So you want to try mindfulness. That’s great! But how exactly do you do it? How do you learn to be “here” now instead of focusing on your troubles or your goals? Surely, there must be some secret trick to it.
Not so. It’s quite simple. That’s part of why it’s difficult and takes practice to master. Being mindful is a simple but difficult process your brain must learn to handle.
Most people start with mindfulness pauses, a type of meditation that’s fairly easy to do. You can do it anywhere you want and almost any time; don’t do it when you’re incredibly busy or likely to be interrupted, at least not at first. Try to do it in a quiet space the first few times.
A mindfulness pause only lasts a couple of minutes (at most) and has three steps. Here’s how to do it.
Step One: Pay Attention
We spend most of our lives on autopilot, going from one task to another without ever stopping to think or devote our full attention to it. Turn off this autopilot and pay attention to your body and your surroundings. Find a quiet place to sit.
Step Two: Breathe
Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Take slow, deep breaths. Pay attention to your breathing. Notice how it feels and the sensations it brings to your body. Do this until you feel yourself calm down and center yourself in your body. It may only a few breaths or several minutes at first.
Step Three: Notice Your Surroundings
Now expand your attention outward from your breath. Notice how the rest of your body feels and the sensations coursing through it. Now notice what’s going on around you. Sounds. Smells. Pay attention to everything you can notice with your eyes closed. Do this for a short time then open your eyes and go back to what you were doing.
That’s it -that’s all there is to a mindfulness pause! It can take as little as a minute when you get it down. You’ll want to do this several times per day to get the hang of it and learn to really be mindful.
Once you get good at mindfulness pauses, you can extend your practice to mindfulness movement, which involves being mindful while walking, doing yoga, etc. Then you can tackle mindfulness activities -that is, being mindful while doing things such as hobbies or while going throughout your daily life.
Looking for more ways to learn or teach about Mindfulness:
The Complete Mindfulness Toolkit “This Toolkit includes the best mindfulness resources for enhancing mindfulness in the most clear and simple way”
Want to become certified to teach mindfulness to others? Check these out
Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training Basic Package
Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training-Full Package
