With our busy day to day lives adding more into it can feel like a chore, but can being Mindful really help us?
Being Mindful
I understand for busy working parents, a solitary trip to the loo can feel like a win, or snatching a break from work can feel impossible when you have a deadline to meet, but you don’t need big chunks of time to be mindful.
Just take a moment to connect with your breath, use your posture to change how you feel by rolling your shoulders whilst washing up, queuing at the till or standing at the school gate, releasing the tension throughout your body.
Enjoy and savour a few sips of coffee or a bite of cake, smell the toothpaste as you apply it to your toothbrush, even look out the window and follow a bird in flight for a few seconds or the observe how the people or clouds pass by you as you go about your busy day.
If I am going about my journey to or from work, often I can find myself at my destination without remembering actually seeing anything on my way, but when I make the conscious effort to become Mindful, when I walk Mindfully I like to observe the sky as I am walking, taking my time to look at the colour of the sky, feel the weather on my cheeks, smell the atmosphere and hear the sounds around me. On these Mindful days I arrive calmer, relaxed and in a more productive space to start my working day.
None of these things take anymore time from us, but cumulatively throughout the day, they can be like a pressure release valve. Releasing pressure slowly, bit by bit without you taking anymore time than usual.
As we become mindful, we become present in ourselves. By using our senses, by being present in our environment, we begin to release tensions and pressures and start to live right here, right now.
How about starting being Mindful right now?
Sharon Davitt MBACP Integrative Counsellor
Witham Therapy Room
www.withamtherapyroom.co.uk