Mindfulness is a difficult practice. Ask even the most experienced “mindfulness experts” and they’ll tell you it doesn’t work the same way for them every day. But these mindfulness activities can help you find ways to bring peace into your daily life in ways other than meditation.
6 ways to be more mindful right now besides meditation, Image credit: Instagram
meanwhile meditation is a powerful tool for cultivating MindfulnessHowever, this isn’t the only way to bring mindfulness into your daily life. Here are six practices you can incorporate into your daily life right now to bring calm and presence into your life.
In our fast-paced, capitalist society, multitasking is often praised as a skill to be mastered. But it has a cost, one that has been shown to be directly related to people feeling distracted and overwhelmed. If you want to find inner peace, instead, choose just one activity that you can truly immerse yourself in. Whether it’s writing an email, folding laundry, or enjoying a meal, give it your full attention. Observe, ask questions, and be aware with curiosity. Bringing your attention to these physical sensations will help you reconnect with the present moment and avoid getting lost in your thoughts.
Gardening is often an underrated path to mindfulness. Just ask any friend who’s a keen gardener. Slow down and engage your senses as you tend to your plants. Texture under your fingers is a great anchor for focus, and gardening helps ground you in the present moment. Beyond the benefits to mindfulness, there’s also plenty of research showing how nature and greenery are inextricably linked to our sense of wellbeing and how important it is to cultivate this habit.
Especially in today’s world, our eyes are constantly bombarded with information. However, the intangible visual information we are exposed to through our screens doesn’t really help us connect with reality and what is present in the here and now. Mindful Anchoring, also known as Deep Seeing, encourages you to focus your attention on the visual world in a new way. Pick a familiar object, like your coffee mug or the plant on your desk. Notice its color and the hues the light reflects off its surface. This practice of deep observation can be applied to almost anything. By slowing down and truly looking at what is in front of you, you can easily awaken your curiosity and appreciation for the beauty of the everyday.
Like seeing deeply, listening deeply encourages you to pay full attention to the sounds around you. Be an active listener, rather than letting the sounds around you blend into the background noise. Notice the subtle changes in familiar sounds and the intervals between repetitions. Hear the rhythmic hum of your refrigerator that you normally ignore? Actively tuning into the soundscape around you helps you to be more present in the moment, in a way that quite frankly is quite different to any other sense. When the sounds are gone, they’re gone.
Solving a puzzle, whether it’s a crossword, jigsaw or Sudoku, can be an amazingly mindful activity. As you focus on solving a puzzle, your mind is fully immersed in the present moment. You pay attention to your breathing, you pay attention to your body and you pay attention to your emotions. Being aware of your inner state as you work on the puzzle allows you to take a slightly outside perspective on your thought patterns and emotional responses.
Finally, mindfulness doesn’t have to be a still practice. This requires a bit more focus and maybe a clear mind, but even the most basic hobbies can be an excuse to practice a little mindfulness. Washing the dishes, doing the laundry, or even taking a walk in nature can be an opportunity to let your mind bloom. The trick is to not get carried away with your thoughts, which can be the hard part. With a few mental reminders and a bit of dedication, this last activity could be your path to being mindful throughout your life.
