MINDFULNESS  |  TOP MIND

5 Simple Ways to be Mindful in Your Everyday Life

Chad Prinsloo | Web Designer

Anneke Kirsten  |  Counselling Pychologist  |  Cape Town

March 23 2021

With all the worldly distractions constantly fighting for our attention every waking moment, practicing mindfulness can seem like a luxury only for the fortunate few who have a lot of free time to spare. However, being mindful doesn’t require sitting motionless and meditating in a quiet room for a certain period of time, it means being devoted to what you are doing at that moment. This means anyone can practice mindfulness in their day-to-day lives, from the busy receptionist to the strategic CEO.

Taking the time to be mindful for just a few minutes at different moments throughout your day can make you feel less stressed, more in control, and better prepared for more demanding and challenging situations.

Here are five daily practices for bringing more mindfulness into your life.

Mindful Waking Up

Before getting out of bed each morning, think about how you would like your day to go. If you already planned out your day or not, try and visualise it from the morning to evening and then set an intention of how you would like to experience and live it. For example, if you would to not rush through things and experiences, you can talk to yourself by saying “let this day be calm” or “today is going to be a healthy and loving day”. By doing this, you are setting the tone for your day ahead.

Mindful Walking

Walking is one of the best ways to practice mindfulness without taking extra time from your day. Whether it’s just a walk to the shops around the corner or just a stroll during your work lunch break, you can turn this into a mindfulness exercise by paying attention to your breathing, how your feet and legs feel when touching the ground, the pace of your walk, the swing in your arms, and taking note of your thoughts.

Keep in mind that for mindfulness to be effective, it requires your full attention, so crossing a busy street in traffic might not be a good idea.

Mindful Interactions

Whether you’re interacting with your spouse or partner, your work colleagues, or a friend, you have the opportunity to interact mindfully. Avoiding distractions like browsing through social media on your phone, etc, and really embracing the moment can help you connect with the other person more.

During a mindful interaction, the goal is to devote all your attention to the exchange by making eye contact, listening actively, and present your thoughts and emotions without judgment or advice, while also taking into account your own feelings.

Mindful Meditation

Even if you can only commit to meditating in silence for 10 minutes each morning, it can have a big impact on the rest of your day. Meditation can help you improve feelings of anxiety, depression, and pain and make you feel more calm, relaxed, and focused.

Mindful Journaling

Traditional journaling usually means writing in a diary about the reflection of your past, such as how your day or week went. With mindful journaling, you are describing your senses and writing about the present moment. This might include what you smell, what you hear, what you see, and what you feel emotionally. Sharing your thoughts about the present moment can help you reduce the amount of worry and depressive feelings.

I’m Anneke Kirsten, a Cape Town therapist and Counselling Psychologist (MA Counseliing Psychology) and an Accredited Integrative Enneagram Practitioner with a special interest in Mindfulness, Emotional Intelligence and Leadership training.

At TOP MIND, we provide individuals and organisations with the tools to better understand, measure, and solve internal issues and build high-performing teams. We use psychological principles to solve problems in the workplace and improve employee wellbeing.