Mindful living is the newest trend and superpower. It’s all about learning how to tune into your body both physically and mentally every day. It puts you in control of your daily life and improves your long-term health and wellbeing.
The science behind mindfulness is not new and has been used for centuries all over the world. Learn more about the History of Mindfulness: From Religion to Science here.
Defined: Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.
9 Ways to Be More Mindful in Everyday Life!
Start by practicing mindfulness during daily routine activities. This will bring more awareness to your physical health and your mental thoughts.
1. Wake up with the sun. Begin your mindful moments first thing in the morning to set the tone of your day. Also waking up early can lead to improved health and better cognitive functioning.
2. Be present. Being present helps us reconnect with ourselves and what’s going on around us. Be attentive to others too by actively listening to their words.
3. Set a timer. Accomplishing the task at hand always makes you feel good. So set a kitchen timer or use your mobile phone and only work on one task at a time. When the bell rings, take a break, stretch and rehydrate with water.
4. Be curious. Let your mind wander, explore and be open to the possibibilites of life. Being curious is associated with higher levels of positive emotions and lower levels of anxiety.
5. Eat when hungry. Nourish your body when hungry not too much with organic whole foods. Avoid sugar and too many carbs as these can play havoc on your emotions and moods.
6. Laugh often. Enjoy a mindful moment of laughter and repeat daily! Just for that moment you are able to feel joy and happiness like a child. Laughing increases the feel good chemical, endorphins which can decrease physical pain.
7. Go outside. Take a relaxation break outside to recharge your mind and body. Practice mindfulness by using your senses to smell the rain, fresh cut grass and feel the breeze and sun on your face.
8. Learn to meditate. Mindfulness is one of the core elements of meditation. It only takes 5 minutes a day of meditation to have a positive impact on your health and wellbeing. Watch Jon Kabat-Zinn, Professor of Medicine Emeritus and Founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on the sound and thoughts of meditation.
9. Better quality sleep. Practice the mindfulness of your thoughts every night before bedtime. To help clear your mind, write down tomorrow’s to do list and stop thinking about things you can’t fix right now.
Benefits of Living a Mindful Life
It puts you in control of your daily life.
It shifts the need to take everything personal when stress is near to being more curious.
It’s about you being less critical and doing more observing.
It allows you to catch the negative thoughts and turn them into positives.
It improves your emotions, moods and happiness levels.
It’s about being more compassionate with yourself.
It can prevent depression by positively affecting brain patterns and how you react to stress.
It improves your long-term mental and physical health and wellbeing.
What ways do you practice daily mindful living? I’d love to hear from you!
Heal your body naturally from the inside our with nutrition and live young every day! Enjoyed this post! Share it with your friends on your favorite social sites.
Photo credit: Photodune
Cheers to a Healthy Life!
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