This week I want you to focus on practicing mindfulness and paying attention to the present moment.
Being mindful is about being aware from moment to moment of your feelings, thoughts, and how it feels to be in your skin. Practicing mindfulness in your daily life helps to boost your focus, lessen your stress, increase your memory and amplify your cognitive abilities. It can also help with depression and sleep.
Oh Man! Do I need this one today! Today I’m feeling really scattered and feel a headache coming on. I’m also feeling a bit annoyed because I feel like I’m always getting interrupted just when I sit down to start something. Even though that’s not true. Today I’ll be using this is my mantra “Practice Mindfulness & Pay Attention To The Present Moment,” and “I am here, I am present, I am mindful.” along with the 3 things I do when I don’t have time for self care. Lets face it… no one has time for self care on a Monday morning… ugh… the worst day of the work week…
By developing the practice of mindfulness and paying attention to the present moment you get keyed into a better awareness that is going to give you insight into why you’re feeling what you’re feeling.
By developing the skill of mindfulness you get to take a mini vacation any time you want! You get this mini vacay by stepping outside of your present situation (whether good, bad, or normal) and get to look at it from a birds eye view. With this practice you will learn to remove yourself from any situation and most importantly learn to develop and hone your analytical skills to better understand what is or isn’t going on.
By replacing a mindless cog existence that is just going through the motions with practicing mindfulness and paying attention to the present moment, you are gaining awareness.
Start by setting a reminder on your phone to check in and practice mindfulness by paying attention to the present moment. This is the easiest habit to build because you are relying on someone else to remind you to check in and be present A.K.A. your phone.
Level this up by using a trigger as reminder to practice mindfulness and pay attention to the present moment.
This is a more difficult habit to build, especially because you have to remember what the trigger is and what you’re supposed to do in the first place. But there is a way to move forward. Try first leaving yourself a sticky note that says “Practice Mindfulness and pay attention to the present moment,” and put that sticky note on something that you grab for multiple times during the day. I like to put trigger notes on my coffee or tea mug, water bottle, and pen case. This will give you the opportunity to develop your mindfulness and self check in practice. Each time you grab for whatever your trigger item or action is, take a moment to check in and practice this new habit.
In my personal experience I have found that it was really really easy to use phone reminders for new trigger habits. The difficult part about this practice for me was after seeing the trigger note, to actually stop and practice my new habit. I never felt like I had enough time until I realized that I have to make time for the new habits that I want to build that support me being the person who I truly am and want to be.
Things to Remember:
- Phone reminders are easiest when it comes to supporting your mindfulness and awareness practice.
- Level it up with sticky notes as the trigger to remind you to build this new habit.
- Being present lets you make sure you are being the person who you truly want to be.
Building new habits, especially mindfulness habits are not easy, but you have a choice and have taken the first step by clicking on this Weekly Spirituality Tip.
By developing the Practice of Mindfulness & Paying Attention To The Present Moment, I have found that I feel more in control of my life, my choices, and who I want to be. By stopping the mindless cog existence and practicing this I feel present and more able to help others.
