Practicing Mindfulness

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I have been reading Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness by Jon Kabat-Zinn over the past week and as a result I have started a new mindfulness meditation practice for 45 minutes each day.

I started by meditating in the morning as I have always found that a good way to start the day and it means it is less likely to be forgotten or pushed back. For the first few days I really struggled to stay awake! I was ok for a while and then zzz… I was gone. Apparently it is a common problem, so I haven’t worried too much and have just adjusted things slightly. I tried meditating in the evening but as I anticipated, forgot about it one day. I went back to the mornings but I have been getting up at 7.30am rather than 7.00am and I think that has helped me be less sleepy. I get up and brush my hair and teeth and splash some water on my face to help wake myself up and then go and sit, setting my alarm for 45 minutes.

Practicalities dealt with, I have seen some subtle benefits already. I have noticed that I have been calmer and able to catch myself at times (it’s a work in progress!) when I am just reacting to a situation. I have been more aware of the realm of beingness (the book covers this in more detail). I have managed to bring the intention of mindfulness to a lot of my interactions this week and just brought myself back to my breathing at times.

I will probably do a review of the book as I am enjoying it so much, but for now I thought I would share some tools that have helped me practice mindfulness:

Mindful Eating

My husband recently read about the benefits of eating in front of a mirror with a smaller fork and smaller plate in becoming mindful when eating. I love food, but do have a habit of eating too quickly so have started doing this. The mirror in particular makes me more aware of what I am doing and is a good reminder to savour the food!

Don’t Over Schedule

I used to over schedule a lot and then crash and burn! I have got much better at keeping life simple and spreading out my commitments and ensuring I leave time between commitments and for rest and rejuvenation. I feel healthier and in control of my schedule and just able to be in the moment without the anxiety of being overstretched.

Exercise

Exercise helps me to be more mindful. I particularly find that I don’t have time to think about anything else when I am doing aerobic exercise like running! I have also found yoga helpful in taking care of my body in a mindful way. Exercise can help to get rid of stress and also to ‘inhabit’ your body more fully. When I am feeling low or over thinking, getting my body moving can help disrupot those negative patterns.

Breathe

A simple one and something we are hopefully all doing! However it is something many of us don’t pay attention to. Being aware of the in and out breathe is at the heart of many mindfulness, meditation and yoga practices and with good reason. I try to bring my awareness back to my breathing at different times throughout the day (and have been more aware of it combined with the meditation practice I mentioned).

Meditate

Meditation doesn’t have to be complicated. Simply sitting in a comfortable position and paying attention to the in and out breathes of your breathing is a great way to do it. As I mentioned, the book I shared about reading is resource to get started (and to develop your practice).

Are you feeling stuck in your life or your business?

If you enjoyed this and are also interested in living more mindfully or working on another area of your life or business, then book your free consultation with me here at my coaching page.

An Attitude of Gratitude

Photo by ally123 via Flickr

For each morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is a worthwhile endeavour for many reasons; one of the main reasons being that it helps us appreciate what we already have and what is already here (rather than the habit that many of us have of noticing what we don’t have). Most of us have an abundance of things to be grateful for (and even when it doesn’t feel that way, there is always something we can find).

Being grateful can help us keep a balanced perspective on our lives as well as being a soother for the soul. It can be easy to get in the habit of always be looking for what’s missing or what we want to achieve next but by taking time to cultivate gratitude in our lives, we can remind ourselves of all that we already have. Great for a more positive mindset!

The Benefits of Gratitude

• Gratitude helps you appreciate the people and things in your life
• Gratitude can help to remind you of what is really important
• Gratitude helps you see what you already have rather than what is missing
• Gratitude helps you realise you don’t actually “need” that much to be happy
• Gratitude can help you see the positive, even in the “negative”
• Gratitude is an attractive quality (on many levels).

The Law of Attraction

The Law ofAttraction says that you attract into your life whatever you think about. Therefore, as I said above, gratitude is an “attractive” quality. Being grateful literally makes you a magnet for more of what you are grateful for. The more you are aware of and think about what you have to be thankful for, the more of those experiences that you attract in your life.

A simple example of this is to think about how you feel when you have given something to someone that is ungrateful. Do you feel inclined to give them more? Now think of a time when you have given something to someone who is genuinely grateful. Quite a different experience isn’t it? This also shows “The Law of Attraction” in action. It is no accident that many people that use The Law of Attraction are aware of the immense power and beauty available to us and those around us, in developing gratitude.

Tools For Cultivating Gratitude:

1. Use a Gratitude Journal

Regularly writing in a gratitude journal is a powerful way to go about cultivating an attitude of gratitude in your life. I write a couple of lines in my gratitude journal each night and it never fails to make me feel a little bit better than I already do as well as remind me, that even when I don’t feel like it or remember, there is always something to be grateful for.

2. Say “Thank You” Often

We can all be guilty of saying thank you less than we could at times. A heartfelt thank you can make a world of difference – think of a time when someone has really thanked you for something you have done. Look for opportunities to say thank you, rather than taking things for granted or looking for what is “wrong”.

3. Practice Being Grateful for the Negative

This one isn’t always easy, but definitely worth trying! Whatever our beliefs, we are all aware that sometimes bad things happen to us for a reason we might not yet understand or are aware of. Like many people, I have had many experiences that looked negative at the time, which I can see with the benefit of hindsight, needed to happen for more positive experiences to enter my life. For example, I recently expressed gratitude in my journal for an argument with my husband as it made me appreciate all the days we don’t argue!

Making gratitude an intention in my life has helped me to shift my focus towards what I have to appreciate in my life. I don’t always remember to be grateful, but when I do, it helps me to feel better about myself, my life and the people around me.

Are you feeling stuck in your life or your business?

If you enjoyed this and are also interested in feeling more gratitude or working on another area of your life or business, then book your free consultation with me here at my coaching page.