What is Mindfulness?

We live in a crazy, busy world these days! Sometimes it is hard to slow down, and our minds go a million miles a minute. Stress and anxiety run rampant. A lot of times, we are everywhere but the present, whether it is dwelling on the past or worried about the future. This is where mindfulness comes into play.

What is mindfulness? It is the act of being present, living in the moment and being aware of everything going on within you and around you. Mindfulness is a practice and with other things you practice, it can be difficult to begin with, but over time it becomes easier.

When I began practicing mindfulness, I struggle with my mind wandering. I could not focus and was all over the place. I also struggled with finding time to practice mindfulness. It felt forced at first and almost like it was an obligation that I just wanted to be done with it. That is all ok to think that! However, you are just making it harder on yourself. There are some super easy strategies to practice mindfulness. The best part about it is that they can be done quickly, right where you are at and no prep work!

Below are some strategies you can use, this is not an exhaustive list, just some starting points. The point is to bring awareness to yourself and the present moment. We will go into more detail later about how to do each of these exercises.

- Breathing exercises

- Grounding exercises

- Five Senses Exercise

- Walking Meditation

- Observing Exercise

- Mindful Eating

- Body Scan Exercise