Summary

The article emphasizes the importance of integrating mindfulness into daily life beyond formal meditation practice.

Abstract

The challenging times of 2020 have led to a surge in the use of meditation and mindfulness apps, highlighting the importance of mental well-being amidst the pandemic. However, the article argues that true mindfulness extends beyond meditation sessions to encompass the entire day. It suggests that mindfulness can be enhanced through activities like Yoga, which complement meditation by fostering focus and reducing mental chatter. The author, while not claiming to be an expert, shares personal improvements from consciously practicing mindfulness daily. The article introduces the concept of "informal mindfulness," which involves incorporating mindfulness into routine activities, such as eating and interacting with others, and recommends Gill Hasson's book "Mindfulness" for a deeper understanding. To get started, the author advises focusing on awareness, acknowledgment, acceptance, and absolution as key practices. These steps encourage a non-judgmental observation of thoughts and emotions, leading to a more intentional and conscious life. The article concludes by reassuring readers that mindfulness is a personal journey without an end goal, emphasizing that life is to be lived in the present moment.

Opinions

The author believes that mindfulness is not solely about meditation but includes being mindful throughout the day.
Personal anecdotes suggest that physical practices like Yoga can significantly enhance mindfulness.
There is an acknowledgment that the journey to mindfulness is challenging and that one should not be discouraged by the abundance of information available.
The author emphasizes the importance of being aware of one's thoughts and emotions as a foundational step in mindfulness practice.
Acknowledging thoughts without immediate dismissal is seen as crucial to understanding and processing them.
Acceptance of thoughts and emotions, without judgment, is presented as a method for dealing with mental traps.
Self-forgiveness is highlighted as an important aspect of mindfulness, allowing one to release negative thoughts and emotions.
The author encourages a compassionate approach to oneself when practicing mindfulness, suggesting that it is a lifelong practice rather than a task with a definitive end.

Mindfulness Is Not Just Meditation

Enhance your mindfulness practice outside of meditation

The disastrous year of 2020 has led to an increase in downloads of meditation and mindfulness apps. Stressors from daily Covid-19 news, political news, juggling multiple lives, working from home, and long-drawn-out social distancing measures have turned many people to meditation apps to feel centred and calm.

Scientists and politicians have mentioned that the coronavirus is here for the long haul as it continues to spread throughout the world. With many countries going into intermittent lockdowns, millions of people are still in quarantine/pandemic mode.

However, mindfulness and happiness aren’t just about meditation. Although meditation teaches you the skills and theories to cultivate mindfulness within 10–30 minutes a day, the 23.5 hours left in your day make for a mindful life.

Like many, I turned to meditation when my life and mental health was in dire need of direction, grounding and improvement. Alongside, I took to Yoga to improve awareness and concentration outside of meditation. I’ll keep the Yoga story for another time, but taking mindfulness off meditation and into a physical practice forced me to focus and quiet the mind chatters — teaching me to lead a more conscious and intentional life.

Yoga and meditation are just a small part of your day. I am not a master in meditation, nor do I lead the most conscious life, but I’m writing this article because I’ve seen improvements when I consciously incorporate mindfulness in my day to day life. There are many layers to mindfulness and its an art to be cultivated — an art everyone can make.

Don’t panic. I know there is a lot of information out there and you don’t know where to start. First of all, appreciate yourself for meditating consistently because that is not an easy task; or just have gratitude that you are reading this article, learning more about mindfulness. Keep up the excellent work.

Informal Mindfulness

Informal mindfulness practice involves bringing mindfulness into daily routines and activities. Basically, what I have been talking about — mindfulness outside of meditation. Examples would be mindfully eating or mindfully interacting with people.

If you want to have an in-depth read on incorporating informal mindfulness practice in your life, I recommend you read Mindfulness by Gill Hasson.

How to get started?

Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.

— Jon Kabat Zinn

It can be overwhelming — even in Gill Hasson’s book, there are still so many activities that I have yet to incorporate into my daily life. Sometimes, reading and researching can just deter you from even starting.

So here are four simple ways you can get started on being mindful outside of meditation.

Awareness

If you can only take one thing away from this article, make it this one here. Just by being aware of your thoughts, experiences, and emotions is the sole act of being mindful.

Your mind is of its own but being aware of the mental fluctuations or mind chatters is the first step from breaking free.

I always say that you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. Similarly, you can’t change a situation that you aren’t aware of.

Approach this method with loving-kindness and compassion as there isn’t a need to get rid or judge every mind trap that comes up.

Be grateful for catching all of your negative thoughts and material — being aware of what comes up naturally is an achievement in it of itself.

Acknowledge

After being aware of your thoughts, there is no need to dismiss it immediately. Instead, acknowledge its presence. Acknowledge that these thoughts, emotions, experiences, feelings and events are happening right now. Acknowledge that your mind has wandered off to the past, the future or a hypothesis.

We don’t need to dismiss them because these thoughts are a part of you. They come up for a reason; dismissing it would be avoidance.

If your situation allows you to, you can write it down in your journal or on your mobile. But it isn’t necessary since you are trying to be present in the moment you are experiencing.

Writing it down helps you to acknowledge the thought and put it aside so that you can live in this moment, and come back to it when you are ready to.

Accept

To release yourself from mind traps, you need to meet these thoughts, emotions, and experiences with acceptance — accept them as they are, with no judgement.

Accepting doesn’t mean you need to like what is happening in this present moment — either in your head or in your experience.

By accepting, you are letting these triggers exist and just be; without trying to change anything, judge it or get rid of it. You take a step back and view your emotions, thoughts or experiences from a distance, observing it as a separate object.

By doing so, you understand your emotions’ intentions, which can help you respond to the situation in a more mindful way. This particular action can take a little bit of time to learn but always remember to be kind to yourself when you are adjusting.

Absolve

Greet yourself with compassionate self-forgiveness. Absolve yourself from the obligations of your mind. Self-forgiveness allows you to process your material and release the anchors in your mind to start enforcing positive actions and intentions. Forgiving others means to let yourself be free — to remove the knot that binds two minds and their associated suffering.

Letting go and forgiving doesn’t mean giving in to your material or someone else’s offence, but a way to free yourself from torment.

This is also not an effortless thing to do, but forgiveness seems to follow when you learn to accept the way things are. So just be patient and keep working at your inner self.

Ending Statement

Those are the four ways that you can start incorporating informal mindfulness practices in your daily life.

It doesn’t matter if you just start with awareness, because that is what I did too. Mindfulness is a practice, and it isn’t a one size fits all approach to life.

Always be patient with yourself because ultimately, there isn’t an end goal. It is the commitment and the promise to yourself to lead a more intentional and conscious life.

Life doesn’t begin when you reach a goal or a place; it is the present moment itself.

Life is now.

Nothing is but what is now

— Ron Rash