If you’re anything like me, then mindfulness just isn’t really your jam. I’ve had small exposures to a few different mindfulness techniques over the years, and none of them have ever really stuck with me. However, there are ways around this! There are so many different ways of practicing mindfulness, so keep reading to find out more about the top five tips my counselor has given me regarding mindfulness.
- Feel Don’t Analyze
It can be incredibly easy to be self-aware of your feelings without actually feeling them. This is something I often find myself doing; I can name a feeling, describe it, and analyze it, but I don’t actually feel that feeling. So, the first tip my counselor has given me: feel your dang feelings! If you’ve had a really stressful day and just need to let out some steam, take a few minutes and just let yourself cry or decompress in some other way that is healthy and works for you. Being mindful can mean allowing your feelings to be felt instead of analyzed, so stop simply thinking about your feelings and start feeling them.
- Focus on the Present
Knowing what’s coming up next in your day is incredibly important, as it allows us to stay organized, ready, and on-task. However, there comes a point where this is simply a technique to avoid being in the present moment. Constantly looking into the future keeps your mind away from the present, so you’re really missing out. This is the second tip my counselor has given me: getting rid of distractions and simply letting myself be in the present moment. Put away your laptop, put down your phone, and put away the million other things you’re doing all at once and just be and think about the moment you’re in right now.
- Mindfulness Isn’t Just Meditation
When I hear the word “mindfulness”, the first thing that always comes to mind is the yoga class I took during my senior year of high school. In this class, our “mindfulness” activities included sitting cross-legged on yoga mats and taking deep breaths to calm music or background noise. While doing this, you were supposed to let your thoughts float on by, acknowledging them but not actually thinking about them or giving them power. This always confused me; it led me to sitting there overthinking about the overthinking I was doing. Thus, the third tip from my counselor was that while this is one way of practicing mindfulness, it’s not the only one.
- The 5 Senses Trick
If you’ve ever found yourself totally spaced out or panicking about something, it can be hard to keep yourself grounded in the present. These thoughts usually have us thinking hard on the past or worrying about the future. The fourth tip from my counselor involves a little activity that can help put you back into the present by using your five senses. You’re supposed to say (or think about) five things you can see, four things you can hear, three things you can feel, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. Repeat as needed!
- Assigning Colors to Emotions
I often feel like I have a hard time naming the things I’m feeling, and when this happens, it’s because I’m not being present or mindful and thus am not totally “in” my body. In order to get around this block, the fifth tip I’ve gotten from my counselor is to assign colors to the emotions you’re feeling, even if you can’t name what those emotions are. For example, if I’m feeling frustrated but I can’t put a name to that frustration, I might just think about the feeling and call it red. Now that I have this color, it becomes easier to give that emotion a name, like frustration. It can also help to think about why a certain emotions feels like that color. Red to me is an angry color, so it makes sense that I would assign red to frustration.
I hope you found these tips and tricks helpful! Mindfulness can sound like just another buzzword, but it really can be helpful when you find out what works for you. It helps ground us and keep us in the present moment, as opposed to dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. Let me know in the comments below how you practice mindfulness in your everyday life.