Hey ya’ll
welcome to the second installment of the “Digging Deep” series, where I dig deeper into the building blocks of the serene life you deserve! This week’s building block is mindfulness. Now, if you’ve been following me for any amount of time, you’ll know this block is one of my favorites! In fact, I’d even go as far as to say mindfulness is the cornerstone for your entire building!
Here’s why:
- In order to even begin understanding yourself (think needs, wants, weaknesses, feelings, everything!) you must first notice yourself, a.k.a become mindful.
- Mindfulness is a journey, not a destination. It’s not something you check off in your daily habit, mindfulness is a lifestyle!
- Once we move our lifestyle from mind-full to mindful, we can address any underlying needs along with self-defeating behaviors and beliefs.
- Just like affirmations, mindfulness rewires our brain networks. And the more we practice, the more automatic and natural it becomes.
- Society has truely trained us to be mind-full. From elementary school, we’ve been taught to tune out our environment and emotions in the name of productivity. In adulthood, we are buried under to do lists, achievement, and unnecessary urgency. Moving away from a task-oriented “doing” mindset to a “being” mindset requires an intentional/mindful shift.
Many people have one of two reactions when I bring up mindfulness; they either feel confused as to how it moves them forward, or they tune me out because it doesn’t directly attack their current struggles. But the truth is, training our minds to be mindful helps us not only become more aware of our problem, it also helps us attune to our strengths. When we are mindful, we are able to be creative and effective problem-solvers.
Don’t let the simpleness be a turn off! Although you’re not actively obsessing over your circumstances, you’re actively training your brain to slow down and notice your senses, your body, and your place in the world around you. This skill turns into noticing your body-aches, tightness, or other physical responses to emotional dis-ease. Noticing these responses then allows you to notice the emotional responses and stress cues, as well as notice when these cues are not present.
And, the best way to practice mindfulness is actually pretty simple: start noticing the color of the sky more often, intentionally think about how food tastes before you swallow, notice how the breeze feels on your face, or practice a mindfulness meditation (I always like Kristen Neff’s work and recorded meditations).
Eventually, you’ll be able to notice any thougths that correspond to stress and relaxation cues.
And finally, when you’re able to notice your physical and emotional responses, you’re empowered to intervene with other tools that manage your stress, self-defeating behaviors and thoughts. See? It all works together! And you can start using this building block TODAY!
Committ right now to do a simple exercise tonight before you go to sleep. Before laying down, sit on the edge of your bed with your eyes closed and feet on the floor. Intentionally think about how the floor is supporting you. How does it feel? What is the floor made of? Do your feet lay evenly over it? Is a part of your foot a little sore? Do this for at least 2 minutes!
Other possible exercises could be:
- Pausing when eating to notice the taste of the food before you chew it
- Thinking about the different colors you see (I love noticing the yellow of busses when I am stopped by one)
- Noticing how it feels to hug someone
- Noticing how a certain place smells.
- Notice if your heart is racing, or if you have tension anywhere in your body
The list is honestly endless, but here are a few key reminders:
- This is a no-judgement zone. Notice, but don’t make judgements about what you notice
- Start with about 2 minutes a day
- Gradually increase the time you spend being mindful. It’s hard at first, so start small!
- Find grace. Your mind WILL wonder off, and that’s okay. When you notice the wondering, gently invite yourself to refocus.
- This is exactly like retraining a muscle! It’s hard at first, and may feel silly! FIND GRACE AND BE WILLING TO EXPERIMENT ON THIS! The mindful muscle will get stronger!
There are truly so many ways to practice this skill, I’d love to hear what YOU are doing! Feel free to leave your experiences in the comments below!
With Serenity (and a Bright yellow bus)
Leah