Find Peace with Mindfulness

In today’s world, we are often stressed and distracted. Life is rarely simple because we’ve made it so complex. Our minds dance with our to-do lists and worries on such a level that we completely zone out of the present moment. We drive our cars but don’t notice the scenery. We hear our significant other talking, but we’re listening to the chaos inside our own heads. We are so busy that we attempt to multi-task. We bake while we Facetime our mom, but we skip an ingredient, and we don’t retain most of the conversation. We watch a movie while we shop online, but we don’t remember the main character’s name.

We are so hyper-focused on our screens that we forget about the world around us. Our text messages, tv shows, and social media are prioritized higher than stepping outside, moving our bodies, and basking in real, live sunshine. Sometimes it feels like we are just machines whirring and carrying out our assignments before we charge ourselves up in our beds to repeat everything the next day. And by the end of each week, we forget practically everything we did. We don’t even remember what we ate for dinner the night before!

How can we make life less automated? How can we learn how to feel peaceful? How can we increase our happiness, decrease our stress levels, and become more aware of real life? 

I'll tell you how. You find peace by learning how to practice mindfulness.

Find Peace with Mindfulness

One of the best ways to decrease our robot-like qualities and feel peaceful and present is to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is a mental state that allows you to be conscious of your surroundings and aware of your thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Mindfulness is a form of meditation, which is an achievement of deep focus and thought. Being mindful is essentially not being unaware, mindless, or oblivious.

How to Practice Mindfulness

You become mindful by paying attention to your senses, which will help you find peace. Make a conscious effort to focus on what you see, hear, smell, taste, or feel. You can start with your breath. Concentrate on how your stomach and lungs feel as they expand and contract with each breath. Watch your chest rise and fall. See the carbon dioxide leave your mouth in a puff of warmth against the cold outdoors. Listen to the evenness or unevenness of the breath through your nose.

There are unlimited ways to be mindful; it doesn’t stop at the breath. You can focus on the sensations in your chest as you feel fear, the movements of your legs as you bike, the sound of traffic or birds, the taste of sweet or salty, the texture of food against your tongue or tree bark beneath your fingers, the smell of fresh pine, or the view of bubbling sea foam on a sandy beach.

Set a Reminder to Practice Mindfulness

It can be challenging to remember to practice mindfulness with many of our lifestyles. Therefore, it is helpful to set reminders throughout the day. One option is to set alarms or reminders on your calendar to give your mind a break from thinking for just five minutes. Once that alarm dings or notification pops up, you know it’s time to practice mindfulness, where you aim to keep your focus on the present.

At the office, you could sit still at your desk and listen to the tapping of keyboards or voices on the phones. Perhaps you could take a walk and absorb your surroundings as you move. 

Another option to remind yourself to take a healthy mental break is to use a trigger that will allow you to form a habit. For example, whenever you return to your work desk after using the restroom, you practice mindfulness before becoming absorbed into the computer screen once again. 

Turn Mindless Tasks into Mindful Tasks to Feel Peaceful

Every day, we participate in mindless tasks where we allow our minds to wander and our attention to slip away from the present moment so that we don’t even realize what we are doing. Washing the dishes or brushing your teeth are two examples. How much do you really pay attention to those mundane activities that you only do because you have to? Increase your focus on those simple tasks to practice forming the habit of remaining present.

There are activities you do that require your utmost attention. For example, you practice mindfulness while exercising because you’re focused on the pain, the rep, the muscle contraction, the heavy breathing, or the stopwatch. You are mindful while vacationing in a beautiful place because you’re awed by the scenery. Many physical activities, like sports, walking, chopping wood, or painting, are beautiful ways to really exist in the moment. Indulge in more of what you already do that encourages mindfulness.

Reduce Stress and Anxiety with Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a stress reliever and anxiety reducer. When you’re focused on the present, your attention is pulled away from those racing “what if” thoughts or that taxing to-do list. You can distract yourself from high stress or panic moments by bringing your focus inward to the body or outward to your environment.

Practicing mindfulness meditation  is my go-to for saving myself from a panic attack. When I feel the racing heart and impending doom threatening to crush me, I actively release muscle tension, starting at the head and going all the way to my toes. Then, I do a deep breathing exercise: inhale for four, hold for seven, exhale for eight, and repeat.

Sometimes, I’ll imagine any obsessive thoughts or worries as little bubbles floating above my head, and I watch them float away where I can’t think about them anymore. Mindfulness ties right into the cognitive behavioral therapy that can be very helpful when experiencing anxiety, panic, depression, anger, manic episodes, and more.

There are many more benefits to mindfulness meditation, like increased quality of sleep, lower blood pressure, a healthier digestive system, and increased memory retention. Among all of these pros, practicing mindfulness increases your quality of life by making you more aware of the present moment. Set down those screens, step out of your busy mind, and gratefully soak in the senses you are capable of experiencing!

Mental Health Blog Disclaimer

I am not a medical professional, therapist, or mental healthcare professional. The information provided on this website is for informational purposes only, comes from my own personal experiences, and may be read, interpreted, and practiced at your own risk. Do not rely on this information as a substitute to medical advice or treatment from a healthcare professional.