Unboxing Mindfulness

Here are some of the habits that have personally helped me become more mindful in my day today activities.

The last several months have been turbulent for mankind. From countless loss of lives, to the world witnessing paradigm shifts in lifestyles; from staying 24/7 with families to yearning for families, this generation witnessed the biggest pandemic in a century, and it has been legit hard!

It wasn’t any different for me. It was a visual Murphy’s law at work for me. If a few words could collectively define the last one year for me, those words would be — in love, got a proposal, married, unemployed, migrated, Covid positive, vaccinated, evicted, settled. How many can say, “I have been on a plane in the pandemic to start a new life?”. I did.

Today, as I write this note — I am happy to share that I tried to slow down in the last few weeks and incorporate mindfulness in my life. The experience has been nothing less than transformative.

For those of you who are not familiar with the term “mindfulness”, I will try to break it down for you — it means trying to live in the present moment without any interpretations or judgement. In routine life, we all find ourselves jumping from one moment to another and don’t feel like there is time to stop. I know, we all have been there! However, with a little focussed effort in our activities and being more conscious about our surroundings can do wonders! With time, you start noticing those changes — finding happiness and joy in little things and giving a meaning to your life.

On that note, I have put together a list of 5 habits that have personally helped in my quest to be more mindful.

1. Screen-free Meals

Aren’t we guilty of eating while watching Netflix? Seemed like very difficult to give up in the beginning but creating boundaries and removing distractions from meal time has made a huge change for me. When we are distracted by the screens, we miss out on enjoying our food and appreciating its flavour, taste and smell. We tend to become robots and even miss out the signals from our body to stop when we are full. Having a conversation about our day or sharing ideas with my husband during dinner has positively impacted both of us.

2. Eliminating filler words

“So”, “Umm”, “Well”, “Basically”, “Sort of” — Sometimes, it becomes super distracting to hear such fillers as it creates a perception that we are not fully prepared. Not only do they not add any meaning to what you are saying but also delays what you are trying to express during a conversation. In the beginning, I found it difficult to even notice how many times I was using fillers in a sentence. Once I started paying attention, I even started noticing them while watching TV, listening to podcasts, etc. To overcome this, I consciously started taking a small pause, becoming more self-aware before opening my mouth. This one has personally been hard for me but I am actively working on eliminating them.

3. Daily “Self check-in”

Think of it like a Minutes of Meeting in the professional world or a daily weather report. We are always in a rush that we forget to slow down and ponder our thoughts over what we experienced during the entire day. Including the habit to check-in with myself while sipping my favourite chamomile tea at night has helped me understand my emotions better. Ask yourself:

Did I learn anything new today?

What made me happy today?

How I enjoyed getting accompanied by a neighbour for a workout session?

Did you make someone smile today?

4. Become a sponge listener

We humans have a tendency to start formulating our response while the other person is speaking and lose attention in their words. Sometimes, we get so excited during a conversation that we quickly want to jump and tell what’s going on in our mind while the other person has not even finished. I will admit, I learned this one from my husband. I truly enjoy our conversations. When I started paying attention to what he does differently, I noticed how patiently he lets me complete what I have to say and creates a safe environment for me to have an emotional or a difficult talk with him by being attentive and giving positive facial expressions. Now, this is mindfulness in action. Next time when you are in the car with a friend or a family member — just try keeping your phone or social media away and notice the difference. Practicing the habit of absorptive listening has definitely created a glow of peace and much more meaningful relationships in my life.

5. Random acts of kindness

While most of us are engaged in small acts of kindness in our day today life — we tend to overlook it or think about it. Rewind your life a bit, try to remember the last time you opened a door for someone, appreciated and thanked the trash cleaner for their services, complimented someone you met at the supermarket, smiled at someone you crossed at the walking track. Doesn’t it happen with each one of us? Intentionally noticing it creates a positive mindset. No doubt, I have experienced a delightful moment of gratitude and a calm mind by doing it for others whenever there is a chance.

and above all…

Do what you love and try to bring a sense of mindfulness in even the smallest of your daily tasks.

Trust me, you are just one step away from making the choice to take action and earn a better control over your life. Try out these ways and I would love to hear the difference that it has made in your life. I also welcome you to share more such mindful habits that have positively impacted your life. It might help others to gain more from this post, go ahead and share!