4 Easy Mindfulness Exercises You Can Try Daily
“If it’s out of your hands, it deserves freedom from your mind too.”
Most often, you spend too much time figuring out a lot of things, solving problems, overthinking, and daydreaming of how you want your life to be. Although these things are a natural part of your conscious mind, they can be draining, too. And eventually, they might turn to anxiety and chronic stress.
So what’s the key? It's all about practicing mindfulness.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is an activity/habit/practice that focuses on meditation. And the goal is to become aware of your actions, subconscious thoughts, and mindset to prevent physical, psychological, and emotional exhaustion.
Daily mindfulness can help boost your mood, relieve stress, increase your self-esteem, and contribute to a healthier heart and stronger body.
How to practice daily mindfulness?
Here are four easy mindfulness exercises you can try daily that will bring excellent benefits to your physical, emotional, and mental health:
Start your day calmly but with a purpose
Most people set an alarm to avoid being late for work, school, or other commitments. This is okay, but don’t get up too quickly. Relax for a while and think of these two questions:
- Visualize - “What is my goal today?”
- Analyze - “Where will I start?”
These two will help you create a smooth pattern to prevent rushing into errands, which can lead to fatigue and unfulfilled tasks.
In addition to that, always remember to pause and take things easy. Taking it easy doesn’t mean being slow. It means you value calmness and productivity. Always check-in with yourself. Do you feel fine? Are you eating healthy and on time?
Don’t forget mindful eating
When at the dining table, it’s not just the table manners that you should pay extra attention to, but the peaceful eating too.
Peaceful eating is consuming foods slowly and in accordance with your hunger only. This will avoid overeating, unnecessary weight gain, and tummy troubles.
Also, refrain from eating food you don’t particularly like because it’s not good to waste food. Instead, do the following:
- When ordering food outside (restaurant or fast food) only choose what you’re familiar with
- When preparing a new recipe, cook in small amounts to test the taste first. And once you’re satisfied, you can now prep for bigger serving
* Same goes with consuming beverages.
Nourish your brain
We all know how important mental health is. And mindfulness is always connected with positivity, which will help nourish and improve your brain health.
Two secrets to this are observation and appreciation. You must have an ear that listens and a heart that understands. Always observe and understand first before you react. This will give you more time to be aware of what’s going around you so you can deeply learn each situation and appreciate things more.
One of the smart ways to look after your mental health is to be genuine to yourself and your feelings. Don’t do what you don’t want to do, say no when you feel the need to. Pleasing yourself is more important than pleasing others.
Also, learn to control your emotional triggers. The soul usually knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind.
Not everything needs a reaction. If you are short-tempered, think before you speak so you won’t hurt yourself and other people.
Activate your muscles
Exercising is one thing. But are you doing it properly?
Most people start working out or lifting weights right away without even warming up and stretching.
Stretching and warm-up exercises will help activate your core and muscles, and will ward off unnecessary muscle and joint pains.
A good workout pattern goes like this: warm up - stretch - rest for a while - exercise - balanced hydration and rest in between sets - then rest before cool-down exercises.
Proper breathing gives maximum efficiency, so be mindful of your breathing. Inhale through your nose as you relax, then exhale through your mouth as you exert.
Good posture matters as well because it will help keep your bones and joints in proper alignment to activate your muscles easily. Do not slouch as it can lead to spine injuries.
Don’t forget to hydrate! Water will replace the lost fluids in your body when you sweat. But do it only every 10-20 minutes in between exercises to avoid frequent visits to the restroom.
Bear in mind that a healthy body holds a sound mind. Stay active no matter how busy you are. A quick but proper workout is better than no workout. Because laziness fuels more laziness, but activity breeds more activity.
Here’s a mindfulness reminder for you:
If you want to conquer the stress and anxiety of life, live in the moment and let the breath lead the way.
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