What is mindfulness?

Before we start, it is important to understand what mindfulness is. Being mindful is being present or aware of what is happening around and within you. It's a therapeutic way to handle things such as stress, feelings of sadness, wanting to focus or focusing on things that make you happy to elevate your mood. Here are some of the things you can do to reach a state of mindfulness.

Mindful apps for the technophile

Not everyone is cut out for switching off their devices and sitting in an area in complete silence. You may find that your mind begins to wander, and you even end up forgetting why you are sitting on the floor in complete silence. Sometimes we need guidance, and there are apps to help you do that. Apps such as Headspace can be a great way to help you on your discovery of being mindful, even when you are busy.

Capture your attention

We are constantly being distracted. Therefore, mindfulness is a way to declutter your head and focus on how you process and handle things on a physical, spiritual or emotional level. One of the practical ways you can achieve this is by focusing your attention on an activity that helps you unpack these things. You can do breathing exercises, listen to a podcast whilst out for a run, anything that helps you do some introspection or journal your thoughts for a couple of minutes in a day. Remember to keep the focus on you.

Do a body scan

Our bodies tend to react to things we feel and think, which is why when we are stressed it can result in parts of our body being in pain or give us a headache. Try being mindful of emotions that make you feel bored, stressed, angry, sad, or happy and how this affects you.

This will take time, so try to be patient with yourself. Take note of areas that are in pain and how you hold your body when you are experiencing certain emotions and thoughts. Knowing your triggers before they happen can help you better handle situations and also find healthy ways to relieve the negative impacts that come with it.

Change in perspective

Being stuck in a routine is one of the things that can cause us to numb what is happening within and around us. It can also make it easy for us to ignore things that bother us until they build-up and eventual lead to an outburst. Changing our routine and perspective can help us become more mindful of how we react to new situations. It can also help us pick up on things that we would normally gloss over.

You can start off small by trying a new meal, starting a conversation with someone you do not know, or building small talk with people in your life that you hardly talk to. You can gradually progress to saying yes to things that you really want to do or say no when you do not feel like doing something. Always analyse how your body responds to certain spaces and people and why you are reacting like that.