5 Mindfulness Routines For The Whole Day
Five gifts distributed between morning and night, to awaken the awareness of each moment. Accepting it, well-being will come to you.
Mindfulness is a new word for something very old. Thousands of years ago the wisdom teachers passed down simple methods to awaken the meditative capacity, and thus be able to live more fully and in peace.
They called it Vipassana and, in essence, it consists of living in the moment from the perspective of the Witness; that is, to witness the unfolding of the moment, including the body, mind, emotions and external stimuli.
This ability to see oneself allows a detachment from one’s own personality and –from an attitude of full acceptance, devoid of judgments– to experience each moment with more enjoyment and stillness.
In a world as stressed as ours, mindfulness is like learning to press a magic button that allows you not to turn off the mind, but to find the place where oneself is peace and the psychological self is no longer a problem.
Very simple exercises to connect
To achieve this, we propose some exercises and daily practices that will allow you to access greater well-being without the need for a special space or stealing time from your busy schedule. So I’m going to suggest you the magic of simplicity … Let’s get started!
1. Mindfulness for breakfast
Today your breakfast should be a sacred act. Once you have chosen what you are going to eat, stay for a moment looking at the food and recognize its origin in nature; that is to say, become aware of its origin. Feel that each food is a type of energy that you are going to integrate into your body, so first be grateful, then recognize the origin, then smell each substance and then start savoring each bite.
2. A mid-morning respite
We all need a moment to be able to balance ourselves. The desirable thing would be to make a stop in work life and dedicate to doing a little yoga or, at least, a walk in the park. If you can do it… Go ahead!
However, there are many people who do not have that time, so I am simply going to suggest the habit of consciously breathing wherever you are.
- If possible, find a ventilated place, and if there are plants, the better.
- Now become fully aware of your attention and direct it to slow, slow breathing.
- It will take five minutes of concentration to feel better and recovered.
3. One hundred steps after eating
The Chinese say that after eating, you have to take at least a hundred steps … It is something symbolic, but the truth is that it is healthy and useful for digestion to take a walk, calm and meditative.
This meditation walk consists of remaining aware of your own movements when moving: rhythm, support of the feet, swinging of the arms …
Don’t try to correct anything, just get into the cadence of walking around and enjoying the moment.
4. A sacred bath to renew yourself
Since ancient times, the bath has been an element of purification, regeneration and even meditation.
- If you have a bathtub at home, prepare the water at a warm but bearable temperature, add a handful of sea salt and a few drops of aromatic essential oil of lemon and rosemary.
- Ritually undress, as if freeing yourself from all social masks.
- Enter the bathroom very slowly, with awareness alert to sensations of skin and smell.
- Decide to leave all the stress of the day in the water and renew yourself.
5. Listen to natural music
Our hypothalamus is very sensitive to natural sounds and sensations ; it is something that has evolved with us. So, after dinner, I invite you to a concert …
You only need to find in your environment some sound that connects you with nature. It can be the sound of the waves or the murmur of a torrent, but also letting a trickle of water run from the tap and… listening. It can be a concert of frogs, the cry of an owl, crickets …
It must be the sound of ancient nature, the breeze, the water, the crackling of the fire … Even the sound of your own steps when walking.
If you listen fully consciously, it will transform you little by little, imperceptibly, without great promises or radical changes …
Simple will transform your life. You will sleep better, you will wake up better… Good life!
