One thing we can all agree on is that we live in an incredibly fast-paced world. Whether you participate in everything or not, it’s happening around you.
Forty to sixty-hour work weeks, skipping lunch, constant social media, rushing from one appointment to the next, balancing family life with meeting work deadlines. Despite this being our reality, or the reality around us, you can choose to live slower. Or at least add slow elements to your life. Because this combination, all together without adding mindfulness in any way, is going to break you down eventually.
1. Start your day with a mindful morning routine
Okay, so you have found out this fast pace life won’t work long-term. And you’ve been wanting to add mindfulness to your daily routine for a while now. But how? No worries, take three deep breaths first. Okay, now read on and I’ll calmly explain it all.
Think of stress as a bucket of water under an open tap. The tap keeps running and at some point, the bucket overflows.
How can a mindful start to the day set a positive tone for the rest of the day? Start slow. We have such a tendency to jump up and start the day as soon as the alarm goes off. This immediately throws us into the hustle of the day. Instead, it’s good to start calmly.
Try meditating or writing first. In one of the initial weeks of mindfulness training, I teach participants to take something mundane to practice living mindfully. Something mundane is something you do every day, like brushing your teeth. Instead of brushing quickly (which isn’t good for your teeth anyway), do it more mindfully. Take each step slower than usual and focus your attention on each step.
Think of stress as a bucket of water under an open tap. The tap keeps running and at some point, the bucket overflows. You are also a kind of bucket, and the stressful life (whatever that means for you) is the running tap. At some point, you too will overflow with all sorts of stress symptoms as a result. Since there will be plenty of busy and stressful moments during the day, it’s good to give your bucket a chance to empty in the morning. This way, you have more room for whatever else the day throws at you.
Bite, swallow, and the food is gone in no time. That’s because you didn’t eat mindfully.
2. Practice mindful eating
Mindful eating is another component that comes up in the first weeks of mindfulness training. Eating is something we do every day and even multiple times a day. It’s something we often do in a rush, quickly on the go or in front of the TV. You know the scenario… you spend an hour in the kitchen cooking something delicious for yourself, you finally finish, serve yourself, and sit on the couch to eat. Bite, swallow, and the food is gone in no time. That’s because you didn’t eat mindfully. When you eat mindfully, it’s not only good for your overall mental state, but you’ll also enjoy your food much more because you’re eating consciously and tasting every bite.
So, try to eat mindfully from now on. Take your time to eat, make sure there are no distractions like a TV, look at each bite—what colors do you see, and consciously taste the flavors.
3. Create a mindful evening routine
Evening is the time to unwind, no matter how your day has been. Remember what I said earlier about the bucket? Now it’s time to empty that bucket again so you can easily fall asleep and have a good night’s rest.
I’ll give you a few tips, but it’s also good to think about what two things are essential for you as part of your evening routine—things that help you slow down. A meditation like a body scan is great to add to your evening routine. During a body scan, you focus on and relax each part of your body one by one. It helps your body relax and therefore also calms your mind, while doing a mindful activity.
Additionally, I recommend a few other things: set your phone to silent a few hours before bed and avoid watching TV right before sleeping. It’s also beneficial to write down your thoughts, getting everything off your mind before sleeping. These are thoughts you don’t need to take with you to bed and into the night.
Conclusion: Developing a mindful lifestyle
In this blog, we’ve covered a few simple basic ways to incorporate mindfulness into your daily routine. I’ve deliberately chosen three simple moments throughout the day. Let’s not make it too complicated for now. If you can do these things every day, you already get applause from me (as if that’s why you do it:)). It seems super simple, but sometimes these things can already be a challenge. So, let’s not make it too complicated. Start with these steps, keep it up for at least five weeks, and see what impact it has on your life. You can always add more later, but keep the first step simple.
