If you’ve been having a bit of trouble finding a groove for a healthier lifestyle, you’re not alone. Throughout the pandemic and other traumatic life events that seem to hit us of nowhere, it can be hard to get yourself on the right track towards self-fulfillment. How can you begin to incorporate mindfulness into your life if you don’t know where to start?
We hear you…and we’re here for you.
Here are 5 tips for leading a more mindful life
1. Consistency
Do one thing a day that you stay consistent with throughout the week â It could be taking 10-20 minutes in the morning to just enjoy your coffee, tea, or toast. It could be a quick five minute meditation on your train ride to work. It could also be something you do everyday unknowingly and just put more attention towards it; make that task feel significant and recognize why you’re doing it.
2. Self-care, baby!
Incorporate self-care rituals into your weekly routine as if it were a mandatory work task (it’s quite literally the opposite of that, we just want to hold ourselves accountable to actually do it!) By making time for things you genuinely enjoy (outside of your career, your relationship with the people around you, and your daily life tasks), you show yourself that you’re worth prioritizing. You are telling your brain to slow down and focus solely on YOU. These rituals can absolutely include things from your daily life, but they can also be tiny, seemingly insignificant things that you just genuinely enjoy and don’t need a reason why. If we’re filling the bathtub with jelly beans and reading Nancy Drew, we’re filling the bathtub with jelly beans and reading Nancy Drew.
3. Be conscious of what you’re consuming
Put good things in your body! We all have our cravings, our vices and things we consume simply because, well, we want to. When you are allowing yourself to have things you enjoy, try to incorporate things you KNOW are good for you. This can be pretty complex because what’s considered “good” is wildly different for everyone, but here is a baseline of some “good” things from the yoga community that we believe can help you out in your daily endeavors:
- H2O (duh…)
- Fruits + vegetables
- Things that promote gut health: herbal teas, fermented foods, a probiotic vitamin
4. Gratitude
Practice putting good things out into the world. Gratitude is a great start. The busyness of life can get in the way of us realizing all the good things we have in our lives. It makes such a difference to focus on all that is present for us; these can be simple things as well, like a sunny day, an available parking spot, a stranger smiling at you on the street. Life’s simplest gestures can be something we are grateful for, if we choose to see it that way. In some magical way, our hearts are able to pick up on those vibrations and send a little love note to the brain to put us in a good mood.
5. Catch those zZzs
SLEEP WELL. This is sooooooo underrated and not talked about enough. ? On average, the adult human should be getting 7 or more hours of sleep per night, according to the Mayo Clinic. If you are not getting enough sleep, you need to prioritize it more. Sleep is the foundation of the brain, and in turn, the body. Not getting enough sleep deprives our bodies and brains the rest they so desperately need to do their job correctly. Start monitoring your sleep and take note of how much happier you become just from getting a couple good nights of rest. You can thank us later.
The benefits you’ll feel after being more mindful
Happier ?
We don’t want to promise you’ll be smiling all the time, but you will have this happy little underlying feeling in your gut that floats with you through the rest of your days.
Healthier â¤ď¸
We aren’t doctors, but we have read, studied and practiced what we’ve preached enough to know that mindfulness has a great impact on your overall health and wellbeing.
Presence ??ââď¸
You’re showing up for you, so you can show up for the community. By being more mindful of your everyday life, you’re letting your brain know you care for yourself, thus creating a new found love for who you are and what you bring to the table. The people around you will notice this. You’ll attract other like-minded people who pay attention to the vibration of the world around them.
Patience ?
Like anything else in life, all it takes is knowing when to start. The hardest part of a new journey is usually the beginning, starting. Once you’ve begun your mindfulness journey, it’ll all be second nature to you shortly enough. The patience you’ve built getting there will pave the way for many other endeavors in your lifetime.
