by Kay Carter,
Contributing Author, Conscious Reminder
Mindfulness is a practice that has been around almost as long as humans have and is a basic principle in many spiritual and religious teachings.
Practicing mindfulness, whether during meditation or while performing daily activities, can relieve stress and clear your mind from dwelling on the past or projecting into the future. It allows you to enjoy simply being in the present moment.
Practicing mindfulness can transform your emotional state, increase your productivity, improve your overall health and wellness, and help you create a less stressful life.
You don’t need to be a meditation guru to begin practicing mindfulness. You can start at any time by making a few minor changes in your home environment and your lifestyle.
Here are five simple ways to begin your journey into the practice of mindfulness.
1. Designate a Quiet Place
Find a space in your home where you can have some time to yourself. Light candles, utilize aromatherapy, meditate, or pray each day. You don’t have to “master” meditation to reap its benefits.
Simply having a place where you can sit in silence, breathe deeply, let go of stressful thoughts, and focus on your soul’s true intentions can do wonders.
2. Declutter and Get Organized
According to House Method, cluttered environments are tied to higher levels of stress. One easy way to begin practicing mindfulness is to address chaotic spaces to make your home more tranquil.
Specifically, decluttering work spaces can have the effect of clearing your head and increasing your productivity.
3. Eat Mindfully
Mindfulness is something that you should practice in all areas of your life. But just how do you connect mindfulness and eating? The idea is to avoid using food for unhealthy reasons and, instead, use it as sustenance to keep you healthy. You can do these using a few different methods.
Whenever possible, eat slowly. Listen to your body for cues that you’re full and recognize the difference between true hunger and other reasons for craving food (such as to alleviate, or “stuff,” negative emotions).
Finally, take the time to express gratitude for your food. The essence of mindful eating is to make eating more of a ritual of gratitude than a thoughtless habit.
4. Optimize Your Bedroom for Quality Sleep
It’s difficult to practice mindfulness when you’re exhausted from lack of sleep. Your room should be conducive to winding down, drifting off to sleep, and staying asleep. Having warm light sources or sleeping with an essential oil diffuser are ways to make your bedroom cozier and inviting.
You can also change your color scheme to soothing, earthy tones, and designate your bedroom for sleep and intimacy only. Computer monitors, phones, and TVs are distractions that numb you as opposed to truly relaxing you, so keep them out of your sleeping space.
5. Make Breathing Deeply Second Nature
You don’t have to reserve deep breathing for your quiet place. You can utilize the power of your breath anytime you’re feeling stressed, and it’s even more mindful to breathe deeply when you feel great.
It’s a ritual of gratitude for the happy moment you’re in, and before you know it, breath awareness will be second nature.
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