Mindfulness for Everyday Living

“When you get into your car, shut the door and be there for just half a minute. Breathe, feel the

energy inside your body, look around at the sky, the trees. The mind might tell you, „I don‟t have

time.‟ But that‟s the mind talking to you. Even the busiest person has time for 30 seconds of

space.”– Eckhart Tolle

Mindfulness Practice

Mindfulness is the practice of bringing awareness to the present moment. When I first learnt to

meditate I was taught by a teacher to sit for 15 mins in the morning and 15 minutes at night. I

enjoyed the benefits of this practice yet found it difficult to find the time to connect and follow

through with this daily ritual and outside of this schedule my mind would still run rampant with

thoughts. Then I found mindfulness, the practice of staying focused in the moment. It has been

well proven that this practice is key to creating a calm mind and a calm life.

I began with simple things like being present when making a cup of tea, bringing my full

awareness to the tea bag as I dipped it in and out of the hot water, watching the steam flow out

and up as I did this action. I practiced being present when washing my hands, placing the soap

on the skin and rubbing my hands together noticing the feeling of the soap on the skin and the

water touching and washing the suds away. It’s an incredibly freeing feeling being in the

moment with these routine actions we do throughout the day. There is such a state of peace and

fulfilment in the moment that if you never live in it, you would actually be missing out on life.

Time is a fabricated concept that can and does rule our lives. Letting go of thoughts and being in

the moment is where true personal power lies and where you can engage in living. No stress,

pain or hurt lives in the present moment. All those feelings and sensations are connected to a

troubled mind, these thoughts feed emotions and the body stores the emotions which result in

pain. When you practice mindfulness you experience complete awareness and become an

observer of your thoughts noticing them as they come and go, unattached to their meaning. In a

state of non-attachment the thoughts will simply drift away without emotions creating a story

around the meaning and storing them in the unconscious mind.

Following are ideas to begin practicing mindfulness when completing daily routine actions:-

Brushing your teeth

Washing your hands

Taking a shower

Be present when eating alone and there is no pressure to socialise

Anything you routinely do you can bring awareness to, and notice the effect it has on your life.

Over time, you will feel calm, patient and enjoy being in the now.

Mindfulness Breathing

“Every breath we take confirms our moment to moment relationship with the world. With every

in- breath, we draw in oxygen that the heart pumps through the lungs to fuel the life process in

the cells of the body. With every out-breath, the cells‟ waste is pumped out in the form of carbon

dioxide and released back into the air. This cycle of nourishment and elimination goes on

throughout our life whether or not we are mindful of it”

– Mindfulness for Everyday Living, author Christopher Titmuss, 2003.

Spending time focusing on breathing will deepen your mindfulness practice. This can be done

for a few moments upon waking up in the morning, before you eat or drive a car and before you

go to sleep. Bring your full attention to the moment and become aware of your breathing, notice

how you breathe, be present with it. Once you have made this connection and are practicing with

ease see if you can breathe deeper or slower. Remember the practice is always gentle, do not

force or put pressure on yourself, just allow the moment to unfold.

Mindfulness Pain Technique

If you are experiencing pain in the body try this simple technique:-

1. Bring your focus to the moment and full awareness to a part of your body that is at ease

2. Bring your attention to your breathing

3. Gently breathe in and out as you relax into this easy feeling for 1 min

4. Now move your attention to the pain in your body taking this easy feeling with you

5. Gently breathe in and out as you relax this easy feeling into this part of the body for 1

min

6. If you are still feeling discomfort, go back to the relaxed easy part of your body and stay

focused there longer, repeat the process and you will soon notice tension release and a

state of ease come over you.