Do you ever feel like your mind is too busy to be "mindful"? Like you could never sit down to “meditate”, do breathing exercises, or any of those other things everyone is saying would help you?
Most people I work with come in feeling like they’re just “not the type” of person who can be still with a quiet mind.
I’ve got good news for you, my friend… There are actually ways that you can become a more mindful person, no matter how busy your mind is! Spoiler alert: you don’t need to sit still to do it, either.
What exactly is Mindfulness?
Let’s start with the basics. Mindfulness is simply the awareness of your thoughts, feelings and emotions, and the ability to accept them without judgement. It brings mental clarity and an increased ability to take care of both yourself and others.
Mindfulness Myths
Before we go further, I want to squash some limiting beliefs around mindfulness:
"Mindfulness means emptying my mind, and that feels impossible."
When you’re actively doing a “mindfulness practice”, the goal is not to clear your mind, but to redirect your attention.
"It’s too complicated."
When it comes to actually practicing mindfulness, you might think you need all sorts of preparation and resources. However, you can practice mindfulness at essentially any time, in any place, with nothing more than the comfort of your home. More on this to come!
"My mind wanders too much, and I feel like I suck at it."
Believe it or not, that’s a good thing!! Every time your mind wanders you‘re presented with an opportunity to notice this and redirect it. Think of it as doing a bicep curl for your mindfulness muscle. More repetition will make the muscle stronger.
"I don’t have enough time to practice this."
You can actually pair mindfulness with other things you’re already doing, so it doesn’t have to take any extra time, just intention.
Why it’s worth the effort of trying...
If you’re a nerd like me, you’ll appreciate the amount of clinical research that has been done to validate just how effective mindfulness is as a tool for mental health (among a million other benefits).
There is evidence that supports that mindfulness can help in so many ways:
Regulate emotions, decrease stress, anxiety, and depression.
Benefits the immune system and overall physical health.
Pain management.
Improves brain function which affects learning, memory, emotions, processing, and communication.
Insomnia and sleep issues.
Helps fight obesity.
Improves memory and attention.
Increases compassion for others.
Decreases anxiety in pregnant mothers and prenatal parents, as well as improves relationships with children.
Helps to control unhealthy habits and addiction.
This is why the field of mindfulness is emerging at such a rapid pace. It’s becoming more popular in institutions, like schools, and in the medical field.
Bottom line, the only thing standing between you and actually practicing mindfulness is the belief that you can’t do it.
So, if you’re ready to accept that there are ways of doing this beyond what you think you know or have tried, stay tuned for the next blog which is going to introduce ways to incorporate this into your daily life.
Use my free grounding practice to start your morning grounded or if you're looking for a longer commitment, join my 21-Day Mindfulness Challenge: