One of the things you should master in your life is a couple of techniques to improve mindfulness. These techniques need to be personalized on your body and lifestyle. This is why at first you need to practice what others are doing to be more mindful and practice these techniques to improve mindfulness. In this way, you will check what best suits you. We all have different bodies, different minds.
We live in different countries and stay in various weather conditions. Also, each of us is of different age, some are young and others are a little bit elder. Therefore practicing various techniques to improve mindfulness will eventually help you discover your own secrets.
Techniques to improve mindfulness have become almost a need these days. Psychologists divide your desires into wants and needs. And they say needs are just survival necessities like food, shelter, sleep, air, water, etc.
But now there are more and more psychologists who consider also a need the level of balance of the mind and the emotional state. There are so many scientific studies that prove the significant impact that the mind and emotions have on the health of the body. A mind and an emotional state that is balanced not only make us feel good but also improves our health.
Getting Started With Mindfulness
The technique to improve mindfulness is a state of being attentive and heedful. It is related to be careful. Being careful of yourself, of others, and of life in general. It is a state of gentleness towards your own mind. Mindfulness is the practice of giving complete and non-judgmental attention to one’s present experience and it is used as a stress-reduction technique.
Apply the bellow 9 techniques to improve mindfulness and see which one best suits you. Also make sure to personalize for your own lifestyle each technique.
9 Secret Techniques To Improve Mindfulness
1. Practice Self-Love
Self-love is a form of being kind to yourself. For this technique to work you need to discover how to be kind to yourself but also how to harm your mind as little as possible. We think that harming is relating only to the body but with the technological advancements another behavior has sprung up: harming of the mind. Even when you meditate (and you will see at point 4 below) gentleness is essential in meditating correctly.
2. Nature Time
Nature time is such bliss. We think we need to climb mountains and go to the sea or in a deep forest to have time with nature. But in fact, the constant little moments that we spend connecting with nature matter the most. When you pass near a blossomed tree do you stop to touch the flowers of the tree branches? When you go in a park do you ever touch the trunks of the trees? Do you stop and look at the sky every day?
Do you do all these small opportunities to connect with nature on the run? Meaning you look very fast at the blossomed tree but don’t touch it because you do not have time. You only walk on cement when you go in the park, never go near a tree trunk to connect with it. You look down most of the time as you walk on the street, never stopping to look up at the sky for 2-3 minutes.
All these small missed opportunities of connecting with nature leave marks on your mind. Try to include such small nature time moments in your daily routine.
3. Breathe Deeply
Breathing deeply is such a hack for decreasing anxiety. Many times we breathe as if we are afraid to breathe. I remember reading somewhere that you have to breathe as if life was breathing you, not as if you were breathing life. That is, when you take the air out of your lungs, think that life is actually putting air into its lungs. And when you breathe air in the lungs, in fact, life takes the air out of her lungs. It is the other way around.
When you breathe air out, try to think you are generous because you give air to the lungs of life. When you breathe air in, try to think life is generous with you because it gives you air out from its lungs.
4. Meditate to Improve Mindfulenss
There are different forms of meditation. Find one that best suits you. I remember reading that in Bali, I think, there is a meditation called the simplest meditation. I think I read it in the book Eat, Pray, Love. The simplest meditation is to sit down (it doesn’t say in what position, it doesn’t matter), smile, and be silent. And it also says to mentally scan every organ in your body with that smile. It is said that if you practice this meditation constantly, it is the only form of meditation you need.
In any way, you do meditation “gentleness” is the keyword. I overheard a monk talk one day. This monk, who I believe is recognized as the happiest monk in the world, said that there is a significant difference in the practice of meditation when the word “gentleness” is used or not by the master who teaches the disciple.
That is the disciples to whom the master showed them how to meditate if he did not use the word “gentle” do not have good results no matter how much they meditate. On the contrary, the disciples whose master showed them how to meditate and used the word “gentle” – that is, whatever they would do in meditation to do it in a gentle way, with gentleness – have the best results.
The Dalai Lama also says that the best form of meditation is sleep. And he’s not kidding. That’s right. Make sure your sleep is restful every night.
5. Mindful Eating
We eat in a rush. We eat food just to eat and not to be hungry anymore. At lunch, we eat in a hurry because we need to get back fast to our job routines. Then we gain weight and our stomach hurts. This is not the way to eat.
Eating is something that we do so many times and for such a long period of time, all our life. If you are not mindful relating to eating then it will have a huge impact on every aspect of your life. Even in our sleep. You know it and we all know it. Eating impacts sleep quality. Therefore you need to develop some mindful eating skills. Not perfect. But efficient.
6. Do Journaling Every Day
Six lines of journaling every day. This is all it takes to significantly improve your life. You can journal about anything that is happening in your life right now. Any thought you have just put them down.
Make an agreement with your mind that when you write in the journal you have the freedom to write any type of thought, positive or negative. Any thought, even one that scares you. Give yourself the freedom to write it on paper. In this way, you will increase your creativity and your mind will feel free.
Free to think whatever it wants, without fear of punishment. Many times we punish our mind because it thinks of a certain negative thought. But the mind is just a receiving device that receives thoughts. All you have to do is change the channel, change your vibration, and your mind will simply receive other thoughts. This will for sure improve mindfulness.
7. Practice Presence
Presence is noticing. Noticing is related to the art of appreciation. In the art of appreciation, one looks at what is presented in front of him and starts noticing details. Then he verbalizes what he sees as a small list, appreciating details. Verbalising what you see, either with your voice or in your mind gives you presence.
I remember reading in a book about Buddhism that a master is testing you to see if you noticed details from the reality in which you are walking. This is done randomly during the day. The master approaches you, taking you by surprise, and asks you: Did you see the umbrella at the door when you entered? In what position was she seated? There may not have been an umbrella at the door.
Or maybe it was. Did you saw it? Why weren’t you careful? Such a master in Buddhism helps you practice your attention, your ability to be present. So can you do with yourself, be your own master. And you can do that even on the positive side of life. Did you see the beautiful sky that was outside when you went shopping? What was the shape of the clouds?
9. Relax and Let Go
This is such a huge challenge at present. We find ourselves unable to relax, unable to let go. I have a rule, after 10 o’clock I put out … my mind … and my efforts. I think that if the sun went down then the day is over and even though I still have so much to do, today is over. Tomorrow will be a new day. I do not prolong the day more than it is extended by the system of day and night. If night came, the day passed, whether I wanted to or not. This is one of the important techniques to improve mindfulness.
Same on Friday. On Friday I shut down, I stop my mind taking care of my job. I had Mondays when I actually couldn’t remember where I remained with the work on Friday. That’s why I take notes. I make lists and write down my thoughts. To read them on Monday morning and to realize clearly where I stayed.
I write down my thoughts on paper. Why? To get them out of my mind. To give space for my mind to relax. It’s an incredible technique to focus on. Take out the thought, the brilliant idea, your new project, the shopping items, those things that you must remember and not forget. Take them out of your mind and put them on paper. This is a very good mind relaxation technique while working during the entire day.
These were the 9 techniques to improve mindfulness. If you know more, please include a comment below. Thanks.
