Do you want to practice mindfulness but don’t know which mindfulness exercises to start with? Do you live in the past and keep questioning yourself about the future? Do you find it hard to pay attention to what is happening?
Nowadays, mindfulness exercises have become very popular. However, not everyone knows its benefits or how to use mindfulness techniques to reduce stress and anxiety, sleep better and enjoy the present moment. Therefore, in this post, we want to share some of the best and most straightforward mindfulness exercises for beginners.
If your goal is to become a more mindful person and you want to enjoy life one day at a time, these simple mindfulness exercises that you can do at home will help you get one step closer to achieving it. Please don’t wait any longer and start practicing them! Sit in a comfortable position, light your favorite scented candle and relax.
- Slow down
This is one of the easiest mindfulness exercises for beginners to apply daily. It consists of starting each day doing each of your activities without rushing. This way, it will be easier to maintain a slower and more relaxed pace to fully concentrate on what you are doing for the rest of the day.
Acquiring this habit can help you avoid falling into negative thought loops that make you feel sad, worried, or frustrated. The ability to develop positive practices in our lives enables us to become more productive, efficient, and, as a result, happier people.
Therefore, this mindfulness exercise is ideal for charting the path to a fuller and healthier life.
- Pay attention to your actions
Have you ever been attacked by intrusive or unpleasant thoughts while performing some daily task, making you lose concentration? Relax! This is quite normal, and almost all of us have gone through a similar situation. Even so, sometimes, this can have quite undesirable results. However, this mindfulness exercise is the right to deal with this problem.
As you may be aware, one of the primary goals of mindfulness exercises is to assist us in maintaining our attention in the present moment. Paying attention is the best way to capture moments. That is how we develop mindfulness. Being mindful means being awake. It entails understanding what you’re doing.
That is what this mindfulness exercise is all about. To put it into practice, repeat in your mind the phrase “I am now…” + the action you are performing at the time. + the activity you are performing at the time. “I am now walking to the supermarket,” for example, or “I am now washing the dishes.” You can write paper or some notes on what you are thinking about right now.
How simple is it to practice these mindfulness exercises? Of course! Although it may not seem like much, this simple action can help you avoid wandering and return to the present moment. Just be consistent, and you will see how effective it is.
- Interrupt negative thoughts
Sometimes, it is very difficult for us to avoid going back to the past and replay in our mind all those scenarios in which we made a mistake and imagine that, this time, we do something different. Or, on the contrary, we keep thinking about tomorrow and the possibilities it brings, trying to plan every little detail to control everything. This will only make us miserable, as it generates frustration, makes us ineffective, and distances us from reality.
Don’t despair! So far, we have already seen two mindfulness exercises that can help you keep your concentration in the present moment. But just in case, we have one more mindfulness exercise that will help you break these chains of thoughts and quickly reconnect with the here and now. Plus, you’ll be able to say goodbye to all those sleepless nights, relieve insomnia and sleep better!
When you detect these thoughts, use this mindfulness exercise that consists of “letting go.” Imagine filling a balloon with all your worries, memories, and other intrusive thoughts and then letting it go flying free and away from you. Then, take a deep breath and refocus on what you are doing.
Similarly, you can do this mindfulness exercise by imagining your thoughts as a flowing river, scattering clouds, or anything else that comes to mind. Choose whatever is most comfortable for you.
- Breathe deeply
One of the most popular mindfulness exercises and one of the most effective is deep breathing.
We often don’t take the time to do full mindfulness meditation, relax, and be aware of our breathing. Although it may seem very simple, this mindfulness exercise to take control of the air that enters and leaves our body can be very beneficial for health and help against panic attacks, stress, and anxiety.
To perform this mindfulness exercise effectively, you can use these tips and add them to your morning routine:
- Count your breaths.
- Place one hand on your chest and feel it move with each breath.
- Feel the temperature of the air when you inhale and when you exhale.
- Be aware of the tingling in your nose and throat as the air moves in and out.
- Imagine hat the air is a specific color and visualize how it travels through your body.
- Shape your sensations
Accepting reality, our feelings, and all the sensations of our body are essential to be able to feel peace. Therefore, to end this post, we want to introduce you to mindfulness exercises that will help you make peace with your senses.
This mindfulness exercise consists of visualizing and shaping the sensations of our body to identify them, accept them and even fight them. According to the Educrea website, mindfulness visualization exercises effectively treat stress and physical ailments such as migraine, muscle spasms, and chronic pain.
To put this mindfulness exercise into practice, you can start by closing your eyes and taking some deep breaths to help you relax. Then, little by little, focus your attention on each body part, from the tips of your toes all the way up to your head.
Pause in each section and concentrate on identifying all the sensations you perceive. Are the soles of your feet sore, or do you feel the tension in your shoulders? Perceive everything that is happening in your body and accept it with each of your senses.
Once you distinguish something, visualize what that sensation would be like and shape it in your mind by giving what you feel a certain color, temperature, and form. Then, observe what you imagined and let it be.
In this way, you will lose the fear, and little by little, you will stop being a slave of that pain, that tension, or the feeling of heaviness. Thanks to this mindfulness exercise, you will be able to face these discomforts, and you will be able to leave them behind so that they no longer affect your daily life.
