Tip Talk Thursdays: Quick Tips to Incorporate Mindfulness in our Everyday Lives

For some people, completely diving into mindfulness mediation may be too much. Maybe we haven't even practice general everyday mindfulness. So let's start with this as a place to practice. Mindfulness is something that can be done by everyone, everyday. It doesn't require silencing our minds- its takes bringing awareness to the present moment and this can take all of 30 seconds if you need. 

So here are some tips to start practicing now:

1. Take a couple of minutes to focus on your breathing.
2. Notice what you are doing as your are doing in that given moment. What are the sounds, smells, colours, and textures around you? 
3. Don't feel like you always need to be doing something. Take some time to simply be in the moment
4. Notice times when you start to zone out and bring awareness to these moments. 
5. Practice mindfulness when you are listening to a loved one. Often when we are listening to someone else, we have chatter going on in our own heads, so we are not fully into the conversation. Next time, practice truly listening to other person and staying away from being prepared to always have a response. Some of the best conversations come from a place where we are just truly there to listen rather than solve someone else's problem. 
6. Do one thing at a time. Stay away from multi-tasking if we can avoid it. There is a misconception that multitasking is better for us, but it actually drains us faster. Focusing on one thing at a time allows us to be more mindful, avoid rushing, making mistakes, or forgetting details.  
7. Make gratitude part of your routine, even if its just a mental daily note of what you are grateful for

Some great apps to promote mindfulness and meditation:

• Headspace: spoken word exercises that are to be used for around 10 minutes a day. Includes short meditation for people who are on the go and SOS meditations that are for times of crisis. 
• Stop Breathe & Think: if you need more structure and motivation to jump into your mediation habits this is your app. Also great for children. 
• 10% Happier: created for people who are skeptical of mindfulness and meditation. Pride themselves are being called the no b**s*** mediation app that has videos, guided mediations, and a wide range of content for any sort of activity you need. 
• The Mindfulness App: offers a different range of mediations tracks from 3 minutes to 30 minutes and can be personalized to your needs. 
• Buddhify: meditation sessions are organized by theme according to where you are in your day. Widely known a one of the best apps for anxiety. 
• Smiling Mind: programs are divided by age, starting at 7-11 years old. 
• Aura: provides daily micro-meditations to promote mindfulness. Helps relieve stress and anxiety.

Feeling confident and want to try mediation along with mindfulness? Here some quick tips:

Are there any tips or tricks that have worked for you? Let us know!

YWC