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Mindfulness is a pretty trendy word right now. And it's well deserved! Google it and you will find loads of research and personal stories of how mindfulness changes people's lives. Mindfulness simply means being present in the moment. It means letting go of yesterday and tomorrow, and simply living and being right now. Because when you think about it, right now is all that you really have.

 

So how do you do it? I've found that it's best to start small. Work on being mindful when you are doing other things. Say you are eating breakfast. Use your senses and pay attention to that specific moment. What does your food taste like? Feel like? Smell like? Look like? How does your body feel? Notice your breathing. Take long deep breaths. Breathing is a great tool to calm your body and channel your mind. Try not to get discouraged when your mind wanders. It will. Let me repeat that...your mind WILL wander. The "exercise" of mindfulness is bringing your thoughts back to the present. Doing this every single time that your mind wanders is what mindfulness is all about. It's like a bicep curl for your brain. Just like with actual weights, the more you lift that weight, the quicker and easier it will become because your muscles will grow to accommodate it. This practice will get easier over time. Just like the first time you lift a 20lb weight might feel too heavy and last barely a second. When you practice that skill over and over eventually you'll have biceps of steel (maybe, consult your fitness guru on that one). It's the same idea with your brain + mindfulness.