Learn Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness and Meditation – Discover Your Personal Power…

Mindfulness and meditation are a powerful combination of resources for living a productive and complete life. Our busy, complicated lives sometimes bring a wave of negative emotions: sadness, jealousy, depression, grief, anger, confusion, anxiety, and stress.

Unfortunately, it’s all too easy sometimes to succumb to the naturally powerful nature of these emotions and allow ourselves to be troubled for hours, days, or weeks on end.

On the other end of the spectrum, happiness, gratefulness, joy, relief, comfort, and contentment are also emotional pieces we feel at times as we go throughout our lives. True happiness and emotional freedom are what all mankind strives for!

Although self-care is an important concept, many of us fall short in taking care of ourselves. Just as we take care of other aspects of our lives, our physical and emotional health must also take a front-seat priority. The consequences of failing to care for ourselves include a diminished immune system and other health issues.

Self-Love Meditation: How To Truly Love Yourself HERE…

Mindfulness and meditation, in general, can help you handle your emotions, achieve lower stress levels, feel happier, and enjoy peace and satisfaction with your life.

Psychologists, counselors, and therapists the world over have recognized the power that mindfulness and meditation can bring to our lives if we choose it. Luckily, anyone can harness the benefits of mindfulness with regular practice.

“You have considerable power to construct self-helping thoughts, feelings, and actions as well as to construct self-defeating behaviors. You have the ability, if you use it, to choose healthy instead of unhealthy thinking, feeling and acting.” – Albert Ellis

What is Mindfulness Meditation?

It may surprise you to learn that the origins of mindfulness and meditation reach back thousands of years. Meditation was developed by Buddhist monks who turned meditation into a spiritual element of their “enlightenment.”

What do you think of when someone mentions meditation? Do images of religious monks sitting in circles and chanting “oh hmm” form in your head? Perhaps you’re a little skeptical of meditation and feel that it would take you hours each day in trying to get the technique right. Well, think again!

Mindfulness and Meditation – What It Is Not:

Spending time thinking about the world and all the wonders in it
Contemplating the great, deep mysteries of life
Some magical practice thought to bring good luck to your life
A spiritual practice reserved only for those in highest connection to their Creator
Daydreaming or fantasizing about what your perfect life looks like

Yes, mindfulness and meditation in the modern world may have some of these mythical connotations, but mindfulness is actually much simpler.

In simple terms, mindfulness and meditation are ways to achieve a calmer state of mind. Mindfulness is essentially a subform of meditation.

Although mindfulness and meditation originated with non-western practitioners ages ago, it’s cultivated and studied by scientists, psychologists, and doctors all over the world today.

How Do We Define Mindfulness?

In order to achieve the inner peace that mindfulness can bring us, it’s important to consider what the practice of mindfulness actually is.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, who is largely credited with bringing the popularity of mindfulness to the United States and refining it through his renowned Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, defines mindfulness like this:

“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”

The Chinese calligraphy for mindfulness is made up of two different characters.

The top character means “presence” and the bottom one means “heart.”

Therefore, mindfulness literally means “the presence of heart.”

The ideogram (also known as an ideograph) opposite is a beautiful piece of calligraphy created by the esteemed Japanese-born calligrapher and writer Kazuaki Tanahashi (to whom acknowledgment is made and gratitude expressed).

Mindfulness is experiencing and focusing on the present moment.

Whether we’re conscious of it or not, we’re always focused on things and events of the future.

For example, we’re constantly looking forward to the last day of the workweek while we’re at work, and what our weekend plans will bring. We look forward to our summer vacations. We look forward to the holidays. We look forward to our birthdays. We look forward to the end of the day when we get to crawl into bed.

Mindfulness Activities For Better ProductivityHERE…

In this sense, we’re never truly focused on the present moment, which is the purpose that mindfulness and meditation teach us. Mindfulness is a way to focus on the present moment, to create awareness, an acute, keen and specific consciousness of ourselves and to center ourselves right now in the present, not sometime in the future.

“The best way to capture moments is to pay attention to. This is how we cultivate mindfulness. Mindfulness means being awake. It means knowing what you are doing.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn

The Case for Mindfulness

Doctors and other experts are always coming out and telling us the next best thing since sliced bread that is supposed to benefit us in some way. Examples include dark chocolate being good for overall heart health, small amounts of wine reducing risks for heart disease and diabetes, and coconut oil boosting the immune system.

The same is true for the practice of mindfulness and meditation. Mindfulness has been studied and shown to have huge benefits for your overall health.

The difference is that you’re not putting anything into your body with meditation. Coconut oil, dark chocolate, and wine are substances that you ingest to strengthen your physical health.

On the other hand, mindfulness meditation is a behavior shift that uses nothing more than the sole power of your focus and attention.

Empirical, measurable data has come forth showing that mindfulness and meditation can help to lower stress and physically help the body than many other things put together.

Understanding the Term Meditation and Its Many Benefits

For example, Carnegie Mellon University researchers worked with two groups of individuals. The researchers subjected the first group to just three 25-minute mindfulness training sessions, while the second group was a control and were trained in critical thinking skills.

During this study at Carnegie Mellon, both groups were then subjected to a public speaking test and a math test. Stress levels were measured in each group. The group which was trained in mindfulness experienced lower perceived levels of stress than did the other group.

Consider, too, these other research-backed benefits of practicing mindfulness and meditation:

Lowers depression. Several research studies, including one published in the Archives of General Psychiatry in 2010, show that mindfulness meditation is just as effective as someone taking antidepressant medication.
It helps our focus. Research has shown that the regular practice of mindfulness, or even receiving training in mindfulness, can help strengthen our attention, memory, and can also help us tune out distractions.
Increases compassion and empathy for others. Researchers at Northeastern University conducted a study where participants who had been exposed to mindfulness training and meditation sessions were significantly more likely to help someone in need over those who received no such exposure to meditation.
It creates positive changes in brain structure. Researchers imaged the brains of 16 different people before and after they received training in Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress-Reduction program. Findings revealed that the portion of gray matter in the brain involved with the regulation of positive emotions was greatly enhanced.
More benefits. Numerous other studies have been performed that show that mindfulness meditation also enhances our physical health, lowers stress levels, eases anxiety, enhances relationships, and provides a powerful boost to our overall mood.

As you see, research shows that mindfulness and meditation packs a powerhouse of physical, mental, and emotional benefits. And they’re all available to you, for free! Let’s see how you can harness these benefits for yourself…

“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.” – Amit Ray

Step-by-Step Guide to Mindfulness Meditation Script

Practicing mindfulness meditation does take time, effort, and patience. However, the advantages that you receive from this practice are certainly worth it.

You don’t need to practice mindfulness on an Olympic-level.

You can achieve results with as little as 20 to 30 minutes per day.

Follow these easy steps to practice mindfulness meditation:

Start out in a quiet place. For mindfulness or any form of meditation, you can practice anywhere at any time. However, the easiest place is a quiet one, free from any distractions.

- Some places that you may be able to practice include in your car, at home, or even at work if you have a private office atmosphere.

Get comfortable. Many people sit in a lotus-style type of position, in which you sit cross-legged with the feet resting on the opposing thighs. This is not necessary, however.

- You can sit cross-legged with your feet resting underneath your knees. Feel free to sit in a desk chair, on the floor, or any seat where you can get comfortable for a few minutes.

Breathe. Close your eyes and take several slow breaths, focusing on inhaling and exhaling deeply. Do this several times.

- You’ll become more relaxed as your muscles and cells receive more oxygen and your mind slows down.
- Continue paying attention to the air that’s coming in and going out.

Notice physical sensations. As you focus on the air you take in and let out, also notice the sensations throughout your body.

- Pay attention to the weight of your body in your seat, noticing whether you’re perhaps leaning further to the right or to the left. Pay attention to your body’s temperature — so you feel warm, cool, or in the middle?

Pay attention to the noises around you. Just let the noises be and notice their presence.

- Whether it’s the whistling of the fan, the hum of the air conditioner or heater, or the chatter of people’s voices outside, just notice that these sounds are also present during your meditation.

Notice when your mind wanders. It’s perfectly normal — especially for beginners — to wander off in thought, thinking about this, that, or another thing that pops into your mind.

- When your mind wanders, just quietly bring your attention and awareness back to your breath, noticing the air slowly going in and going out.

End your mindfulness session when you’re ready. Slowly open your eyes. Stretch. What do you feel at this moment in time? Are you more relaxed, calmer, or more focused?

When you first start mindfulness meditation, you’ll most likely find it difficult, if not impossible, to keep your mind from wandering. However, as you get more practice, it becomes easier to clear your mind and focus on your breath.

5-Minute Mindfulness Body Scan Meditation Mp3 & Download

The key is to practice it consistently.

Benefits of a Mindfulness Meditation Script

When we use a mindfulness meditation script for ourselves, there are countless benefits to this type of practice. Unlike silent meditation, using mindfulness meditation script actively prompts us to continually refocus our attention on the present moment and on our direct experience of mindfulness and meditation practice. This continual refocusing enhances the inner journey, which helps us to heighten the benefits of our daily mindfulness meditation practice.

If you are reading a mindfulness meditation script for your own personal practice, this type of mindfulness exploration can help you to quietly and calmly tune into the world within at your own pace. We typically turn to audio recordings for our mindfulness practice.

While such recordings are incredibly beneficial at facilitating our sense of personal awareness, reading scripts provide an added challenge of concentration, commitment, and focus. Reading a mindfulness meditation script and then moving through the exercises provided allows us to move at our own pace.

This allows us to sit for as long or as little as suits our needs at any given moment. We enhance our ability to sit with silence and with the vast openness of our awareness when we practice this way.

Three Mindful Breaths Meditation

A Short Mindfulness Meditation Script

Let’s begin by taking a moment to settle your body into a comfortable position. You can close your eyes or keep them slightly open with a soft-focus looking downward a few feet in front of you.

Allow your spine to lift and your shoulders to soften.

Today we will practice three mindful breaths.

Begin by taking a slow gentle inhale breath, resting your attention on the sensation of the air passing over your nostrils and filling your chest and abdomen.

Notice as the inhale ends and shifts back through a slow gentle exhale. Notice the sensations in the body as the air passes back out.

Rest for a moment and begin again. Take a long, slow inhale directing your attention to the sensation of air as you breathe in and long slow exhale noticing sensations. Once again resting at the end of the exhale and continuing through one more breathe, in and out.

End Of Mindfulness Meditation Script

Daily Integrated Mindfulness and Meditation Practice: Before eating your next meal today, complete another ‘Three Mindful Breaths’ practice.

Mindfulness and Meditation Practice Reflection Question: What impact do you notice when you stop and take three mindful breaths?

A daily mindfulness and meditation practice will help us to quiet the mind, naturally encouraging us to relate to the world through our intuition and through our direct senses. It empowers us to enhance our lives in healthy ways, so the benefits of such practices are infinite.

A mindfulness meditation script provides a framework for this honest inner exploration, setting the stage for personal and powerful insights to arise authentically and with impact within our personal world.

“Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience. It isn’t more complicated than that. It is opening to or receiving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is, without either clinging to it or rejecting it.” – Sylvia Boorstein

Making Mindfulness a Habit

As a science, researchers study mindfulness and meditation in order to discover answers to the questions they have about the benefits of mindfulness. As a way of living, mindfulness is just that: being mindful and living in the present.

As a practice, cultivating mindfulness requires training. Any type of training requires dedication and practice. Practicing requires that you devote your time and attention to the matter.

If one is to make mindfulness a habit, therefore, it requires time, attention, and training.

Avoid making excuses for your failure to cultivate mindfulness; it is easy to fall into this trap.

There are many who give meditation or mindfulness a one-off try and then decide that the amount of time they attempted to practice mindfulness was simply not worth it because they didn’t see any immediate benefits to it.

There are others who sincerely want to make a change in their life and decide to practice mindfulness, only to give up a few days later because “it’s too hard” or they “don’t have enough time.” That is, they make excuses for why mindfulness doesn’t work for them.

There are still others who want to change the story they have in their heads about who they are, what they can accomplish, and how they’re going to achieve the goals they have laid out in front of them.

These people realize that mindfulness and meditation can completely change their lives in exchange for only a few minutes each day. They can become healthier, less stressed, happier, more at peace with themselves and their situations and much less distracted as they accomplish what they set out to do.

Prioritize Your Mindfulness Meditation & Take Action

A great psychologist and researcher, Albert Ellis, constructed a theory of cognitive thinking that said that individuals have power over their lives to choose healthy behaviors instead of negative, unhealthy ways of living.

To make mindfulness meditation a habit, consciously choose when you’re going to practice it and then do it:

Mornings. You might want to use early mornings as a way to refresh. Wake up and immediately use this time to practice mindfulness to recharge and get ready for the new day.

Evenings. Or perhaps you would prefer to set aside time before you go to sleep as a way to let go of all the negative thoughts and events throughout the day.

Lunchtime. You could even use your lunch hour as a way to not only catch a short break from work, but also to calm your nerves should you find that anything in the first half of the day has caused you to feel stressed, distracted, or depressed.

Regardless of the time of day you choose to practice mindfulness, it’s critical that you carve out time daily to devote your energy to creating a healthier you!

“Mindfulness isn’t difficult, we just need to remember to do it.” – Sharon Salzberg

Other Meditation Styles

While mindfulness and meditation have been empirically studied as well as promoted throughout the United States and other countries, there are certainly other styles and forms of meditation that you can practice.

Regardless of which type of meditation you choose, the number one issue of importance is its priority in your life and whether you make time to practice it.

Your Inner Self: 4 Easy Steps To Awaken With MeditationHERE…

Other types of meditation include:

1. Mantra-based Meditation. This is a form of meditation that uses a specific phrase or sound, otherwise known as a “mantra.” While mindfulness focuses primarily on one’s breathing and bodily sensations, mantra meditation focuses on a repeated sound, chant, or phrase.
2. Visualization Meditation. This type of meditation relies on specific imagery for a goal or accomplishment that you hope to achieve.

- Visualization meditation is often used in sports and has been shown to enhance an athlete’s performance.

- With visualization, your focus is on your desired outcome. You imagine a detailed picture of what the outcome looks like, feels like, and smells, sounds, or tastes like.

1. Moving Meditation. Some people prefer this type of meditation because it requires exercise, such as walking. Moving meditation is actually a yoga practice combined with mindfulness.

- Sometimes called “Breathwalk,” this technique encourages you to synchronize your breath with your footsteps, while still focusing on bodily awareness and sensations like breathing.

1. Body Scanning Meditation. This meditation involves bringing awareness first to one specific part of the body and then moving on to others.

- For example, you focus on the physical sensations, stress, or tension in your left arm and then intentionally release all tension in that area. Repeat with your right arm, and then with other areas of the body until fully relaxed.

Several other types of Mindfulness Meditation. There are also a few other different kinds of mindfulness which you can practice when you focus on your breathing. These include mindfulness listening, mindful immersion, mindful observation, and mindful awareness.

- These other forms of mindfulness meditation involve setting your attention to a specific thing or task and paying attention to the details.

- For example, mindful immersion is a form of mindfulness where you immerse yourself fully into the task at hand, thereby creating an entirely new, unique, and fresh experience.

As you set out to create a routine for practicing mindfulness and meditation, choosing to mix up the style of meditation can be beneficial if you feel monotonous or bored at times. For example, perhaps in your first week, you can practice mindful listening while choosing to practice moving meditation in the second week.

“Meditation is to be aware of what is going on: in your body, in your feelings, in your mind, and in the world.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Take The Mindful 20/30 Challenge

As we go throughout our lives, there are literally thousands of decisions that we face each day. We’re challenged with decisions from the moment our alarm clock startles us awake until the time our minds drift off to sleep at the end of the day.

It is estimated that the average adult makes about 35,000 decisions in a single 24-hour period:

To hit snooze on the alarm clock or get up and start the morning
What to eat for breakfast and how many servings
What to wear: green or the blue shirt? What shoes match the outfit?
The decision to take the dog out for a short walk before leaving for work
Should you go into work or call in sick?
Whether we let a traffic or road rage incident dictate our mood for the day

On and on the decision wheel constantly spins. Yes, we’re faced with problems, tasks, drama, stress, workloads, good news, bad news, indifferent news, world news, and mass amounts of information. We’re bombarded with this data on a daily basis and we’re expected to know what to do with it.

Our senses, physical bodies, emotional health, and spirit routinely experience an information overload!

Living in the present, being mindful, and deliberately practicing mindfulness is one way in which we can tell our bodies and our whole selves to slow down.

Brainwave Entrainment: Achieve Deep Relaxation and Emotional Balance

With a warring of our inner selves telling us that we’re literally so busy that we don’t have time to slow down, each one of us must make the decision to challenge ourselves to stay true to ourselves and live in the present.

Practicing mindfulness is a purposeful way in which we can literally be free of distractions. However, making the decision to practice mindfulness is only the first step.

Making the commitment to mindfulness and meditation while resolving to incorporate mindfulness as a habit and daily routine takes effort. With a commitment and then a strong resolve to make it happen, you’ve almost won the battle to create a healthier self!

Taking The Challenge – The last step is to take action…

If you’re up for the task, challenge yourself to put mindfulness into practice for 20 minutes each day for 30 consecutive days.

Follow these steps:

Set aside at least 20 minutes.
Find a quiet space in which to meditate and experience the power of being mindful.
Choose to practice mindfulness at the same time each day for these 30 days or choose different times of the day, but ensure you take the time for mindfulness each day.
After the 30 days is over, reflect on how mindfulness has impacted, affected, or changed you.

Did you complete the challenge? If not, it’s okay – just try it again!

“Now is the future that you promised yourself last year, last month, last week. Now is the only moment you’ll ever really have. Mindfulness is about waking up to this.” – Mark Williams

Mindfulness Meditation Benefits

Researchers and scientists who have studied the effects of practicing mindfulness and meditation often deliberately choose people who haven’t had any exposure to mindfulness or meditation training.

This shows that, even with no prior training, a novice can reap the benefits of beginning mindfulness.

Some of these proven benefits include:

Lowering stress hormones in the body
Increase in energy
Increase in mental focus and stamina
Enhanced memory and attention
Boost to the immune system
A decrease in blood pressure and heart rate
Lower fatigue
Stronger brain functioning
More effective processing of emotions and pain
Increase in self-awareness
Increase in compassion and empathy towards others
Better sleep quality
Lower rates of depression

Even though it may be difficult to understand how sitting in a quiet space for a few minutes each day can impact our lives, mindfulness and meditation can completely change our perspective, outlook, physical, emotional, and behavioral health.

Unfortunately, some people mistakenly think that mindfulness is something “new-age” or something deeply spiritual that’s out of reach for the typical person. Fortunately, neither of these things is true.

Indeed, mindfulness is a practice just like many other things that we do to attempt to regain control of ourselves and create a healthier life.

With mounds of research at the helm, combined with a deliberate, purposeful action of making mindfulness a daily routine, you can transform the quality of your life.

You can practice mindful breathing, mindful listening, mindful observation or choose one of the many other forms of mindfulness and meditation. Channeling your focus and attention for just 10 to 30 minutes each day is enough to set you on the path to a healthier life.

by Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

Mindful Leadership Made Easy

Mindful leadership is a capacity that emerges when you learn to pay attention, openly and with curiosity, to what goes on in yourself, your team, in your immediate environment, in the organizational environment and in the world around you.

Great leaders come in many different varieties, but mindfulness in business is one quality they have in common. Mindful management, contemplation, and compassion can make you and your team happier and more successful.

Mindful leaders do not let all the constant distractions interfere with their ability to prioritize what issues are most important and will receive their full attention. Mindfulness in the workplace will help you to engage more in conversations and come away from the distractions that occur during the day.

That’s why many major corporations are employing mindful leadership training for their employees and leaders to learn how to be more mindful. For example, Aetna says their mindful management training increased productivity by one hour a week and decreased medical claims by $9 million a year.

Discover the benefits of mindful leadership and greater consciousness for yourself. Try these suggestions for developing your own mindful style of leadership.

Are you looking to become more productive? More efficient and focused? Come and find out the power behind mindfulness. As a leader, it is becoming critical to be able to become more aware and present – especially in our multi-tasking society. Come and learn the science and benefits behind mindfulness, multiple ways to practice becoming more mindful, and a couple of tools to take back home with you. This is an introduction to mindfulness for leaders that you won’t want to miss. Georgetown University Alumni Career Services

Developing Mindfulness In The Workplace

In mindful leadership training, you’ll need to focus on your inner self before you can change your external behavior.

Mindful management practices and training in mindful leadership will help you to lead by example:

1. Meditate daily. Put aside time each day to sit quietly. Focus on the here and now. Observe your thoughts without making judgments. Start out with brief sessions and extend your time as your concentration grows.

2. Breathe deeply. Pay attention to your breath. With each inhalation, draw energy into your body. With each exhalation, release stress.

3. Scan your body. Search your body from head to toe to find any areas of tension. Unclench your jaw and smooth your brow. Lift your chest and lower your shoulders.

4. Slow down. Create opportunities to encourage mindfulness throughout the day. Catch yourself when you’re starting to rush around. Pause and make your movements more deliberate. Think about the purpose of each activity.

5. Adjust your routines. Make ordinary tasks part of your practice. Chant while you vacuum or put on your clothes. Turn your attention inwards when you’re stuck in traffic or waiting for the coffee to brew.

6. Seek instruction in mindful leadership training. Look for mindful leadership training and meditation teachings online or in your neighborhood. Community centers and yoga studios may offer introductory sessions for free or at a very low cost.

Leading The Way With Mindful Leadership

If you like what mindful management in the workplace does for you, share your mindful leadership training with others. Lead with inspiration and integrity. As you strengthen your communication and decision-making skills, you’ll be able to reach your potential and help others to do the same.

Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader | Marc Lesser | Talks at Google

Marc Lesser, the co-founder of the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI), has come to Talks at Google to share all of his insights, tips, and tricks on maximizing your impact, leadership, and effectiveness. In this talk, you’ll learn about the distillation of a lifetime of business experience into seven simple, powerful practices for optimizing mindful leadership at work and living a full and meaningful life outside of it. Marc Lesser is CEO, executive coach, and author with more than 25 years of experience supporting leaders to reach their full potential, as business executives and thriving human beings.

Adopt these mindful leadership training habits:

1. Listen closely. Give your colleagues your full attention during meetings and casual interactions. Make eye contact and ask relevant questions. Show that you are interested in what they have to say.

2. Take breaks. Downtime prevents burnout and increases productivity. Design a quiet space where employees can go to relax and refresh.

3. Care for yourself. Mindful leadership balances self-care and serving others. Exercise regularly, eat a balanced diet and make sleep a priority. Healthy lifestyle habits will keep you strong and resilient.

4. Promote wellness. Consider starting a formal wellness program if your company doesn’t have one already. There are many ways to include mindfulness in business, from posting meditation resources on your website to observing a moment of silence before each meeting.

5. Encourage cooperation. An organizational culture steeped in mindfulness facilitates collaboration and connection. Create a shared vision and work together towards common goals.

6. Reward innovation. Have the courage to think creatively. Keep employees informed and engaged so they’ll feel more comfortable discussing new ideas and experimenting with change.

7. Continue learning. Whatever stage you’re at in your career, hold on to a beginner’s mind. Spend time doing research in mindful management and taking mindful leadership training courses. Be open to different perspectives and constructive feedback.

8. Provide reminders. Daily business needs and frequent interruptions can make it easy to lose track of mindfulness. Create triggers that will help bring you and your team back into the present moment. You might hang posters in the break room and program an hourly reminder on your phone.

Use the principles of mindful management to achieve work-life balance using mindfulness techniques.

Work plays an important role in our lives. As adults, we tend to spend the majority of our time at our jobs. And not just time, but our precious mind space too. Some of us get so caught up in our work that we miss out on cherishing the little things in our personal sphere.

How can we ensure that our time, energy, and attention is used in a balanced and effective manner? What is the best way to support ourselves in creating an effective work-life balance?

Mindful leadership training in business and meditation are known to provide the most sustainable support for balancing work and the other things in our life.

Try these strategies to use mindful management to help you achieve a healthy work-life balance:

1. Cultivate calmness and tranquility. In order to make wiser decisions and work smarter instead of harder, it’s important to be calm and composed. This quality can be cultivated through a simple practice of meditation.

At least 15 minutes of meditation practice, if performed consistently, can make a significant difference in the way we do things at our homes and offices. Being calm enables us to obtain confidence and to develop trust within ourselves, others, and the world in general. This powerful resource serves us in making better choices about how we spend our time, energy and attention, leading to better work-life balance.

What makes you lose your calm? What kind of consequences are you facing when you make decisions that are rushed and made under the influence of stress? What can you do to cultivate more inner peace at work? And at your home?

2. Become a master of your mind. We tend to pay more attention to taking care of our bodies than our minds. In fact, we often take our minds for granted. The result is that we end up living a life where the mind is in control of our lives instead of the other way around.

What we experience as life is basically just a creation of our minds. Even though it may seem that our destiny depends on external circumstances, the truth is that the way we perceive those circumstances determines our experience.

Being a master of your mind allows you to create your own desirable circumstances and to place them into a balance that works for you. Mind mastery can be achieved through a daily mindfulness and meditation practice, which costs nothing except some time and dedication.

3. Observe and express your needs. A significant part of our frustration, stress, and suffering in life comes from our unmet needs. When we work too much, or too little, we can end up neglecting our wellbeing. Greater awareness of our needs brings a better balance and more satisfaction in our lives.

What unmet needs do you experience at your workplace? What can you do about meeting them? What is your current state of wellbeing from 1-10 (1 being poor. 10 excellent)? What can you do to make it a 10?

When you’re balanced and can meet the needs of your body, mind, and spirit, your energy levels rise and vitality increases, so you can start living in tune with your values, principles, and purpose.

4. Respond instead of reacting. The highest level of mastery in mindful management and mindful leadership can be seen as an ability to respond instead of reacting.

There’s a huge difference between the two. Reacting is like being on autopilot, letting your emotions control what you say or do next. Responding, on the other hand, presents a conscious, calm, and constructive action that promotes resolutions of conflicts.

To respond means to be in control of your own thoughts and behaviors. It helps you to be in charge of your life and supports you to set and stick to your priorities, such as a healthy work-life balance.

An ability to respond requires you to be present at the moment as much as possible. There are many online mindful leadership training resources on mindfulness in the workplace and meditation that can support you in embracing the power of now.

5. Save some time for self-care. Our work, friends, partners, and kids all need our care, energy, and attention. But where does this energy come from? How can we keep on giving?

If you want to be there for others in a healthy and sustainable way, it’s crucial for you to save some time for self-care: to slow down, relax, and engage in pleasurable activities that renew your energy and restore your spirit.

Self-care is never a selfish act – it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer others. Anytime we can listen to true self and give the care it requires, we do it not only for ourselves but for the many others whose lives we touch.

Caring about your wellbeing and incorporating a few of these mindful ideas can support you in achieving greater levels of harmony in your personal and professional life. Which one will you try first?

The Need for Mindful Leadership

Why the World Needs Mindful Leaders | Matt Thieleman | TEDxWilsonPark

We find ourselves today in a world of always-on change, fueled by technology. Yet our common humanity remains a constant. To thrive in a changing world, we need mindful leaders, who can connect with others, and remain calm and focused while dealing with complexity and ambiguity around them. Matt will tell you he started meditating before he even knew what it was, and he thanks the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the inspiration.

Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself? The Master doesn’t seek fulfillment. Not seeking, not expecting, she is present and can welcome all things. — Lao Tzu

There is a new normal of mindful leadership training for mindful management in business for managers, and staff. Increasingly, we have a short-term focus. We have less time for ourselves and less time for reflection. Demands are increasing while budgets are shrinking. And our organizations do not typically emphasize renewal.

Instead of encouraging the practices of mind, body, heart, and behavior that support renewal, our organizations unknowingly reward behaviors designed to deplete rather than replenish our resources, leading to dissonant, the opposite of resonant, leadership.

Mindfulness in business, while it may seem even harder to practice under such conditions, is more important than ever for mindful leadership training effectiveness. Most of us have what the Buddhists call “monkey mind” most of the time. That is, our thoughts are like monkeys, leaping from tree to tree, chattering wildly and distracting us from what we are doing.

Managing our attention in the modern environment of excessive distraction and information overload is critical to our health and happiness. Psychologist Ellen Langer asserts that mindful management and mindful leadership training in the workplace can “increase our flexibility, productivity, innovation, leadership ability, and satisfaction.”

What Is Mindfulness?

The concept of mindfulness comes from Buddhism, and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh has written about it
extensively. It is a technique that has been employed to successfully reduce stress and promote healing, most conspicuously by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn in his Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

“Mindfulness is the process of deliberately paying attention to the present moment in a nonjudgmental way,” says Kabat-Zinn.

Adam Mentzell is the director of human resources for the audio publishing company Sounds True. He defines mindfulness as “the art of paying attention and seeing things in a fresh and nonhabitual manner.”

Mindful management in business not only helps us focus our attention, but may open us to possibilities and lead to better decision making. “According to Langer, mindfulness is a habitual state of mind in which old schemas are continually re-examined and redefined. Mindfulness includes openness to multiple points of view and a focus on process rather than the outcome.”

The Dangers Of Mindful Leadership

One of the dangers in leadership is a strong identification with a particular vision for an organization or one’s own point of view, leading to a sort of tunnel vision in which other perspectives and possibilities are not considered.

Why Mindful Leadership Is Essential For Success In Business

Mindfulness speaker and author Matt Tenney makes an inspiring case for why mindfulness is essential for success in leadership and business in this keynote speech. Matt helps leaders learn how to rewire their brains for better decision making, emotional intelligence, and happiness without adding anything to their schedules.

Schwenk warns, “Mindless identification may cause managers to think too narrowly about business problems and to focus only on information and solutions that do not threaten their image of the business. When strongly identified individuals face decisions, they won’t think about the decision from the perspective of multiple identities.”

Mindful leadership may expand a leader’s perceptions and lead to authenticity. “Deep knowledge about yourself enables you to be consistent, to present yourself authentically, as you are. We trust — and follow — people who are real, who are consistent, whose behavior, values and beliefs are aligned. We trust people whom we do not constantly have to second-guess … Through the purposeful, conscious direction of our attention, we are able to see things that might normally pass right by us, giving us access to deeper insight, wisdom, and choices.”

Clawson says, “When your center is clear and focused, you are more likely to have a powerful influence on others.” It is significant that in his list of six steps to effective leadership, “clarifying your center” is number one. Mindfulness in the workplace can also help ensure that leaders are taking responsibility for their own contribution to organizational difficulties.

“In high-pressure situations…many people point outward: They find reasons for their problems outside of themselves. They blame others or the situation and they look for excuses. Good leaders point inward. They take personal responsibility for what is happening and what needs to be done, even when circumstances play a definitive role….” Boyatzis and McKee suggest that leaders ask themselves, “What is my part in creating this situation and what do I, personally need to do about it?”

David Lee urges, “If you’re serious about improving your ability to motivate and engage your employees if you’re interested in making it safe for people to speak honestly and openly, practice cultivating mindfulness.”

Langer sums up mindful leadership this way: “Mindfulness in business is attunement to today’s demands to avoid tomorrow’s difficulties.”

Getting Started by Stopping

Mindful management is more about being in touch with who you already are than about improving yourself, according to Brusman. “You’re developing a profound sense of honesty — the strongest foundation for genuine leadership, which creates authenticity in your efforts to lead others.”

Boyatzis and McKee say that mindful leaders often feel power stress, which means “subordinating everything to your own wants and needs. Compassion involves understanding others and acting to address their needs … For the leader feeling the effects of power stress, the place to start is by courageously asking a few basic questions: What am I doing here? What am I out to accomplish? Is this what I want in life? Am I being true to myself? Am I happy?”

McKee and Massimilian agree: “For many leaders, simply stopping to ask the question, ‘How am I, really?’ is in and of itself a kind of breakthrough, a detour from the path of frantically reacting.”

When problems arise in mindful management, leaders may be accustomed to moving quickly to solutions. But Heider suggests another approach. “When you are puzzled by what you see or hear, do not strive to figure things out. Stand back for a moment and become calm … push less, open out and be aware. See without staring. Listen quietly rather than listening hard. Use intuition and reflection rather than trying to figure things out.”

A helpful acronym for mindful leadership practice is S-T-O-P, that is, Stop what you are doing, Take a conscious breath, Observe your bodily sensations, and then Proceed with whatever you were doing.

This spacious and mindful leadership training approach can actually facilitate organizational health. Tulku says, “When we recognize the quality of our feelings and emotions and come to see clearly the results of our actions, we discover that our very lack of awareness has contributed to our problems …

By working on ourselves through mindful leadership training, and by coming to know ourselves better, and then by sharing our growing strength with others, we create a base of support that helps to make our lives, and the world, a better place to be.”

Something we were withholding made us weak Until we found out that it was ourselves. — Robert Frost

How Mindfulness Can Enhance Mindful Leadership Qualities

While the concepts of meditation and mindfulness in the workplace are no longer new to the West, the notion of mindful leadership training emerged only recently. By exploring how mindful management is achieved through the practice of meditation, can enhance leadership qualities, as summarized from several Western theories as well as Buddhist principles.

Qualitative interviews with business leaders as well as discussions with monks reveal that only a few factors are underlying the enhancement of all mindful management leadership qualities. Strong connections between Buddhist teachings and psychodynamic concepts in the clinical paradigm were also found.

Mindful Leadership, Finding the Space to Lead: Janice Marturano

Talk by Janice Marturano, Institute for Mindful Leadership, at Wisdom 2.0 Business 2013. www.wisdom2conference.com.

Mindfulness and leadership

The term “Mindful Leadership” is gaining ground in the West and there are a number of recent studies on this subject. Bill George (2010, 2012), who is one of the major advocates of this subject, argues that the practice of mindful leadership training in business and leadership teaches leaders to pay attention to the present moment, recognizing their feelings and emotions and keeping them under control. He further suggests that among several ways to practice mindfulness, meditation is the most introspective way.

A different angle of the study was taken by Dunoon and Langer, who looked at the dynamic quality of mindful management toward leadership (2011). They argue that mindfulness in the workplace enables leaders to see new or different things in a particular context, whether in the external environment or in their own reactions.

They listed three aspects of mindfulness in business and used them as lenses to consider mindful leadership training while focusing on actions to make headway with contentious problems.

The first is the alertness to multiple perspectives which allows leaders to notice without immediately judging.

The second is the active self-reappraisal which prepares leaders to step out of a particular framing and take a second look at their own thinking.

The third is the attentiveness to the use of language, e.g., use descriptive rather than judgmental languages, as well as conditional rather than absolute languages.

Note that the above studies did not specifically study how mindfulness in business can enhance leadership qualities at a more detailed level beyond self-awareness.

Mindful leadership emerges from regular practice. Practicing mindful management in the workplace will enable you to cope with the tough job of being a leader. It will help you to focus, collaborate better and deal with challenging situations easier.

Mindful leadership is the key to turn your team from good to unstoppable. Additionally, mindful leadership training is a great way to control the long-term effects of stress on your mental, emotional and physical health which team leadership can cause.

By using these Mindful Leadership strategies at home and the workplace, you will not only improve your ability to impact the world by effectively managing your business and the people that make your business successful.

You will also model something essential to your entire work organization: the deeply mindful environment and an effective interconnected relationship on all levels of management between caring for one’s wellbeing and growing a wildly successful organization. To your mindful leadership success!

by Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

Mindfulness Activities For Better Productivity

How to Change Your Mindset for Better Productivity

Healthy mindfulness activities are a great path to a healthy life. Not only does it improve your overall outlook and attitude, but it also helps you focus more on being productive. When you have the right tools to focus on a more positive mindset, you provide yourself the right tools and learn ways to practice mindfulness to focus on a more positive life. Being productive, using your time wisely, and spending more time choosing appropriate reactions are just some of the mindfulness benefits that can change your life.

Meditation Podcast: 5 Minute Meditation – Setting Intentions For Your Highest Good

Focus on Your Reaction

You cannot control every situation in your life. That’s a bummer for so many people, but you can control your reaction to the situations outside your control. This is not always easy. Sometimes you’re so mad you react without thinking first, and that’s something you cannot do.

It’s more productive to practice reacting calmly, carefully, and rationally. Change your mindfulness activities by learning how to react by focusing on taking deep breaths, by excusing yourself from a situation, or even by giving yourself an hour or two to calm down before you react. It changes the entire course of any situation.

Ways To Practice Mindfulness: Be Present in the Moment

It’s easy to sit down to enjoy your life and focus on anything but the moment. You’re with your kids at the end of the day thinking about how you need to make a shopping list, finish the laundry, and call your mom. Meanwhile, you’re really just missing quality time with the kids thinking about other moments in life.

When you’re mindful enough to change your mindfulness activities to focus on the present, you allow yourself to find more of life’s simple pleasures. When you have simple pleasures, you have a better mindset to be productive later.

Don’t Forget You

Part of effective mindfulness activities is learning to recognize when you need some work. Are you short with people lately? Is your frown quicker to appear than your smile these days? Are you more prone to an attitude that’s negative than one that’s positive lately?

Focus On You

When you’re mindful enough to see how your personality, attitude, and reactions are changing, you’re mindful enough to focus on things like yourself. You know it’s time for a mental break, a physical break, or even an emotional break when you’re mindful enough to realize your mindset is not where it needs to be. These mindfulness benefits will serve your productivity for the rest of your life.

Focus Is The Key To Mindfulness

You need to teach yourself ways to practice mindfulness and learn how to focus on things like how you’re feeling, what you’re experiencing, and how you’re quick to react to situations. When you learn to do this, you learn a lot about yourself. This allows you to make improvements in your life, and it helps you learn to be more productive in every facet of living, loving, and existing.

Meditation Podcast: Learn The Art Of Meditation and Control Your Own Thoughts

4 Mindfulness Tips to Have A More Productive Day

People always want to learn efficient mindfulness activities to be productive to make the most out of their day. But we often fall short, not knowing how to implement the right things. Successful people will always talk about the importance of managing your day right, and apply all the right things to be successful.

Tracking what you do and realizing specific points that can make you more efficient goes a long way in improving your overall productivity. Here are some mindfulness tips that you can do to be more productive throughout the day.

Plan Your Day

If you have ever had the chance to encounter a CEO of a big company, you will always see that their day is meticulously planned in every aspect. Right from the time they wake up in the morning to the time that they go to bed, everything follows a fixed schedule.

Making one the night before based on what you have to do is an excellent way to ensure that you get everything that you need to do through the day, and also to ensure that you are in your most productive state. Using a bullet journal or the calendar or planner apps on your phone to use technology for mindfulness activities is a good way to plan for your day ahead.

Know Traffic Times

You may not realize it, but people spend a lot of time stuck in traffic, wasting their life away, when they could be doing something more productive. No one likes being stuck in traffic the entire time, and it does nothing but frustrate people more than it should.

If you work at a regular nine to five job, arriving to work earlier than usual is a good way to beat the morning traffic. The same mindfulness tips can apply for when you leave, as leaving a little later can help you combat the traffic on your way home in a better manner.

Take A Break

Even though taking a break during the middle of the day may seem counteractive to mindfulness activities productivity, it is one of the things that can help you more than you would expect. This can be done best during your lunch break. Getting up from your desk and breathing in some fresh air can do wonders for your mental capacity, making you feel a lot more refreshed, therefore enabling you to focus on your work better and be a lot more productive. These are just a few of the mindfulness benefits that benefit your focus and productivity at work and in life.

Remember Your End Goals

Your End Goals can be one of the most important motivators, encouraging you to be in your most productive state. Note down your goals and make a long-term plan of action to attain them. Remember that every day you are doing something to move one step closer towards that end goal, which is good enough to keep you motivated to the day.

Mindfulness Benefits and Productivity Hacks to Help You Get More Done

If you feel you’re working more yet you’re getting less accomplished, you are not alone. The world is constantly busy, constantly working, and still many people feel as if they aren’t as productive as they were in the past. It turns out too many people are trying to do too much at once, and it’s only making it more difficult to get anything done at all. It’s time to learn how the art of mindfulness is useful in boosting productivity to make life easier.

Stop and Breathe

One way to become more productive using mindfulness activities is to use the basics of this practice. Being mindful and learning ways to practice mindfulness means being aware of what is going on in your life. It means being aware of what’s going on around you, in your mind, and in the moment. Take a few moments when you’re feeling overwhelmed and unproductive to stop and breathe. Breathing slowing and deliberately clears your mind and enables you to focus.

Notice What You’re Feeling

You’re not feeling productive, but why not? Are you doing too many things at once and feeling lost in the process? Are you rushed? Are you feeling as if you’re never going to get it all done and that’s making you feel upset? Figure out what you’re feeling and write it down.

Now you can see what’s really bothering you and making you feel this way, and you can check that off your list immediately by handling it. For example, perhaps you have to leave for the evening in a few hours and you have a long to-do list you can’t seem to finish because you really want to come home to a clean house.

You can’t focus on your work until your house is straightened up. Stop what you’re doing and take a few moments to wipe down the counters or start some laundry. Once it’s off your mind because it’s done, you have more time to focus on the things you were doing.

Accept Things You Can’t Control

You can’t do everything, and it’s time to accept that. When you’re mindful of the fact you can’t control something right this second for whatever reason, you’re able to let it go and focus on what you can control. It helps with work, it helps at home, and it helps with your productivity. Make a list of everything you’re doing and separate it by what you can control and what you can’t. That tangible mindfulness tip reminder helps you feel more motivated to handle what you can.

Mindfulness activities are not always easy to learn ways to practice mindfulness unless you take the time to make it stick. Your mind and body know what you want and need, but you need to learn how to focus on that rather than focusing on everything else. Take the time to be present and learn how to make your mindfulness routine more productive.

The Power of a Brain Dump

Like a computer, our brain can only hold so much information at one time. Usually, that involves thousands of subconscious decisions every second, our brain constantly feeding our body information it needs to keep the blood pumping and the body moving. But that can also include thousands more conscious thoughts as well, decisions and choices we make every day that race across our mind like the Indianapolis 500.

What is a Brain Dump?

If you’re like most people with an active mind, those thoughts can be overwhelming at times. It’s hard to move past those thoughts and find a sense of peace that comes from a still mind, but one of the best ways to clear your head is by utilizing a brain dump.

Using mindfulness activities for a brain dump is exactly as it sounds: you take the thoughts that are in your head and dump them onto another storage device, like a journal or a piece of paper. The brain can only process a fraction of what’s inside your brain at any one time, so removing them from active memory to a place where you can see and recall them at any time helps the body feel relaxed and increases your productivity. No longer are you worried about what you’re going to make for dinner, now the only thing that matters is the task at hand.

Reasons to Consider Using A Brain Dump

The benefits of a brain dump can be enormous. For instance, you’ll regain clarity and peace of mind that may have eluded you. You’ll feel more in control of your life, you’ll regain some of those still thoughts that were missing from your life, and you might even attain a deeper level of sleep and relaxation.

Moreover, your productivity will skyrocket now that you have all the extra space and freedom to learn ways to practice mindfulness and think about these mindfulness benefits for what you need to think about.

If you’ve never done a brain dump before, it’s remarkably easy, although it may take some time to get the hang of it. Grab a journal or notebook, and begin to write the words that come to your mind freely and quickly. Don’t worry about grammar or word choice or even spelling, just put whatever comes to your mind on the paper as fast as you can. Depending on how full your mind is, you may end up with anywhere from one paragraph to ten pages, but no matter what, get those thoughts out of you!

In creative writing, this process is called freewriting. Authors use it all the time when they encounter a mental block because it removes the hesitancy and subconscious biases that may be blocking perfectly good words from coming out on the page.

Mindfulness Tips: How to Declutter Your Mind

Whether you’re young or old, you’ve probably noticed that your mind can feel like it’s cluttered with too much information at times. It can be overwhelming, and it can impact how you focus during the day and how much work you can get done whether it’s a job or at school. Fortunately, you can follow a few strategies to declutter your mind so that you can begin to think clearly once again.

Deep Breathing To Clear Your Mind

While breathing deeply in and out of your mouth might seem like something that you would do at a doctor’s office, it’s a technique that can help to clear your mind. First, take some deep breaths so that you can clear your lungs. Then, create a mental image of the air entering your nose and coming out of your mouth. This will allow you to focus on something else besides what’s on your mind.

Journal Your Thoughts To Create Change In Your Life

One way to express what you’re thinking about without others knowing is to write in a journal. Update your journal each day or at least a few times a week, jotting down some of the concerns that you have and some of the things that make you happy. When you see your thoughts written down on paper, it makes it easier to see what you can change in life and what is really bothering you instead of what you have no control over.

Get Enough Sleep To Rebuild Your Energy and Clear Your Mind

When you’re going through your day after only a few hours of sleep each night, it can be hard to think clearly. Your mind is exhausted from a lack of sleep, which can decrease your focus on the tasks that you perform each day. When you begin to slow down at work or at school, it can have an impact on your success, which further clutters your mind as you begin thinking about the consequences that might ensue. Try to get at least eight hours of sleep each night as the various sleep cycles help to rebuild your energy and clear your mind.

Slow Down and “Take A Walk On The Quiet Side” Of Life

Take time to slow down in life. Go for a walk with your family. Shorten the list of things that you have to do during the day. Try to let go of some of the negative feelings that you have in your mind. Take time for yourself instead of trying to do so many things for other people. Once you begin to focus on you, then your mind will begin to follow suit.

In life, it’s no different. There may be feelings and thoughts we have that keep us from being the person we know we need to be. In this case, utilizing an effective weekly brain dump for mindfulness activities is not only helpful to get our work on the track but vital to keeping our life in balance.

How to Reset Your Brain for Stress Relief

When your brain feels fried, it’s a good sign it’s time to sit back and rest for a while. No one can be productive, happy, or even remotely capable of accomplishing anything when their brain is on overdrive. In a society in which being busy is glamourized as amazing, so many people are overworked, overdoing it, and overwhelmed. No one wants to live like that, and that’s why it’s so important to learn how to reset your brain and let go of some stress.

Work Out

Do what you love to do. It doesn’t have to be a gym membership and heavy weight-lifting. You can focus on working out by jogging, taking walks, doing yoga, dancing, playing ball with the kids. Do something you enjoy, and focus on pushing yourself.

Just when you think you can’t forearm plank another second in yoga, push yourself to do another three seconds. Pushing yourself in a healthy manner while working out helps you focus on your body and your mind rather than everything else. it helps reset your brain for happiness.

Accomplish Something

If you’re overwhelmed and your brain is totally fried, why not focus on something positive? Try something new or something you’ve been wanting to accomplish, and work for it. When you have something positive to focus on, your mind is able to replenish. Once you’ve accomplished this task, you feel empowered. When you’re empowered, you’re less stressed.

Create A Good Habit

Bad habits are hard to break, but you can focus easily on creating a new, happy habit that changes your brain. For example, you can focus on waking up earlier in the morning and starting your day before the rest of the world. Set your alarm a little earlier every day until it’s a habit.

Use that extra time to meditate, to breathe deeply, to stretch, or to enjoy the quiet before the storm. This is the kind of healthy habit that changes the way your brain is wired so you’re calmer and more relaxed. It’s not a big change or a major habit to introduce, but it’s an effective one that makes a big difference.

Changing the way your brain feels is not always easy, but it is always possible. Sometimes you just need a break. If you can listen to your body and hear what it’s trying to tell you based on how you’re feeling in general, how you’re reacting to situations in life, and how you’re functioning, you can easily tell when you need to reset and refocus. Listen to your body, and you can change your life.

How to Stay Happy and Productive With Mindfulness

Often times, a person will become frustrated with a project that seems to be going nowhere. They are fearful that if they stop the project, they will lose all of the effort and energy that was put into it. This is not an efficient way to get things done.

If the person would step back, take some deep breaths, and consider the end product, it would help the project reach fruition. This is using mindfulness to help fulfill a task. Mindfulness activities are simply being aware of what is going on around you and putting oneself in the present moment in order to focus and get things accomplished.

Mindfulness Tips At Work

Single Tasking Mindfulness Activities: What it is and How it Helps

You know what multitasking is: doing multiple things at once. Chances are, you think it’s pretty productive. But the opposite is actually true: when you try to multitask, you often wind up taking longer to complete any single task, and you’re not doing your best work for any of those tasks. This is because multitasking spreads your energy and your attention. You’re consistently aware of what else you’re trying to do. Instead, try single-tasking.

What is Single Tasking?

Single-tasking, like the name suggests, means focusing on mindfulness activities a single task at a time. The way you do this is by minimizing interruptions. You’re free to direct your entire attention to the one task, which means you complete it more efficiently. Often, this means the final product is of higher quality than it would be when you multitask.

Minimizing distractions is easier said than done, however. If you’re the type who often checks your phone, even when there’s no alert for new messages, you might need to turn it off or keep it in another room. Similarly, when you log on to your computer, you need to make sure to keep your email closed and stop yourself from opening Facebook or Reddit in a background tab.

Using it to Your Benefit

Single-tasking mindfulness activities may be easier when you know when you’ll have a chance to check your email or a social media site, however. Studies suggest that taking a short break every 90 minutes helps you to be more productive. During those breaks, you can give in to the urge to check all your alerts. But then you need to return your full attention to the task at hand.

More Mindfulness Tips At Work Consider

Another tip to becoming more productive is to write everything down. Don’t rely on your memory if you want to make sure to finish every task on your to-do list. Of course, you don’t have to use a pencil and notebook. You can make memos on your phone or in your Google Calendar to keep yourself accountable. Making notes also takes off the pressure, so you don’t have to remember everything you need to do.

You can set up your day beforehand, so you’ll know exactly what you’re doing during every 90-minute block. Doing this allows you to set up your workspace and ensure you have everything you need to complete those tasks. Then, when you’re ready, you start with a single task mindfulness activity and see it through until it’s complete.

But how do you know what to do? You need to prioritize. What needs to be done now? What can wait? Some things are more time-sensitive, such as the article with the looming deadline.

It might take time to get into the headspace of single-tasking mindfulness activities and learning how to use these mindfulness tips at work, but the results will speak for themselves.

Understanding Mindfulness To Be Efficient and Productive

Mindfulness Activities are a component that helps a person be more efficient and more productive. It consists of making the best possible decisions and being able to think rationally. Using mindfulness tips at work is the process of being creative, and positive engagement with other employees. All of this has an impact on task completion and the efficiency of the work involved.

Mindfulness activities also help to increase the person’s mood by helping to get rid of negative thoughts and replacing those with a more pleasing thought pattern. The mood during a task is very important as it can lead to the success of failure of a project. Always being mindful and aware of how things are perceived at the moment will ensure happiness and productivity.

Benefits of Meditation

Meditation is a good form of relaxation, and the perfect setting for mindfulness activities. This helps with the promotion of creativity, and to improve cognitive thinking. Basing productivity on these two elements is exactly what mindfulness produces. By using mindfulness practices regularly will greatly enhance decision-making skills and the production of new and better ideas.

People will begin to be more confident in themselves using mindfulness tips at work, and make sound investments in the future of a business or entity that they are focused on. Meditation is an effective and powerful tool for mindfulness because of better, more positive creativity. It can change the way a person thinks, and how they experience certain events.

Mindfulness activities, when practiced by leaders, using mindfulness tips at work can make for a more productive workplace. It will improve employer and employee relationships which will increase business revenue. Mindfulness will enable a person to a single task, which is the opposite of multi-task. They will concentrate and focus on doing one thing to perfection before starting on another. Mindfulness allows the mind, sensations, and feelings to flow so that many things can be observed before becoming assigned to anyone.

How to Boost Your Mood with Mindfulness

Increased productivity is always the deliberate intention of many of us for any business we conduct with our lives. A settled, self-motivated and rightful thinking mind forms the best recipe for such successes thus the call for thought out mindfulness activities.

Mindfulness activities train you to efficiently embrace the yoga techniques that involve individual meditations and breathing that join your body and mind. The effect is that which will assist you to manage negative thoughts and instead direct you to think positively.

Mindfulness Benefits

Whereas it may appear to some people to be more spiritually related, many medical-based types of research do confirm its decisive significance regarding human productivity level. It equips you with an excellent ability that will assist you to handle most situations that comes on your way at your workplace or home.

Here are some of the top uses of mindfulness activities that will improve your productivity in life.

• Improving your focus – Distractions wastes a lot of time needed for more productivity. Mindfulness will help you pay full attention to whatever you might be done by regular and simple meditation practices.

• Helping you to plan – Mindfulness calls for full focus at present. Your workplace can sometimes get too busy and all you might need to find the most straightforward route to finish up everything at a go. However, mindfulness activities will help you to breakdown the junk and let you handle one thing at a time while the rest of your worries fall correctly in their places.

• Improving your creativity– According to research carried out at the Leiden University in the Netherlands, those who go by the rules of mindfulness activities like being mindful as much as possible tend to be more creative. The practice clears your mind and allows new creative thoughts to flow. This can be very effective in the smooth running of your projects.

• Increasing your empathy – In case you are wondering how this is, get to know that mindfulness activities help you view things from a better angle. It will assist you to bring the best out of your employees through effective capacity and team-building activities.

If you are mindful, you will acquire peace maintenance skills necessary for resorting to better problem solutions. This can be a very motivating factor for your employees, and as such, they repay with proper work in their different departments.

• Making you more positive– Being positive in life is magic that perfectly well for those who chose to embrace it. It is one aspect you obtain from being mindful and assist you to overcome tough and discouraging times and moments. If you think positively, your productivity increases as well since nothing, no stress will be weighing you down.

Mindfulness activities are a very great way to configure your life if you mean development. Besides the beneficial factors and uses discussed above, it is a very cheap as it needs no equipment and reliable method as it works for everyone efficiently. Additionally, it is one activity that you can do anywhere at any time. Give yourself a try today and experience the magic.

by Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

5 Ways Mindfulness Practice Can Make You Productive

Are you happy with your mindfulness practice and how much you accomplish every day? If not, a more focused and thought out plan on how to practice mindfulness in daily life might be your key to better productivity.

There seems to be some misunderstanding regarding ways to practice mindfulness and productivity. A lot of people see the two as polar opposites. You’ve got monks on one end, sitting around on a mountaintop and doing nothing. And then there are the businessmen who have learned how to be mindful at work, hustling all around the big cities — always on the move.

But the truth is that there is no conflict between how to practice mindfulness throughout the day and productivity. The two can certainly go hand-in-hand. Below are ways that mindfulness can improve your productivity and help you achieve a greater sense of balance as well as achievement.

Use these five easy ways for your mindfulness practice and check more things off your to-do list.

1. Learn How To Meditate. Why? Because It Works

Meditation is a common mindfulness practice for a reason: it works. And while regular meditation produces more advantages than sporadic meditation, even a beginner can reap impressive benefits from taking a few minutes to sit down and clear their mind.

If you don’t currently meditate, start small. Five to ten minutes is a good starting point for most people. Get away from distractions, close your eyes if you want, and focus on clearing your mind. Your attention will probably wander a little at first, which is normal. Over time, though, you’ll have an easier time clearing the clutter from your thoughts, and this will lead to better focus throughout your workday.

Mindfulness Practice Podcast: Walking Meditation Instructions For Mindfulness And Awareness

It sounds intimidating to people who don’t do it, but it’s good for you. You needn’t sit on the floor in a yoga-like position and hum to meditate. Sit in your favorite chair. Lie in bed. Just focus on closing your eyes, clearing your mind, and breathing deep breaths or do walking Meditation using the mp3 above.

This is meditation, and it’s a wonderful way to practice mindfulness and release stress. It sharpens your mind, provides you with clarity, and helps improve your life.

2. Use Your mindfulness practice For Self-Care and Get Outside!

Taking care of your mind is a good thing, and it all starts with taking care of your body. Exercise. Eat right. Take care of yourself. When you practice mindfulness at mealtime, working out, and while you are home, you’re able to focus on what your body needs. Sometimes you’re tired and you’re feeling lazy, and all you want to do is lie down and be lazy. Go for a walk instead. It’s going to clear your mind and help you focus on feeling good.

Spending time in nature is great for your mind. It boosts your mood, banishes stress, and helps you refocus your attention. Aim to get at least fifteen or twenty minutes of fresh air every day, preferably in a green space like a park or even your backyard.

3. Take a Few Deep Breaths To Lower Your Stress Level

Feeling scattered? If you don’t have time for a meditation session, pause to center yourself with a few slow, deep breaths instead. Deep breathing as a mindfulness practice technique lowers your stress levels along with your blood pressure by stimulating your parasympathetic nervous system. The end result? You end up feeling calmer, more present in the moment, and more prepared to get things done.

Stress is not always a bad thing, but too much of it can be. Stress, when used wisely, can be productive. It can help motivate you and make you better, but it can also tear down your mind, your body, and your spirit. It’s why practicing mindfulness is so important in life. When you’re more mindful, you’re able to reduce some of your stress and focus on a more positive lifestyle. These tips help you increase mindfulness and reduce stress for more peace.

4. Unplug Yourself From Everything!

Gadgets like smartphones and laptops are convenient, but they can be terrible for your state of mind. If you’re in the habit of checking your phone every five minutes, you’re probably living in a state of constant distraction, instead of focusing on the present moment.

You don’t have to give up your electronics completely, but your mindfulness – and your productivity – will improve your ways to practice mindfulness if you limit your gadget use. Designate specific times of the day to check your email and surf the web, and turn off your electronics outside of those times.

If you’re like many working men and women, having your phone on means you’re expected to be constantly accessible. One strategy to keep yourself mindful of your stress and help you relax is to take some ‘unplugged’ time each day where you turn off your phone and ignore your computer.

Constant phone notifications and emails can feel overwhelming, and by unplugging for a bit, you can enjoy a relaxing activity to help yourself recharge in a way that you can’t with your devices in front of you.

5. Write in a Journal For An Effective Mindfulness Practice

Journaling is a simple and useful way to track your thoughts, reflect on events, and bring your mind into the present moment. Take a few minutes every morning to jot down what you’re thinking and feeling, as well as what you hope to accomplish during the day. Use a physical notebook and pen for this – typing on a computer doesn’t bring the same mindfulness benefits.

How To Use A Meditation Journal For Renewal and Personal Development – FREE PDF! Click Here…

Keep a Gratitude Journal

It’s so easy to get caught up in the little things in life that make you feel down, out, and unhappy. One little thing goes wrong and suddenly the rest of the day is off. You feel as if nothing is going your way, the world is out to get you, and things just don’t work out for you.

By writing something every day you’re thankful, grateful, and happy for, you’re able to focus on the positives in your life. You are forcing yourself to focus on good things rather than bad things, and it changes your mindset.

How To Be Mindful At Work: Ways You Can Practice Mindfulness Hacks to Help with Productivity

1. First, Stop Working

There are a lot of people working themselves to the bone, yet they aren’t as productive as they’d like. In many cases, they are simply distracted. As you already know, mindfulness is the cure for distraction. Learning to focus on where you are and what you are doing is key. Many busy people never really get a chance to rest because they are always thinking about work when they are supposed to be resting, and vice versa.

From now on, leave your work at the office when you head home every day. You can’t be at your best tomorrow if you don’t allow your mind and body to rest today. Take some time to just be where you are.

When it’s your day off, focus on your family. Give them your attention and not just your physical presence. Enjoy time with your friends. Throw yourself into your chores, your home improvement projects, and your hobbies. Then, when Monday rolls back around, you’ll have a lot more energy and the ability to concentrate on the tasks at hand.

2. Ditch Multitasking for Deep Dives

Multitasking is often a mindfulness killer. You’re barely aware of what you are doing because your mind is juggling half a dozen other projects simultaneously. This is not the path to productivity and progress. A better approach for ways to practice mindfulness is to go all-in on a single task.

If you could only accomplish one task today at work, what would it be? Once you are aware of your highest priority for the day, set yourself to work on that task. Close the door, shut off your phone and take a deep breath. Then dive down into that work and don’t come back up for air until it is complete.

3. Use Technology to Improve Awareness in Your Mindfulness Practice

This one might sound a little out of place, but technology can actually help increase your mindfulness. In the same way that a meditation teacher at a retreat might ring a bell on occasion to draw your attention and focus, you can use phone apps or even just a simple alarm to help you find your center every hour. You can even use custom wallpapers for your phone and computer desktop that act as visual cues to bring your attention back to the moment.

How To Practice Mindfulness In Daily Life: Finding A Healthy Work-Life Balance

Finding a healthy work-life balance is harder than ever. With technology and telecommuting increasing employee expectations, it can seem impossible to find a balance between work and the ‘you time’ that you need. One way to help yourself find a work-life balance that works for you is to engage in mindfulness practices.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness refers to the practice of being aware of your presence in each moment, as well as being aware of your needs and desires. Many people think mindfulness refers to meditation; while meditation can certainly aid in mindfulness, many people’s ‘mindful’ practices are simply hobbies they enjoy in their free time or quiet moments spent sitting outdoors.

What is Mindfulness Meditation?

Even though mindfulness meditation has been practiced in the east for centuries, it’s only really been looked at in the west since the 70s. With a resurgence in popularity for taking care of oneself from within, mindfulness meditation is finally catching on in the west. Since it’s gaining popularity, naturally you probably have a few questions about it.

Mindfulness meditation is the act of meditating by focusing on your surroundings. It is a practice that keeps you in the now and aware of your mind, body, and soul. A quick exercise is to press your toes firmly against your shoe or the floor. Focus entirely on the feelings you’re experiencing. There are more in-depth guides to doing full-on mindfulness meditation, this is just a very small example.

What Does it Do to Your Brain?

Even though practices such as mindfulness meditation, yoga, and other similar practices have been gaining ground, there are still plenty of skeptics out there. After a mere eight-week course, MRI scans showed that practitioners of this had their amygdala shrink. This is the part of your brain that controls the ‘fight or flight’ response, fear, and emotion. It also tells your body when to be stressed.

The pre-frontal cortex, which is most commonly associated with ‘higher thinking’ functions such as decision-making, concentration, and awareness grew. Tons of research and studies are still being done, so check out news surrounding mindfulness meditation for some truly mind-blowing science and enjoy the Brainwave Entrainment Meditation below! Find out more about Brainwave Entrainment HERE…

Meditation Podcast: Brainwave Entrainment Meditation: Achieve Deep Relaxation and Emotional Balance In Your Life

What’s the Difference Between Mindfulness and Meditation?

Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, who has studied mindfulness for over three decades, has come out saying that when you practice mindfulness, you’re actually meditating. This is because mindfulness is awareness. It’s something that people don’t’ usually take the time to practice. However, when you devote concrete time (usually about 20 minutes), to awareness, you are in fact meditating.

How do you Practice Mindfulness As A Beginner?

Though there are other factors that come into play, such as sticking with it and going with the flow, when it comes to how you practice mindfulness effectively each day, it actually becomes pretty easy.

Sit either on the floor or in a straight-backed chair.
Focus on your breathing. This can be the swell and fall of your stomach as you breathe or the feel of the air flowing through your nostrils and out of your mouth.
Once you are fully concentrated on this, expand your focus. Allow yourself to become aware of other things, such as sensations, sounds, and ideas.
Now you have to consider and embrace each and every sensation and thought without judgment. Don’t decide right now if it was good or bad. This will only get your mind racing. If your mind does begin to take off, center yourself again by focusing on your breathing, and repeat the process.

Meditation Podcast: 5 Minute Guided Meditation For Beginners With Script

Ways To Practice Mindfulness To Create A Healthy Work-Life Balance

Practicing mindfulness can help you keep a healthy work-life balance in many ways. Mindfulness helps you be better aware of stress, and managing stress is crucial to balancing your work and personal life. If you realize that you’re feeling stressed and unproductive, you’ll know that it’s time to take a short walk or give yourself a mental break of another kind.

Mindful people also tend to be more organized and focused with a well thought out mindfulness practice, and thus more productive. This is mostly because mindfulness allows you to establish a schedule that works best for you. Many people use a mindfulness practice to remain ‘in the moment’ and completely focused and mindful at work during work hours, then turn that part of their brain off during breaks or after work to give their minds a rest.

Mental exhaustion, after all, is a common reason for decreases in productivity. Being mindful also helps you prioritize between what tasks are urgent and what you can take your time on.

Mindfulness Practice Tips: To help you establish the best possible work-life balance, here are some mindfulness practices you might choose to engage in:

Exercise – Exercise should be up there with eating regular meals and drinking enough water on your list of personal needs. Exercise is one of the best stress-relievers and is proven to make people more productive overall, not least because it helps your mindfulness practice so you can stay focused on the moment.

Make a Personalized Schedule – One final tip to maintain a good work-life balance is to create a schedule that best suits your needs. Be mindful of your stress levels on a day-to-day basis and find activities that help you reduce stress, then incorporate these into your mindfulness practice and schedule along with hours spent working.

Remember Your End Goals – Your End Goals can be one of the most important motivators, encouraging you to be in your most productive state. Note down your goals and make a long-term plan of action to attain them. Remember that every day you are practicing mindfulness you move one step closer towards that end goal, which is good enough to keep you motivated to the day.

The next time you find yourself struggling to achieve the balance between your work and personal life, use these simple ways to practice mindfulness techniques to help you rest when it’s time to rest and to work when it’s time to work. Your productivity will improve in direct proportion to your sense of balance and rest in other areas of your life.

Practice Mindfulness as a Nighttime Routine

Evenings are an ideal time for practicing mindfulness. With the day behind you and the promise of a good night’s sleep ahead, you can unwind, reflect, and take the time to center yourself before going to bed. Here’s how you can incorporate mindfulness into your nighttime routine.

Stop Using Electronics Before Bed

Research has shown that the blue light from computers, smartphones, and other electronic devices can make it harder to fall asleep at night. Electronics are also highly distracting – it’s hard to live in the moment and practice mindfulness when you’ve got a dozen tabs open in your browser. Turn off your gadgets at least one hour before you go to bed.

Focus on the Sensory Details of Your Routine

As you get ready for bed, take some deep breaths and focus your attention on the world around you. Take a warm bath and notice the way the water feels against your skin, or light a candle and focus on its scent.

Unwind with a Short Mindfulness Body Scan Meditation Session

When you practice mindfulness it can help you let go of the day’s stress and prepare for a restful night’s sleep. Take ten minutes or so to clear your mind and focus on your breathing. Don’t meditate in bed, though, or you might accidentally fall asleep!

If you tend to carry tension in your body, make a point of relaxing before bed. Take deep, soothing breaths and consciously relax each muscle in your body, starting with your toes and moving up to your head. You can also try using a foam roller to massage any tightness out of your muscles.

Meditation Podcast: 5-Minute Mindfulness Body Scan Meditation Script & Mp3

Reflect on the Day in Your Journal

If you keep a mindfulness journal, evenings are a perfect time to write in it, since the events of the day are still fresh in your mind. Jot down some observations about what you experienced and accomplished, and make a note of your thoughts and feelings. If you’re working on improving your productivity, make a note of what you want to accomplish the next day.

Take a Moment to Prepare for the Next Day

Before you turn off the lights, take the time to lay out the next day’s clothes and program your coffee maker. Setting things up for your future self will help you feel less stressed about the upcoming day, and you’ll have a more productive morning if you prepare ahead of time.

Learning how to practice mindfulness and incorporating mindfulness into your evening routine won’t just help you fall asleep more easily. It will also help you maintain a brighter outlook and get more done around the clock. Incorporate these tips into your nighttime routine, and you’ll reap the benefits all day long.

A mindfulness practice won’t change your life until you learn how to practice mindfulness in daily life. It takes a few days to make it a habit and once you do, you’ll find you won’t want to stop practicing mindfulness. It’s time for you to focus on yourself, your health, and your own reality.

These tips can help you change the ways to practice mindfulness so you’re more aware of your feelings and thoughts. This helps you reduce your stress levels and your reaction, and it helps you feel better about life.

An effective and well thought out mindfulness practice can make you happier, less stressed, and more productive. If you want to learn how to practice mindfulness throughout the day, try making these simple mindfulness practices part of your regular routine.

by Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

5 Easy Mindfulness Morning Routine Ideas To Start Your Day

Is your mindfulness morning routine set up so you can be focused and living in the present moment all day long? The first few things you do in the morning will set the tone for your entire day, why not take control of your morning and create ease, energy, awareness, and confidence every morning?

Follow this guide to evaluate your morning and develop a mindfulness routine that works for you. Everything in this guide is easy to do and requires minimal effort. Enjoy!

The way you begin your morning mindfulness meditation has a significant impact on the way the rest of your day goes. If you start your day on the wrong foot, it’s easy to allow everything to bother you, make you feel down, and it can create a negative mood that changes the course of your day. Days when you wake up in a good mood, everything just goes right, and you’re happy, you find yourself more positive and happier.

Would you like a dose of morning mindfulness, but meditation isn’t doing it for you?

There are plenty of other morning rituals you can try to reap some of the same benefits – more awareness and presence with less stress. It’s all about mindfulness and using mindfulness to create a healthy morning routine that starts your day just right.

My morning mindfulness meditation is designed to wake up your mind and body in a positive, healthy way. It creates a mindset conducive to a happy, productive day ahead.

Prepare For Your Mindfulness Morning Routine Ahead of Time

A morning routine is made much easier when it’s calm, and your morning will be calm when you take a few moments the night before to prepare. Choose your clothes, get your coffee cup out and ready to go, and put whatever you can in the car to take with you in the morning. The less you have to do in the morning, the easier it is to start your day on a positive note.

Meditation For Beginners: 20 Practical Tips To Quiet the Mind HERE…

Wake Up A Little Earlier To Enjoy The Peace And Quiet Of The Morning

A mindfulness morning routine means being aware of what makes you feel good in the mornings. Do you feel good when you’re woken up by the kids who are begging for breakfast, need their lunches packed, and have forms they forgot to give you to sign?

Or do you feel good when you wake up before they do so you have time to enjoy a shower, a cup of coffee, and a little peace? Most people feel better when they rise early enough to enjoy the peace and quiet or even a morning mindfulness meditation before the day begins, so it helps to be aware enough to rise early.

Do Quiet Activities That You Really Enjoy For Your Mindful Morning Practice

It’s tempting to turn on the television or log on to your phone to check out social media or the news when you wake up, but don’t do it. Stay quiet for 10 minutes or so, this is also a great time for a short 5-minute mindful morning meditation.

This is a great time for a mindful morning yoga session or even a morning mindfulness meditation if that works for you as well. Drink your coffee. Read a book. Watch the sun come up. Do something you enjoy that’s quiet. It allows you to focus on what is so good about life and all that’s going on around you.

Starting slow and easy in the morning is the best way to ensure you wake up in a good mood with a good attitude. You may want to consider a mindful morning podcast to set the tone for the day. No one wants to feel rushed or overwhelmed within five minutes of waking up.

You’re going to feel that way from time to time, but you’re better equipped to handle it when you’ve already had peace, quiet, and time to focus on what’s good in your life before the daily chaos ensues.

Mindfulness Activities For Better Productivity HERE…

Don’t Make Massive Changes Overnight To Your Mindful Morning Routine

It won’t work if you are someone that hates waking up before 10 a.m. and is used to going to bed after 2 a.m. and you try to shift your schedule forward four hours overnight. Move your wake-up time slowly and implement a morning mindfulness meditation ritual incrementally.

Create a Mindful Morning to Inspire a Mindful Morning Checklist

5 Mindfulness Morning Routines You Can Use Right Now

Establishing a few good habits in your mindful morning routine can help improve your life. It helps to keep you positive, establishes a routine that you can look forward to, and it can even be good for your mental and physical health!

Here are 5 easy to pick up morning mindfulness habits you can start right away.

1. Make Yourself A Healthy Morning Tonic

Whether you like an apple cider vinegar tea to help improve digestion, or a lemon ginger tea to help with detoxing, having a morning tonic is a great ritual to have. Experimenting with and adjusting your tonics to what you need that day is so much fun, plus the warm liquids will stimulate your body, encourage regularity, and is just downright fun to do!

Apple Cider Vinegar Tea Recipe Recipe By Pitzkele

“A good detox to start your morning.”

Ingredients

12 fluid ounces hot water, or more as desired
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar with Mother
1 tablespoon raw honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions: Combine hot water, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, honey, and cinnamon together in a mug. Soothing, delicious and so many healthy ingredients.

Discover The 6 Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar, Backed by Science HERE…

2. Avoid Your Phone Like the Plague

When we first wake up in the morning, we enjoy the clarity that we won’t see again for the rest of the day. Don’t spoil the moment by immediately checking text messages, status updates, emails, and alerts. Enjoy yourself.

Enjoy a morning mindfulness meditation every day. Put social media on hold, all of that can come later. Develop the discipline to not be enslaved to social media, you will feel much better when your mindfulness morning routine is under your control and is prioritized for the right place and time in your life.

3. Get Up and Get Active

Getting up and getting active helps to wake you up more fully than a cup of coffee, and it can help you stay awake longer. Starting your day off with a little moving around also helps you get some exercise before your brain can object. Whether you’re a marathon runner or you just do a few sets of yoga positions, this is a very important part of healthy morning rituals.

4. Eat a Great Breakfast

Having a full, healthy, well-rounded breakfast is shown to help improve healthy food choices throughout the rest of the day. A good breakfast should include a source of carbohydrates, healthy fats, and protein. Including some veggies here and there during breakfasts is great, whether you prefer them to the side or in a green smoothie!

5. Plan Out Your Day

While you’re probably used to having a plan, learning to prioritize while you plan is a great habit to pick up. Choose 1 – 3 big or important things that you need to get done that day. Try to get them done at the beginning of your day so that you can fill up the rest of your day more productively. This would be a great time to start a mindfulness morning journal to develop a deeper more relaxing mindful morning. And, of course, make time for yourself!

How to Journal for Mindfulness

A mindfulness morning routine has the potential to transform your life. It can help you become more productive, more content, and less stressed. Journaling is a great way to practice a morning mindfulness meditation, and you just need a notebook and a pen to get started with this Mindfulness Journal pdf free download.

Mindfulness Journal App: The Jour Mindfulness App Helps You Build A Daily Journaling Habit For Life

Mental health problems are one of the leading causes of disease burden worldwide, and major depression is the second leading cause of disability globally, according to MentalHealth.org.uk. When it comes to the quality of life, we’ve never had it better — yet so many of us still feel anxious, depressed, and burnt out.

Enter Jour, a journaling app that seeks to guide users through self-therapy. Through building a daily writing habit, Jour helps users with acceptance and empowerment through mindfulness.

How does Journaling work?

Once downloaded, the user is asked three questions:

How do I feel right now?
How did I feel today?
What feelings do I want to add to my life?

The user can then set a recurring notification for these questions, encouraging the user to have a mindfulness morning routine check-in at the same time each day.

These questions act as the outline for the journal entries, which can each be revisited at a later time. You can connect your Jour app to Apple’s Health kit so that your minutes spent journaling are recorded as “Mindful Minutes.”

Users can also try out “Journeys,” which are guided practices, including beginner tutorials on journaling, explorations of fear, practices on resolving conflict and letting go, and guides on overcoming anxiety as it strikes. Each journey also includes external links to resources and studies that can help add further information.

Self-Love Meditation: How To Truly Love Yourself HERE…

The app is simple and beautiful in design, and its notification system is pushy enough to help build a mindfulness morning routine habit, without actually being annoying.

Here’s How You Can Become More Mindful Using These Mindfulness Journal Prompts To Get You Started

Dig Into Sensory Details

Mindfulness is all about paying attention to the physical world around you. If you’re stuck on what to write about, focus on something you saw, heard, tasted, smelled, or felt recently. Try to pin down the sensory details of the experience.

Focus on Gratitude

What are you thankful for? Write about it in your mindfulness journal. Gratitude and mindfulness go hand-in-hand – they’re both about slowing down and appreciating what you’ve got in the here and now.

A Morning Mindfulness Meditation To Start Your Day!

Get Creative

If you don’t feel like writing a traditional journal entry, then don’t. It’s fine to draw pictures, make lists, or write poems in your mindfulness journal. Do what works for you.

Avoid Putting Pressure on Yourself

If you’re a perfectionist about your journal, stop! There’s no right or wrong way to keep a journal. No one else has to read it. It’s okay to write boring entries, spell things wrong, and use messy handwriting. Your journal is for you and no one else.

Use Your Memories

Reflecting on memory can be a good exercise in a morning mindfulness meditation. Pick a memory and try writing down all the sensory details you can remember about it – for instance, the way the sun felt on your skin during your vacation last year. If you have lingering emotions surrounding the memory, explore those in your journal too. You can do this exercise with big memories, but reflecting on your small memories can be valuable as well.

Notice Your Self Talk

Are you in the habit of noticing the dialogue inside your head? If not, your mindfulness journal is a good place to capture your self-talk. Negative self-talk, like “I’ll never get this right,” can cripple your self-esteem and make you less productive, even if you’re not aware you’re doing it. On the other hand, positive self-talk – such as “I work really hard” – can help you feel more confident and get more done over the course of a day.

Make A Mindfulness Journal Part Of Your Routine

Like any other healthy habit, you’ll get more out of journaling if you do it regularly with a mindfulness morning routine. Set aside a regular time every day or week to write in your mindfulness journal.

Journaling is a simple, accessible way to get in touch with yourself and live in the present moment. If you want to boost your mood and your productivity, you can take the first step by starting a mindfulness journal today. There are tons of ways to customize your mindful morning routine, this is just a really fun baseboard to start with.

Play around with what works for you – aspirations, read and contemplate some mindful morning quotes, meditation, grounding – there are tons of options out there!

Your mindfulness morning routine should be unique to you. Your lifestyle, your preferences, and your needs. Whatever that may look like, I hope it brings you peace and helps you start your day with intention and confidence!

These ideas all assume, of course, that you’ve chosen a mindfulness morning routine that you enjoy and look forward to. If you create a mindful morning that you dread, none of this works. You should be excited to wake up for your mindful morning routine and a morning mindfulness meditation, and it should leave you feeling balanced, productive and ready to take on the day and maybe even the entire world!

A mindfulness morning routine means making a focused and deliberate decisions and on what’s good for you rather than what’s required, what’s necessary, and what’s on the list of things to do.

by Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

How Can You Start A Mindfulness Practice For Beginners?

I am always researching meditation with Google Alerts. One thing is clear, many people are beginning their mindful practice, to say the least, with great enthusiasm.

So, I wanted to get you started on the right foot on learning how to start a mindful practice.

How can you start a mindfulness practice for beginners? Practicing mindfulness involves breathing methods, guided imagery, to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress. Practice breathing awareness for at least ten minutes at least once a day. Each time you notice that your mind is no longer on your breath, let it go and gently return to the breath. Over time try extending the duration of the meditation until you can do it for thirty minutes or more.

Being mindful means being an impartial observer of your life. It is the ability to stay present in the moment without allowing the mind to get side-tracked by the moment to moment daily events. Mindfulness is a state of acute awareness without judgment — awareness of both the long and short-term effects of your everyday choices and decisions.

The Essentials Of A Mindful Meditation Practice

With all of its benefits, practicing mindful meditation is extremely easy. Let’s go through the steps.

Wear comfortable clothing. You don’t want to have your focus interrupted by a tight pair of pants or a skirt. Find a comfortable seat. Ideally, it will be in a peaceful spot without clutter and noise. You can meditate indoors or outdoors.

Start your meditation with short sessions of around 10 minutes. This will make it easy to develop the habit of meditating and working your way up to half an hour or even a full hour. Mornings or evenings are the best times, but any time you spend meditating works. You can also split your meditation sessions and do half when you get up and the second half before going to bed.19

Getting Started With Mindful Meditation

Guided Mindfulness Meditation For Everyone To Practice In Just 10 Minutes

Either sit in the traditional lotus position or simply relax in a comfortable chair, with your feet resting on the floor. Keep your spine straight but not stiff. Let your head hang naturally with a downward gaze.

Your hands should be resting comfortably on your thighs. You can keep your eyes open, but most people seem to prefer closing them. Do whatever works best for you. The goal is to get completely comfortable and not to worry about whether you are doing it right or wrong. Just do it, and you will enjoy the results.

Start focusing on your breathing. All your attention should be on how the air feels as you inhale deeply through your nose down to your stomach, then exhale. Notice the physical sensations of the air moving down your body, then being expelled through the nose. Become aware of the rise and fall in your chest as you inhale and
exhale.

Don’t worry if your attention wanders. This is perfectly normal. What is important is that you don’t try to stop those intruding thoughts. Just let them flow through your mind non-judgmentally and return your focus to your breathing. If you find your thoughts20 wandering too often, don’t worry. Simply observe whatever is happening. Don’t judge or blame yourself. Just observe what your mind is doing.

When you’re done meditating, sit quietly for a moment before opening your eyes. Take a minute and observe what you are feeling. Again, it’s important not to judge yourself. When you are ready, go about your day.

The act of focusing on your breath helps you become aware of your thoughts and emotions. The more you meditate, the more aware you become. Meditation is all about increasing your awareness.

How Mindful Meditation Helps You Overcome Stressful Situations

Daily mindful meditation will help you cope with stress, but even normal days can make it challenging to remain in focus and mindful. Your boss wants to see you in his office NOW. Your spouse has been argumentative all week. Your child, who has just received his or her driver’s license yesterday, has disappeared with your car and five best friends. It’s stressful, and it’s called life. Mindfulness can help you cope with these adversities.

Before seeing the boss, arguing with your spouse, or writing your heir out of the will, take a deep breath. Literally. Even if it’s at your desk, sit quietly and spend two minutes inhaling and exhaling. However, you can do this exercise anywhere, such as in an elevator or while waiting for a street light to change. There’s remarkable power in breathing. Just a few minutes will help calm you for whatever you need to face. These short breathing moments can be your own mini mental health spa.

You will also find that taking a mindful walk can greatly elevate your mood. All it takes is 10 or 15 minutes. You can do this outdoors or in the hallway of your office.

Get Started With A Walking Meditation

Walking meditation helps focus your scattered thoughts. It’s a chance to work through the mental tsunami that can invariably ruin your day. You can do it anywhere, while walking to the store, to work, or through a park. Take care while crossing the street.

When we walk in a normal fashion, we do so automatically, without awareness. We simply move forward from Point A to Point B. Not so with walking meditation.

During walking meditation, keep your hands wherever they are most comfortable – at your side or in front of you. You may find it useful to mentally count out 10 steps at a time as you walk. Instead of focusing on the rising and falling of your breath, you will focus on your feet as they rise and fall with each step. Be aware of your body as it shifts its weight as you walk.

As in sitting meditation, thoughts will intrude. You will notice sights and sounds as you move. That’s fine. Be aware of the intruding thoughts and gently shift your attention back to your feet.

Another form of walking meditation is to focus on your environment instead of your body. As you walk, become aware of the sounds and smells around you. Notice colors and shapes. Don’t judge or react, simply remain aware. If your mind wanders, pull it back into focus.

Whether you do a regular half-hour meditation session at home or a mindful walking meditation on the way to the store, incorporating mindfulness into your day should become a natural part of your lifestyle. You deserve it.

Mindful Walking Meditation Explained In More Detail HERE…

Preparing to Meditate – Advanced Planning Can Go A Long Way

As the old saying goes, “If you fail to plan, what you’re really doing is you’re planning to fail.” If you want to meditate correctly, you have to prepare to meditate first. Don’t just rush in, or just jump in with both feet and expect the best. That’s not going to happen.

If you just rush in without any advanced thinking or planning, whatsoever, you’re just setting yourself up for failure. It doesn’t really get any simpler than that. A lot of people who would tell you that meditation doesn’t work, or meditation isn’t for them simply didn’t bother to plan to meditate.

Because, by and large, it is safe to say that meditation would work for everybody, as long as they planned properly, and as long as they follow the right steps. A little bit of advanced planning can go a long way.

Here Are The Steps That I Followed To Get Started On My Daily Mindful Meditation Practice

Do This First: Learn How To Find Time For Yourself

Find The Time You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Meditation sounds awesome, but the problem is I just don’t have the time. I’m too busy at work, and I’m stressed out enough as it is, and at the end of the day, I’m unable to achieve much of anything. This is why I have to spend even more time at the office to try to achieve something.”

I can understand where you’re coming from because this is the mentality of way too many Americans, but you, in fact, have a lot of time. If you don’t believe me, pay attention to the results that you actually managed to achieve in the span of a typical workday.

Trace that back to the things that you actually do. You would be shocked to discover that roughly 20% of your daily tasks are actually the ones that are responsible for 80% of your results. Imagine that 20% of the things you do produce 80% of your results. What’s the implication of this? 80% of your time is spent working on worrying over and planning for 20% of your results.

In other words, you spend all that time, and you really don’t achieve much at that time. So, wouldn’t it be nice simply to expand the time you have for the actions that produce 80% of your results and free up large chunks of the 80% of your actions and tasks that only account for 20% of your results? This is the logical way to do it, so find the time.

Furthermore, you can free up a lot more time by imposing tight deadlines on common tasks that you do. Like, for example, checking email or checking updates. You can set yourself up to do those on a tight deadline of maybe 5 minutes instead of taking half an hour. If you are able to do that, then you automatically have 25 minutes to spare.

Both approaches described above squeeze out the extra time from your schedule. You actually have a lot more time than you care to realize.

Discover 6 Incredible Health Benefits Of Mindfulness HERE…

Second Step: Get Your Mind Right About Meditation

One of the most common reasons people fail with meditation is because they approach it operating under all sorts of common myths and misconceptions. Some people are under the impression that if you meditate, you automatically become religious because it is an act of faith.

Other people think that meditation is just too hard because it requires too much effort in terms of brainpower and brain focus. Even others are convinced that when you meditate, you get so relaxed, and you tap into so much inner peace that you lack the ambition and fire in the belly that you need to achieve success in life.

I’ve got some great news for you. None of these are correct. That’s right. The meditation neither makes you religious, requires a tremendous amount of effort, nor makes you a lazy bum. None of them apply.

You have to neutralize unproductive assumptions as well. One common assumption is that you just need to follow the techniques and follow the instructions to the letter, and there would be a smooth transition. Everything would be quick and easy.

This is a problem because most things you try in life that are brand-new to you are not quick and easy. Understand that you have to come in with the right expectations.

So, what is the workaround? Very simple… expect resistance! Expect a rough start, and you would have the right mental framework, so when you do experience a rough start, you are in problem-solving mode.

Now, compare this with assuming that everything will be quick and easy, and you face a challenge. Chances are, you probably would want to quit because you thought it was going to be a smooth transition. Do you see how that works?

To Prepare Adequately For Your Meditation Practice, Keep In Mind The Following Facts.

First, effective meditation doesn’t have to take massive blocks of time. You don’t have to meditate for an hour straight or one hour total every single day for you to benefit from meditation. In fact, according to most people surveyed, 15 to 20 minutes is plenty.

Second, you don’t have to believe that it works. Let me repeat that; you don’t have to believe that it works. Just go through the process and feel it make changes. Unlike a religious system that requires belief for it to work for you, meditation is all about experiencing your life, so just go through the process, experience it for yourself, and everything else will fall into place.

Third, you don’t have to expend any effort. I know this is mindblowing to a lot of people because most people think that when you meditate, you actually have to put in a lot of effort. Yes, sometimes, you do have to physically exercise. Well, that’s yoga. This is meditation. These are two totally different things.

You just have to go through the process, and you would see how effortless it is because you’re just tapping into how your mind is already working. Your mind is in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. You just tap into that internal biochemical, psychological machinery, and everything else will snap into place. You just have to go through the process.

The effort is not really part of the equation. Don’t Make Things Harder on Yourself With unrealistic start dates.

Finally, one common way people tend to undermine their success is when they set very unrealistic start dates. This often takes two forms. Either you set the date too remotely, or you set it too close to today’s day.

Why are both of these problematic? When you set it too remotely, you no longer get that sense of urgency that you need to get going. There’s no mechanism that forces you to take action as soon as possible because the date is so remote that there’s no consequence.

Similarly, if you pick a date that is too near, like, let’s say tomorrow, it’s so close you become so intimidated that it’s not a surprise that people simply just drop everything and not start. You can’t freak yourself out that way. It has to be remote enough to be comfortable, but not so remote that it robs you of any sense of urgency.

Pick A Start Date You Can Commit To

The bottom line is once you have identified a comfortable start date, stick to it. Commit to it and look forward to your initial meditation target timeframe of 15 to 20 minutes.

It’s important to make sure that you do this daily. It’s better to be consistent rather than put in a tremendous amount of time, but only doing it once in a blue moon.