A regular and consistent mindfulness practice can have such a positive influence on our ability to keep calm in those challenging moments our kids throw at us.
I know in my experience that I saw changes within myself after just a week of daily 3-minute meditations.
However, keeping a mindfulness practice going after the initial ‘honeymoon’ can be hard (I’ve experienced this myself too). Life gets in the way, we might be too tired, too busy, or simply lose sight of the value of it.
Today I want to share with you five ways that you can incorporate more mindfulness into your life without having to add to your to do list.
Let me explain what I mean….
To most people, the word ‘mindfulness’ is synonymous with ‘meditation’ – however they are not the same.
Mindfulness can be defined as ‘making the choice to pay attention to the present moment with kindness and curiosity, and without judgment’.
Meditation is a form of mindfulness practice – we make a choice to sit or lie down and ‘meditate’. I like to call this a ‘formal’ mindfulness practice.
However, a mindfulness practice does not have to be ‘formal’.
Looking back at the definition, it is clear to see that it can actually be done anywhere and anytime.
To add more mindfulness into your day (without adding to your to do list) you simply have to make the choice to be mindful in your everyday activities.
How do you do this?
You tune in to your senses – what can you see, feel, touch, taste, hear right now in this moment? What emotion are you feeling right now in this moment?
Therefore, my five suggestions of how you can add more mindfulness into your day include:
- When you’re washing the dishes
- When you’re in the shower
- When you’re drinking a cup of coffee
- When you’re walking to your car
- When you’re watching your child play.
Can you spend just one minute during each of these activities being mindful? Boom, you’ve just practiced mindfulness for five minutes!
I’d love to know; do you think this is possible? Do you think you can add these into your day without adding extra stress onto your already too full plate?
About me
Hi, I'm Nina, mum to three loud little boys. I'm also a certified Mindful Parenting Coach and Head and Heart Mindfulness Instructor.
I can totally appreciate how tough parenting is - two years ago, I was a struggling mama who was feeling run down, exhausted and fed up with this 'mum life'.
I began my mindfulness journey when my youngest was born, almost 3 years ago. I went from being stressed out, overwhelmed and quick to anger, to being cool, calm and connected to my kids.
I love being able to share mindfulness with my boys, teaching them the skills to be able to regulate their emotions (like I have done) has to be one of the most satisfying lessons to pass on to them.
I personally read all my emails (I don’t get someone else to read them for me) so I'd love to hear from you if this blog resonated with you? Are you excited to try adding some mindfulness into your day?
Shoot me an email at Nina@mindfulparentinglifestyle.com.au and let me know how you're going.
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