How To Incorporate Mindfulness Into Your Everyday Life
With our fast-paced lives, anxiety is something many Australians already experience, but the increased cost of living crisis is throwing more oil on the fire. In fact, according to research from Beyond Blue, inflation is one of the nation’s biggest sources of stress at the moment. So, what can you do to better manage this concern as well as all the other stresses in your life – like caring for a family, managing work commitments, maintaining a social life and looking after yourself?
Add a little mindfulness into your day. Countless studies show that people who practise mindfulness experience less stress, anxiety and depression, and also enjoy lower rates of high blood pressure. Mindfulness can also improve your immune system and may protect you from cognitive decline, but the best part is, you don’t need to dedicate two hours to it every day. In fact, you can easily weave it into many of the activities you’re already doing.
Why should you try mindfulness?
The biggest and most obvious benefit is that you stop taking life for granted. We spend so much time in our head all day, thinking about this and worrying about that, while life itself is slipping past our very eyes. Mindfulness pulls us out of this hypnotised state and throws us into the magic of the moment, where we can experience life and not just think about it all the time. It’s not about reflecting on the past or the future, it’s about what’s happening in the here and now and simply observing what’s right in front of you.
How to add mindfulness into your everyday life
Start meditating
By introducing meditation into your day-to-day life, you will begin to develop and strengthen your mindfulness muscles. Mediation is an intentional exercise that brings you into contact with the present moment. This then has a natural flow-on effect to being more mindful throughout your day. If you’re just starting out, try short meditations with an app like Soul Alive.
Go for curious walks
Instead of just going for your usual daily walk, challenge yourself to notice three new things you’ve never noticed before. It doesn’t matter if the route is exactly the same every day – look for three new things you’ve never paid attention to before. It doesn’t matter how mundane they are, either. It could be a tree you’ve never spotted before, a new piece of architecture, a flower that was there yesterday but is gone today. This helps pulls the mind into the present moment.
Practise the 3, 2, 1 exercise
The 3, 2, 1 exercise is where you notice three things you can see in the moment, two things you can hear and one thing you can feel in the here and now. It’s an effective and easy way to add more mindfulness into your day. You can do it while driving, waiting for an appointment, during your lunchbreak at work or at times you’re feeling overwhelmed. It will help you focus and come back to yourself.
Play the ‘catch yourself’ game
Try to catch yourself whenever you’re feeling angry, stressed, or tired throughout your day. You can also try to catch any other emotion that is having a negative impact on your state of mind. You just have to see if you can notice when you’re feeling this way. That’s it.
You’re not trying to change or steer your emotions in another direction. When and if you do this, it has an interesting effect. Usually, you’ll laugh at yourself and say something along the lines of “Ha, I caught you again”. Mindfulness is all about observation, and this again helps bring you into the present.
Write in your journal
Journal for five minutes about your day, every day. It’s not so much about what you did, but more how your day unfolded. Reflect on the way you felt about the day. Ask yourself questions like how do you think you handled the day? What could you have done better? Similar to meditation, this type of introspection develops a more inquisitive nature within, which then has a flow-on effect to being more mindful throughout your day as well.
How to turn any activity into a mindfulness exercise
Mindfulness doesn’t need to be a stationary activity. You can find mindful moments in almost any situation and actively seek them out. The easiest way to do this is to engage your senses when doing everyday activities like brushing your teeth or washing the dishes. Move your awareness from one sense to the next and really zoom into each of them.
For example, you may start with being curious about the sound of brushing your teeth. Have you ever noticed what brushing your teeth sounds like? Next time, really listen and see if you can notice what the auditory experience of this everyday activity is like.
Then move your awareness to the physical sensation that the brushing creates on your teeth and gums. What does it feel like? What about the temperature in the mouth? Does the minty flavour leave a cooling type of sensation? Just really up your overall curiosity and see what happens.
About Luke
Luke McLeod is a mindfulness expert and founder of Soul Alive (Australia’s first livestream-based meditation platform) and Soul Consulting, an HR+Culture service that teaches clients (including AMEX and lululemon) how to prioritise their mental wellbeing. He originally started meditating to improve his focus and performance at work. After booking a one-way ticket to India to study meditation in the Himalayas, he made it his mission to train and educate others on the benefits of the practice.
Soul Alive was created as Luke felt that the current big meditation apps (Calm, Headspace etc.) were really lacking in support, interaction and a sense of community – all essential elements to learning, enjoying and sticking with meditation. With live-stream classes each and every week with some of Australia’s favourite meditation teachers (including Luke), Soul Alive is changing the way we meditate.
Luke McLeod is a mindfulness expert and founder of Soul Alive (Australia’s first livestream-based meditation platform) and Soul Consulting, an HR+Culture service that teaches clients (including AMEX and lululemon) how to prioritise their mental wellbeing. He originally started meditating to improve his focus and performance at work. After booking a one-way ticket to India to study meditation in the Himalayas, he made it his mission to train and educate others on the benefits of the practice.
Soul Alive was created as Luke felt that the current big meditation apps (Calm, Headspace etc.) were really lacking in support, interaction and a sense of community – all essential elements to learning, enjoying and sticking with meditation. With live-stream classes each and every week with some of Australia’s favourite meditation teachers (including Luke), Soul Alive is changing the way we meditate.
