It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of meditating to support my mindfulness practice.
But let’s be honest. It’s not always easy to carve out the time. Kids, heavy workloads, and travel demands often throw a wrench into our best intentions, even when we have established a regular meditation routine.
For others, the challenge lies in finding the right time of day to fit in a new meditation habit in the first place.
Instead of beating yourself up about it, accept the reality of your current situation (which will inevitably change), and look for other ways to clear your head a bit by grounding yourself in the present moment.
Here are a few strategies to try…
Five of My Favorite Non-meditation Mindfulness Practices:
- Bring your attention to the sound and feel of your breathing for a couple of minutes, counting your in-breaths and out-breaths in cycles of ten. (Stopping at ten then starting over makes it easier to stay focused.) The beauty of this exercise is that you can do it pretty much anywhere without anyone noticing.
- Turn your attention to the feel of something you’re touching. Our brains can only do one thing at a time, so if you find yourself frustrated by how slowly the line at the post office is moving, notice the sharpness or texture of the envelope or package you’re holding. With your brain busy experiencing the sensation of touch, it can’t bother you with negative chatter.
- Focus on the sensory experience of eating and drinking, bringing your attention to the flavor, consistency, temperature, and aroma of what’s on your plate or in your cup. For all the reasons noted in #2, taking in the smell of hot coffee (or tea, if you’re one of those people) before the mug even reaches your lips is an easy way to start the day off mindfully. And no matter how busy you are, my guess is you’ll always make room in your day for food.
- Go outside and take a picture of something beautiful in nature. You’ll feel more connected to the world around you, part of the greater scheme of things. The simple act of taking a picture forces instant presence, dissolving any niggling thoughts about the past or the future, where we can’t take action anyway.
- Practice gratitude. I have a friend whose mindfulness practice consists of a daily walk during which she focuses on what she has to be thankful for. We spend so much time consumed with what we’d like to be different in our lives. A couple of minutes paying attention to things we can be grateful for — electricity, having a roof over our head and food in the pantry, a blue sky (or even a cloudy sky) above — can put things in perspective and drown out thoughts that make us suffer.
What about you? What are some ways that you practice mindfulness without sitting down to meditate? Would love to hear about them in the comments!
If you enjoyed today’s entry and are not yet a subscriber, sign up above for free delivery of new posts to your email inbox. (I promise to never share your information.) Social media likes and shares are always appreciated as well!
Tammy R says
Thank you for sharing the ways you practice mindfulness. Back in January, I read Full Catastrophe Living and put myself through the 8 week MBSR course it outlines and now I’m actually taking a live course here in Houston. Week 6 class is tomorrow which is our Day of Silence (actually 1/4 of a day of silence since it’s 6 hours, but who’s counting?). I can hardly wait!
One of the ways I am mindful during the day is on my morning walk. CJ and I take it together, but we often allow silence. During these times, I attend to my feet as they walk or look upward at the trees and sky. In some ways, I wish I could just walk all day….but, then again, doing whatever it is I’m doing, I can be mindful. All it takes is a moment of awareness, and then another, and then another.
Happy Friday to you!
Martha Brettschneider says
Greetings, Tammy!! How wonderful that you’re taking an intensive MBSR class! Hope to do the same one day. I haven’t yet started Full Catastrophe Living, though I bought it a couple of months ago. Started with Sam Harris’s AWAKE (I think at your recommendation?), and just finished it a couple of days ago. Blog post in the future about that one! Love your mindful walking technique. It really is easier to incorporate a few minutes of silence into our days that we might think! Warm cyber hugs to you and your partner in mindfulness. ~ Martha
Friderike Butler says
Martha – just recently found your blog through MRTT and love your writing. The “abstainer vs. moderator” post hit the mark for me and reconfirmed the importance of my current “abstinence project”. I am also relatively new to mindfulness practices and didn’t really start taking a closer look at those until last year.
I love the notion to be able to be fully present in the moment and just pay detailed attention to my surrounding, to what I am holding in my hand, to what I can see and discover when I look out the window. The practice of centering myself throughout the day is starting to make a big difference in that I feel less frazzled. Interestingly enough, I also feel less driven, which is a new sensation for me but it feels good.
Looking forward to your next explorations.
Friderike
Martha Brettschneider says
Thanks so much for your visit, Friderike! Any friend of Moms Run This Town is a friend of mine (though I’m a wimp when it comes to running in Virginia’s summer heat and humidity, so I need to get back on track). Funny you should mention the experience of feeling less driven as you advance in your mindfulness practice. I was a little alarmed by this phenomenon when I started out, but with time I realized that I was better able to identify which thoughts and actions were serving my true purpose in life. You might be less “busy” feeling, but that space is filled with calm, clarity, and contentedness. At least that’s how it’s been for me. I’m in the process of finalizing my book manuscript, which tells the tell of this very process. Stay tuned!! :-)