How to incorporate mindfulness into your life?

How to incorporate
mindfulness into your life?

By Hanne

We live in a world where 15 seconds is a long time, and at a time when a massive flood of information is just one click away. The phone beeps messages, social media notifications, and emails that we should be answering immediately. Or is this a pattern of thinking we have gradually drifted into unknowingly implementing, in a way, that feels “normal?” What if we wanted to take a break? What if we unplug ourselves, were more present and less reachable? In this post, you will learn how to incorporate mindfulness into your life.

how to incorporate mindfulness into your life?

In his book Peace is every breath, Thich Nhat Hanh speaks of conscious presence, mindfulness, and meditation. The practice of mindfulness and meditation in the world we live in today can be, hmn, challenging at times. And it is common to think that you don’t have time to meditate or figure out what mindfulness is all about. Don’t worry about it, I will get to it shortly.

If someone asked me to describe today’s world in a few words, words that I would think of would be hectic, demanding, and immediate. For example, I’m the type of person who can’t stand unread emails, especially the red ball with the number on it appearing on the phone’s email icon to remind or point out that something is waiting. I’ve been wondering if anyone else is tense about it. Hand up if it’s you? It is in a way funny, how tiny red ball can cause anxiety simply by existing, and demand my attention.

I sometimes experience the same anxiety if someone sends me a message. I see it coming and feel it should be read and responded to right away, no matter what I’m doing at that moment. All sorts of notifications, reminders, and messages force us to constantly shift our attention to something other than what we were doing just a brief moment ago. It interrupts our thoughts, makes us shift the attention from one thing to another, leaving us feeling uneasy. And, if and when we have a moment when we don’t have anything to do, we are anxious since we can no longer just be and do nothing at all. So we tend to fill these moments, too, by browsing the Facebook or Instagram news feed, for instance. 😉

Mindfulness = Conscious Presence

Nevertheless, the keys to spiritual practice are in everyone’s hands. Perhaps our problem often is that we assume things are too complicated, making them more complex than they actually are. Keep things simple.

Mindfulness means accepting awareness of our thoughts, feelings, sensations, and the world around us. Acceptance is part of mindfulness, and it means, for example, that we observe our thoughts and feelings without judging them.

Simple mindfulness exercise is to walk across the parking lot to the car, consciously, being aware and observing each step. You can observe the sensation of the body on every step as you are breathing in and as you exhale, release tensions of your body and mind. Let the schedules and events of the day melt away from your body. This moment is the only moment that ever is. Now is all there ever is. And at this moment you are walking on a parking lot.

How to be more present and less reachable?

What else can you do to unplug yourself? Fortunately, there are many ways to be more present; in the end, it is a question of what we are willing to do, right? For instance, there are many ways to block the disturbances of the phone. You can turn all automatic notifications off and update your email manually. After all, it is unnecessary to know and be aware of everything going on all the time, let alone right this minute.

You can decide beforehand when you will plug in again, checking the social media and how long you are going to “hang out” and scroll the feed. And same goes for the email too. When you are mindful and aware of how you use your phone, you are already taking one step into being more present. Of course, during the workday, it is not always possible to just decide when you will read your emails; however, being present means doing one task at a time.

The book “Peace is every breath” says: Immediately after waking up, smile with joy. You are entirely aware that a new day is about to begin, and life gives you 24 new hours, which indeed is a gift—a chance of living those hours to the fullest. Focus only on the moment and chore currently at hand with no extra stimuli.

When was the last time you drank tea or coffee, only enjoying the taste of the drink? How does it feel when you wash your face and the water touches the skin of your face? How does the skin of your face feel? How does your body feel right now?

Now is all there ever is

Every moment in our lives is unique and precious, worthy of full attention. Every minute lived is a minute lost unless we are present in the moment. Now is all there ever is. Therefore, unplug yourself; it is how to incorporate mindfulness into your life. Now just live your life fully, sensing everything and being fully present.

PS. I have recently updated my 3-day meditation course. If you are interested in meditation this course might be a good start. You can enroll here and no, it doesn’t cost you a penny.
Have a peaceful meditation moments.