floor), while thinking about another (e.g. paying the bills).
One helpful way to look at your household chores is to treat them as another form of meditation. In meditation, we focus on our breath or a body part to practice being in the present moment. You can do the same if you are vacuuming the carpet or mopping the floor.
The key to incorporating mindfulness into your lifestyle is to take any opportunity that you have to practice being fully present. You aren’t limited to sitting in the lotus position and focusing on your breath! Even something as simple as watering your houseplants can be a chance to practice being in the here and now.
Give Others Your Full Attention
An important way to practice being mindful is to try to be fully present when we are with others. Unfortunately, in today’s world we often are distracted when we are with others thanks to our phones. After all, how often do you see people who are at a restaurant together and instead of talking to each other, they are looking at their phones!
If there is any time when we should be fully present, it’s when we are with another person. And remember that every interaction with another person should be for the purpose of being fully present for that other person and to have a positive impact on that person. That takes intention. You have to start the interaction with that goal in mind.
For example, my daughter was recently home from college for a visit. Now, I’ll admit that college students sleep a lot when they come home! But when she happened to be awake, my goal was to connect with her. I wanted to be fully present for every conversation we had so that I could find out how she is doing in school, and how my husband and I can help her with her professional goals. And I wanted every interaction to be positive. I didn’t want to be impatient or distracted. We ended up having a terrific visit because I was very intentional about how I wanted the visit to go.
And that is the key to being mindful in our interactions with others. We have to commit to being fully present (and positive) before the interaction even starts.
By making mindfulness a lifestyle, we can learn to become more present all day long. Consider following the approaches above, learn to be more mindful throughout your day, and see how much happier you become! (To read about reducing anxiety with a mindfulness practice, click here.)
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