Stop and Smell the Roses: Everyday Mindfulness

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Mindfulness is a word you might hear in the context of mental health and wellness. Everybody says, “Practice mindfulness. It’s good for your mental health!” But perhaps you don’t really know what “practicing mindfulness” means.

The concept of mindfulness stems from Eastern religions, and involves the practice of simply noticing or observing, without judgment. In some religious traditions, spending time “just noticing” is as sacred as prayer. Although mindfulness originates within religious teachings, mindfulness is a healthy practice even outside of a religious framework. 

Mindfulness can be anything from spiritual meditation, to simply interrupting the stream of continuous inner chatter to be more present in the moment. Stopping to smell the roses is a moment of mindfulness.

Today’s world has become very un-mindful. Always rushing around, trying to get to the next level of the next thing, people don’t pause to be present often or long.

So how can we be more mindful in this hectic culture?

Here’s my list of little ways to be more mindful in everyday life:

1.     Stop staring mindlessly at the smartphone.

2.     Learn to meditate.

3.     Practice daily gratitude.

4.     Take a walk. Look around. Soak it in.

5.     Find activities that naturally quiet the mind and do them more often.

 

Posted on August 27, 2018 by Melissa Deuter.