Category: Mindfulness

Mindfulness Techniques In Your Daily Routine

Mindfulness happens when you are fully present and working in the current moment. It helps reduce stress and improve focus. Having mindfulness aids your overall well-being. Here are some mindfulness techniques that you can incorporate into your daily routine:

  1. Mindful Breathing: Take slow, comfortably deep breaths and realize the air entering and leaving your body. It helps regulate your breathing and calms your mind.
  2. Mindful Eating: Attention to food’s taste, texture, and aroma. Savor each bite and eat slowly, without distractions.
  3. Mindful Walking: Take a stroll and focus on the sensations in your body, like the movement of your feet and the feeling of the sun on your skin.
  4. Mindful Meditation: Sit and focus on your breath or focus on something in the room. When your mind wanders, gently bring your attention again to your breathing.
  5. Mindful Gratitude: Take a few moments each day to reflect on things you are grateful for. Doing so can help shift your focus to the positive aspects of your life.

Mindfulness can become a natural part of your life, helping manage stress and improve overall well-being.

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Mindfulness

I just earned my certificate as a mindfulness practitioner this week.  It is my third practitioner certificate. I have my practitioner diploma for life coaching, and a practitioner certificate in Neural Linguistic Programming (NLP) and now a practitioner certificate in mindfulness.

Gaining this certificate does not mean my studies are over. On the contrary, it is barely beginning. I have started a course in cognitive-behavioral theory.  I believe I owe this to my clients because the more I know, the better I can help the client find their paths to where they want to go.

It is not what I know. It is how much I desire to help the person or people sitting across from me. And just because I learn more does not mean that I am above all the errors of being human. I still acidentally lock my keys in the car, leave home without my cell phone, and occasionally get times for workshops mixed up. I am a work in progress, and I can live with that.

Covid-19 has hit us all hard, and the pain of social injustice has doubled down on the sad times.  We each need to find our way to what this means for each of us personally. To do this, we need time for personal reflection, and we need discussion with others.

Do not try to do this alone.  Talk with your family and friends.  Maybe a neighbor or someone you trust.  Together we are strong, and we can find the correct path to our future and the future of our nation. 

Will things change? Of course.  Yet things have been changing for hundreds of thousands of years.  It is the one thing the Earth is good at doing.  The change will continue because we learn new information and work to make life better.

You can talk on the phone, the cell phone, the computer, or across the back fence (remember, 6 feet.)  The idea is to communicate.  We are not rocks unto ourselves. Instead, we are part of social infrastructure; our healthy existence found predicated on the well being of all those around us.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Stay in the Moment

Whatever you are doing, stay focused on what it is.  As humans, we have a tendency to drift.  One thought will lead to another, and then to another, and the next thing you know, you are no longer focused on the present.  This is the time when accidents happen. 

People don’t forget what they are doing, it is just that the present task goes on autopilot.  You were cooking dinner or driving to work only now your mind has you thinking about what is on the radio, or the book you are writing, or the fight you had with your boss or a coworker.  And that is dangerous.

It does not matter what the mind is thinking, it is just not thinking of boiling water and a 400-degree oven, or the quarter-ton car that you are driving down the street.  Once your mind starts to drift, then you may no longer be in control, and fate takes over.  Be sure to keep focused on what is most important. 

Take the time to get quality rest and give yourself the appropriate time and place to concentrate on your thought where it is safe to do so.  Then, put those thoughts into a proper hold box in your mind until it is safe to bring them back out.  Do not let thoughts and ideas get in the way of your activities that require total concentration.

Clearing your mind and focusing takes work.  Meditation is part of it (not while driving.) So are setting times to calm down and think.  When you do so, use both your rational and emotional mind.  Be sure to use them in the appropriate measure.  And as always, everything you do should be done safely.

Thank you for being with me today.  I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Mindfulness

We find ourselves as creatures of habit. We can go to our kitchen and without thinking go to the silverware drawer or make a cup of coffee when we are still half asleep. Change the layout, and five years later, unless you’re really thinking about it, you will occasionally go back to the original place the silverware was initially kept. I know, it’s been nine years since we’ve rearranged the kitchen and I still occasionally go to the wrong drawer.

Many of us use the computer. And many do quite well using laptops or tablets. Even someone who can write in HTML 5, design courses and write blogs and write books might have problems when asked to do something simple that they don’t usually do. Exactly how do you copy and repost on Facebook? Yep, that was me also.

It seems as though I have two paths in front of me. I could go back to bed and go back to sleep hoping to awaken and start today over again. Or, I can wake up and do something about the problems.

Although sleep always beckons like a good friend, soft pillows and warm blankets and rest for the weary, you know me, I have to wake up and do something about it. I need to work on my mindfulness. Mindfulness is making sure your mental acuity is there. You’re awake, you know what’s going on. Mindfulness is staying on top of your game and not running on preprogrammed memory.

I am just learning new ways mindfulness helps. Yet from what I see, this is really what I need. The Veterans Administration has an excellent app for the cell phone, and it is free. If you are of the mind, I highly suggest you try it out. There are also some excellent classes out there on mindfulness.

If you’re interested and cannot find the information you are looking for on mindfulness, please write me. I would be glad to help by sending you some materials. Also, write me if you’d like to talk about it. I can arrange to give you a 20-minute phone call to discuss mindfulness.  My email address is mikeb@reveille.rocks.

Thank you for being with me today.  I hope to be with you again tomorrow.