Be Mindful Blog
12/7/22
Make it a Habit
Mindfulness practice isn’t hard, but remembering to do it can be. We all start out with good intentions, but as busy people, life can get in the way. So, if you’re wanting to make mindfulness a daily habit, but you’re having trouble making your practice stick, check out the tips below.
1. Think about Why Mindfulness is Important
What are your BIG reasons for wanting to practice mindfulness? How does a mindfulness practice make your life better?
2. Set a Goal
Begin by setting small, specific goals for yourself. Your mindfulness practice doesn’t have to be perfect or time consuming.
3. Add to your planner
Planning ahead and scheduling mindfulness means you’re much less likely to forget about it or put it off for later.
4. Create reminders
Post visual reminders to help you remember to stop and have a mindful moment. Put post it note reminders in your car or locker. Stop and take 10 deep breaths every time you walk past a particular spot or item in your house or at school. If visual reminders don’t work for you, try setting an alarm on your phone.
5. Use transitions
Transitions are a regular part of everybody’s day and tend to be something we think of as wasted time. The time you spend walking from your car to the school building, driving to and from school, waiting for the bus, or in line at Chick Fil A are all considered transition times. These moments are great opportunities for practicing mindfulness.
11/30/22
Have a positive outlook!
Add a positive attitude!
Difficult things will happen in life, but they don’t have to determine what will happen next. A positive outlook with mindfulness can help us come to this realization.
With mindfulness, we can focus on the present moment when things become tough. When present awareness is added to a positive outlook, we can better see the possible good in hard times and it helps us put things in perspective. We become more confident in our ability to deal with stressful life events. This can lead to less anxiety, stress and depression.
Try focusing on the following to help you keep a positive outlook:
Focus on what you can control, not on what you can’t.
Focus on what you can do, not on what you can’t
Focus on what you have, not on what you don’t have.
Focus on the present, not the past or future.
Focus on what you need not what you want.
Try to always think about and be aware of everything that is good in any situation. This won’t take away life’s challenges, but will help you be more calm in the present.
11/9/22
Benefits of Decluttering
Mindfulness helps slow the mind down, to focus on things we appreciate and to cope with stress. It helps us declutter our mental mess. Physical decluttering can also help us practice mindfulness and give us a more “tidy mind”. Add some decluttering time in your schedule - declutter your backpack, your room, your car - and enjoy the benefits of mindfulness.
Here are three ways decluttering can help us become more mindful:
1) Decluttering can give us freedom.
As you reduce the number of items you don’t need, you realize you become less distracted by negative thoughts these things might cause. It can cut down on thoughts such as “this needs to be thrown away, this book isn’t needed any longer, I borrowed this and I need to return it, this is making my backpack smelly”. When your spaces are in order, it is easier to focus your mind and to relax.
2) Decluttering can give us time.
You will end up with more time after you declutter. You will have more time to be still and to appreciate the present moment. You will know where your things are so you don’t waste time searching.
3) Decluttering can give us choices.
When you declutter, you can consider if possessions add value to your life, if they make you happy and if you really need them to be successful.
You can apply this technique to people you spend time with and places you go. Are these people adding value to your life? Or do they bring you down? Do you actually enjoy that group? Is that exercise class a good use of your time?
You start to ask yourself some really honest questions about how you are choosing to spend your time.
Less clutter can lead to less pressure and less stress. This allows you to have more time and space for the people and activities you choose to give your time to. Decluttering helps you to be more present and more mindful.
Mindful Walking
10/26/22
When you spend time outside, it’s hard not to look around and use all your senses. You can listen to the birds, see the unique colors, smell flowers, and maybe feel the cool breeze. This is what mindful walking is.
Walking in nature can also help you become more grateful. When walking outdoors, you start to appreciate everything that is around you. You feel grateful to be where you are and to have the opportunity to experience your surroundings. It helps us gain perspective and realize that sometimes our troubles might not be as big as they seem.
To help you become more mindful during your walk, try noticing the following:
1. Notice 5 things that you can see (the bark on trees, the bugs on the ground, clouds in the sky, color of the leaves, bird flying in the sky, ...)
2. Notice 4 things that you can hear (the ground below your feet, birds chirping, people talking in distance, water running, ...)
3. Notice 3 things that you can feel (the warm sun, the cool breeze, the wet grass,...)
4. Notice 2 things that you can smell (flowers, grass, wood, ... )
5. Notice 1 thing that you can taste (bottle water, trail mix, ... )
Mindful Journaling
10/12/22
Another great way and one of the easiest ways to practice mindfulness is through journaling. Just grab a notebook and a pen and find a quiet spot.
Here are two examples of journaling you can do:
1: Gratitude journaling
There are lots of things in our lives that we can be thankful for. Take time and think about the past hour, the past day, or the past week, and jot down five things in your life for which you are grateful. They can be simple, large, small, general, specific… the point is that you have to think of things you are grateful for.
Here is what a list could look like.
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I am healthy enough to walk to class.
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I sat with a kind classmate at lunch today.
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It is a sunny day.
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I finished all of my homework during study hall.
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I have a comfortable bed to sleep in each night.
2: Exercises to check in
A second way to use journaling is to check in. Checking in means to check your progress on a goal or your feelings, and reflect on what has happened.
You could list your goals for the week in your journal, and then at the end of each day, reflect on how much progress you have made.
You could write down a difficult or challenging situation you encountered and explain how you overcame it or whether there is a silver lining to the situation.
Checking in provides a way for you to really “tune in” to yourself. When life gets so busy, we often forget to take a second to process how we are feeling. When we listen deeply to our thoughts, our emotions, and how our body feels, then we can figure out what we need in that moment.
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9/28/22
How to Practice Mindfulness
So we know mindfulness is helpful, but how do we practice it? Below you will find some helpful notes of how to practice mindfulness. It might feel weird and uncomfortable at first. Your mind will probably be all over the place. Keep trying - it gets more comfortable and I think you will find it more and more enjoyable and helpful as you continue.
Good luck with your practice!
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The only thing you need is time. You can practice mindfulness anywhere and you don’t need to buy anything special. You simply need to give a little of your time.
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You probably won’t be able to quiet your mind and that’s okay. The goal is to be present and pay attention.
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Expect your mind to wander a bit. When you practice being present, you will likely find that various thoughts pop into your mind. Thoughts might run to something that happened yesterday or go to your things you need to get done. The good news is if you can notice that your mind has wandered, then you can consciously bring it back to the present moment. The more you do this, the easier it will be to do it again.
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The “without judgment” part can be super hard. It can be difficult to ignore the critic most of us have in our heads. When you practice mindfulness, try not to judge yourself for any thoughts that pop up. You can make a mental note of them but try to let them pass. Try recognizing the feelings they might leave in your body, and let those pass as well. When we investigate those judgements and practice letting them go, we can learn how to react to negative thoughts.
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Remind yourself to “begin again” when thoughts wander. The most important thing is returning your attention again and again to the present moment. Mindfulness is the practice of returning, again and again, to the present. And every time we return to the present, we reinforce our ability to do it again.
9/14/22
Why Be
Mindful?
Life can be stressful.
We get so busy in our hectic daily schedule that our ability to be present is difficult. Our lives can become overwhelming and exhausting. This impacts our happiness, health, relationships and education.
Mindfulness can interrupt the feelings of being overwhelmed and gives us space to realize any negative feelings we have and allows us to be aware of our present. It gives us time to share kindness and compassion to ourselves. Without awareness, our minds run in auto-pilot. In this state, we are filled with our thoughts from the past and the future and are not able tofocus on the now.
Working mindfully is a feeling of being completely in the moment. Whether you are working at school, spending time with your family, or getting in a workout, strive to live in the moment by practicing mindfulness.
Mindfulness trains your brain to be more efficient, focused and less distracted. It can also improve memory, lessen depression and anxiety, and is linked to increased athletic performance.
We can train our brains to be more mindful similar to how we can strengthen a muscle.
Check back to learn about exercises to become more mindful.
12/14/22
Be Mindful Gryphons!
Thank you all for following along on my mindfulness journey. I hope you will come away with at least one thing that will make your life a little better.
As we head toward the new year, I plan to make Mindfulness one of my 2023 New Years’ Resolutions. I hope you will consider doing the same!
I hope you all enjoy your holidays and have a very Happy New Year.
Here’s to a more mindful 2023!
Be Mindful, Gryphons!!