Do you have those days where you zip here, and zip there, going about your normal busy day to day life? Your to-do list is 10 pages long, and you are ticking all the boxes, because you are on fire today! At the end of the day you sit down with your family/room mate/partner/cat and just collapse in-front of the TV? Maybe with a glass of wine to try and calm down? If you are nodding along to this (I am sure many of you are!) then let me introduce to you something that is going to change your life. 

Mindfulness

Practising mindfulness is an amazing technique to learn. It helps us to calm down, pause and be connected to our life. We often get so caught up in the rush of getting things done, that we completely miss the moments of what we are actually doing. 

So much of our modern day living is lived in a hectic pace, especially for the Gen Y’s and younger. We are literally living in an instant world. A world of now, now, NOW! Our brains are so wired to focus on multiple things, that we are constantly on the verge of an overload breakdown. 

For an example: 

Do you ever get in your car to go somewhere, and when you arrive, you cannot remember actually driving there? 

Or

Do you ever multi-task when you eat a meal? You are eating: but are watching TV/scrolling Instagram/replying to emails/eating on the move? Then once you are finished, it is on to the next thing. These days there is a pull back towards mindful-living, yet with the fast paced lifestyles we live, many people are feeling frustrated and lost on how to actually go about living mindfully. 

Below is a few simple ways for you to practice mindfulness in your every day life. My best tip for being mindful is to not put too much pressure on yourself to be “mindful”. Being mindful is a state of awareness that helps us to: 

• focus on the present moment
• concentrate 100% on what it is we are doing
• be grounded into the current flow of your life 
• be fully present and experience life as it happens 

Practising mindfulness has many benefits that are amazing for both our physical and mental health. Some of these health benefits include: Better sleep, more creative ideas, reduced stress, helps maintain good health and bring us back into alignment with our mind + body + spirit. (just to name a few!) 

The easiest way to start practising mindfulness is to choose a simple task – such as having a shower – and really be in the moment with it. Use all your senses (touch, smell, listen, feel, look) from start to finish. Smell the soap, feel the water flowing onto your head, listen to the pop of the shampoo lid,  look at the water rolling off your body, touch with awareness all aspects (your hair, the soap, the taps, your towel etc). This is a way to slow down a be in the now with what you are doing. Give it a try and see how you feel afterwards – you might surprise yourself! 

You can do this technique in any day to day activities – from eating your breakfast, to walking the dog. Each time you are doing something – is a time you can practice mindfulness.

How do you like to practise mindfulness in your life?

Let me know in the comments below or send me an email!

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