10 practical tips to start being more mindful right now:
1. Take a couple of minutes to notice your breathing. Sense the flow of the breath, the rise and fall of your belly.
2. Notice what you are doing as you are doing it and tune into your senses.
When you are eating, notice the colour, texture and taste of the food.
3. When you are walking, tune into how your weight shifts and the sensations in the bottom of your feet. Focus less on where you are headed.
4. Don’t feel that you need to fill up all your time with doing.
Take some time to simply be.
5. When your mind wanders to thinking, gently bring it back to your breath.
6. Recognize that thoughts are simply thoughts;
you don’t need to believe them or react to them.
7. Practise listening without making judgments.
8. Notice where you tend to zone out (e.g., driving, emailing or texting, web surfing, feeding the dog, doing dishes, brushing teeth, etc.). Practise bringing more awareness to that activity.
9. Spend time in nature.
10. Notice how the mind likes to constantly judge. Don’t take it seriously.
It’s not who you are.