Stress Management: Mindful Living Everyday

What is Mindful Living?
Mindful Living is moment by moment awareness.
Mindful Living is a skill that teaches us to be less reactive to the experiences of our life.
Mindful Living is a practice that creates intentional awareness in the present moment.
Mindful Living is learning to wake up to each moment of our lives.
Mindful Living is learning to pay attention to your life.
Mindful Living teaches you to “unplug” from your busy-ness and be present.
Mindful Living teaches us to “wake up” to your magnificent life.
Mindful Living is learning how to develop awareness in your life.

Why Does It Matter?
Most of us race through our lives. Some of us live lives of habituation. When we are unaware of our daily choices and responses, we are living mindlessly. We can become a zombie and lose consciousness of our precious life.
We can find ourselves being “swept away” by the current of our thoughts, feelings, worries, fears and stresses.

When we live mindless lives of habituation we are not aware of our choices, addictions or the suffering we are creating in our lives and the lives of others.
Mindful Living is essential for mental and physical health. When we learn to live mindfully, we learn to observe our behavior, thoughts and reactions to the challenges in our lives. Mindful training teaches us to observe and be present in each moment with compassion and acceptance.

We are NOT Living Mindfully

• Food.  Many of us overeat and don’t respect the food and the ritual of meals. Most of us rush through our meals with little respect for our food, the farmers, the preparers and work that went into our meal. Many of us do not pause for a moment of gratitude and observation of our food. Do you observe the brilliant colors, the fragrance, the shape and the texture of your food with respect and gratitude?
• Anger.  Countless individuals react to another person or to a different opinion with mindless habitual anger. When we are mindful we are centered in the present moment and instead of reacting immediately with anger we observe information and mindfully choose an intentional response.
• The Breath. Most of us take our breath for granted. When we are mindful we are aware that our breath is an essential key to our health. In our culture, we always seem to be in a hurry, rushing and breathing shallow and quickly. Our breath is the first action we take when we are born and our final action before we move to our next level of existence. Have reverence for your sacred breath and the peace it creates in your life.
• Emotions.  A vast number of us are continually flooded by the domino effect of our unchecked emotions. We move from worry to anger, then to fear and are not aware of our habituation to this heightened emotional state that robs us of our peace and balance.
• The Earth.  We have not respected our precious natural resources and now we are seeing our planet suffer.  As we “wake up” we are learning how to mindfully conserve and respect our use of water, the earth, the air and other precious resources.  

Research Shows Mindful Living Restores Balance and Reduces Stress

• Numerous studies show mindful living practices can lower blood pressure, heart rate and create an immune boost.
• Research reveals mindful living training reduces stress and aids in depression.
• Research shows mindful living programs integrated into school curriculum improves academic performance, self-esteem, concentration and behavior problems.
• Researchers studied the effects of mindful living training on grade school students and found they were more relaxed, had less anxiety and experienced positive effects in behavior, mood and attitude.

Mindful Living Tips For You, Your Family and Coworkers

• Mindful Living Discussions:  Set a time 2-3 times a week to begin discussing the concept of mindful living. Create a goal of doing a mindful living practice each day.
• The Breath.  Your breath is your anchor, your connection to the source. When we live our hurried lives we breath shallow and quickly. When we rush we don’t breathe deeply into our lungs and fill them with air. We must have oxygen to feed our brain, our vital organs and our body. Nourish your body, mind and soul by beginning to breathe mindfully. Inhale mindfully and deeply to the count of 1-2-3-4 and exhale to the count of 1-2-3-4.
• The Mindful Living Game.  Play a mindful game with your children or at work. Sit quietly and listen. Name all the things you hear. Who can hear the most sounds? Repeat this mindful exercise with your other senses. Have fun and be playful.
• A Mindful Living Walk.  Each day, take a mindful walk with your family or your coworkers. Challenge each person to become aware of rocks, trees, flowers, animals, cars, smells, sights and different people.
• Eat Mindfully.  Rituals are rich with meaning and experiences we never forget. Meals are the perfect time to teach mindful living at work and home. Begin your meal with silence and awareness of the precious food on your plate. Talk about the workers and processes involved in getting your food to your table. Create awareness of the color, smell, shape, texture of your food. Eat intentionally while chewing slowly and respectfully. Take a moment to thank the fish, cow or chicken for their sacrifice and kindness to nourish you.
• Mindful Emotions.  Take time to do mindful living exercises with your family and coworkers, inquiring how different emotions feel, physically and mentally. Mindfully experience love, anger, fear, hate, jealously, stress, grief, gratitude and happiness. Share your feelings as you mindfully explore the power of your emotions.
• Mindful Speech.  Words are energy. They can heal or destroy yourself and others. Words begin as thoughts, then weave into our emotions and create our speech. Talk about mindful speech at home and work. Each of us can transform our lives when we learn to speak mindfully.