Living Mindfully: Yes, It’s Possible!

Colorful Smoke Behind Large Head to Demonstrate Mindfulness

Share

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Overview of Living Mindfully

Mindful living can create opportunities that lead to a healthier mindset.

You might hear it called mindfulness, mindful living, or living mindfully.

Mindfulness is not a list of ideas or characteristics such as kindness and gratitude, it begins with your own mindset and establishes your actions.

It is a part of how you develop different characteristics.

Everyone can succeed at living mindfully with knowledge of how to take the right steps to get a desired result.

Let’s get started.

In This Article

What Mindful Living ISN’T

We can continue looking into the ideas behind mindfulness, and you will see that it is possible to achieve.

But first, let’s address ways that people incorrectly view mindful living.

These are several ideas that hinder our attempts daily, and sometimes we don’t even realize what we are dealing with.

Let’s look at a few different areas that are not included in living mindfully but do involve our mental health.

Negative Thought Patterns

It is easy to see that our minds run wild, move quickly, and can be hard to clear.

Our mindset often suffers from situations that we face or that come up as memories.

Thought patterns can lead to many areas that cause emotional and mental difficulties.

Our thoughts can run crazy, and we are often along for the ride.

It can be challenging to stay focused and settled when we constantly think about things that make us fearful, cause shame, or any difficult memory that we just want to forget. We often want to turn off our emotions.

Thoughts that we allow to take control and can be difficult to change if we don’t stop them.

These types of thoughts are not healthy and aren’t what we consider as a part of our attempt to be mindful.

Bad Thought Habits

One of the culprits of our negative thought patterns are habitual bad thoughts.

This can include any number of ideas like perception of self, memories from our past, reminders of when we have been hurt, or any view that plays over again in our minds.

Here we are addressing those ideas that continue to come up, not just the ones that happen once and are difficult.

One of the most common is negative view of self.

These can be hard to shake when we try to focus on a better outlook, but it can be done.

You are probably able to identify those thoughts that continue to turn up and that send you into a tailspin. Or those that are a part of your negative thought patterns.

Triggers

As we have looked at patterns and habitual thoughts, it is important to realize that quite often they are driven by triggers.

A trigger is something that causes these thoughts to occur.

It can be any number of things such as a sound, looking at something, a certain song, or even a smell.

Our mind is very powerful and can relate things even when we may not realize it.

Triggers can be subtle or pronounced and you may have numerous triggers for different habitual memories.

These can be hard to deal with and often are the beginning of the habitual thought process that led to our negative thought patterns.

What Living Mindfully IS

Now that we have identified a few situations that make it challenging for us to have a healthy mindset, we will focus on what is involved in mindfulness.

Each part of living mindfully is important and should be understood to take forward steps in our overall wellness.

Mental wellness is only one part but should be addressed as a strong foundation for our whole-body health. It is needed to keep a good balance. Mindfulness skills are especially beneficial in staying focused.

Let’s look at the steps that are involved in mindful living.

Intentionality

The first idea to understand is that it takes intentionality to make a change or identify how to live mindfully.

You can begin by looking at any negative thought patterns or habitual thoughts and intentionally focus on a goal to change those.

It won’t happen immediately, so an important factor to mention here is to be kind to yourself and be patient.

Intentionality is what allows the opportunity for a change, and the motivation to keep moving forward is what brings the change about.

Also realizing that you have started this process because you have the desire to further understand it is a part of being intentional.

Beginning to turn your focus inward is part of the intentionality that creates movement in the right direction.

Creating authentic mindfulness cannot be temporary or thought of as a quick fix but should be realized as what it will become; a lifelong change that is very beneficial.

Awareness

Awareness seems easy enough. However, it is not only about the definition but is where we begin to develop thoughts that create awareness.

This step is one of the keys to living mindfully that is often misunderstood.

Once you realize that you must proceed intentionally, awareness becomes the step in which your focus shifts and more preparation for open-mindedness comes about.

If you truly desire a heightened mindful state, it is important to become more aware of each part of your life.

This includes things big and small. You can begin by focusing on the larger parts of your life because these seem more obvious, but as you get better at this, you become more astute to the smaller parts too.

Remember, when you begin to practice awareness, it is not to focus on what other people are doing.

This mindful growth is for you and not to focus on trying to change things you have no control over.

It is an important part of personal development.

Remember, one benefit of living mindfully is to become more in tune to what is within your own mind.

Awareness helps you realize things that are taking place rather than float along without noticing.

Think of awareness as leading to heightened senses which is what we will look at next.

Presence

Presence is the portion of mindfulness that takes you to an even deeper level of awareness.

Presence is a way to become more focused on your personal being and live in the moment.

Other encounters to enhance your presence can also be learned through spirituality, but here we will focus on only the mental aspect.

Being more present can be accomplished by focusing on your five senses.

Presence allows you to turn your attention to the moment, rather than worry about everything else going on around you.

Using your senses intentionally is an easy way to do this.

Even focusing on your breathing is a great method to begin calming yourself to amplify your focus.

When starting out, sit quietly in an area without many distractions. Focus on each sense that pertains to where you are one at a time: smell, hearing, touch, taste, and sight.

Not all may be relevant in every situation, but the reason I love using this method is because all experiences become richer in multiple ways when considering senses that you may normally not focus on.

For example, when you eat, instead of doing so in a rushed manner because you’re starving or bored or upset, try intentionally becoming aware of the sight, smell, and taste of your food.

This in turn allows greater ability to judge when you’re full and can eliminate overeating.

You can apply this effort of presence in most any setting, for any situation, all throughout your day.

After some time, you can go through your senses for increased presence multiple times a day and even in different circumstances.

Reflection

Reflection is an important part of mindfulness. It allows time to journal or at least think about the steps and successes that you realize while intentionally becoming more aware and present.

A great part of reflection is understanding how the steps you’re applying are working.

This time can also be spent realizing what challenges you still have.

It can also be a time to recall fond memories that have been a product of previous mindful living.

Reflection can involve other ideas such as gratitude.

Remember, gratitude is a character trait and not solely a part of mindfulness, but it does help to bring a richer layer to your reflection.

Different Terms with Magnifying Glass that Describe Mindfulness

How to Live Mindfully Everyday

Years ago, when I realized that we only operate with a portion of our brain capacity, I became interested in challenging myself, and my patients, with addressing a variety of tangible ideas at once.

I believe this creates greater stimulation and better reaction of our mind and body.

I began to focus on mindfulness and especially greater presence. I did this by incorporating the five senses into different areas of my life.

Once I did, I have been able to readily recall different milestones and even smaller events with ease.

This helps alleviate the sentiment that life “flies by.”

Intentional presence allows less of a feeling of being “along for the ride,” or forgetfulness, and creates better recall and awareness. 

This can also be addressed by increased spirituality. View my personal spiritual journey.

Now that we know the steps of living mindfully, let’s look at ways to initiate and maintain them.

Get Started Now

I’m sure you’ve heard it said, “There’s no time like the present.” Or maybe, “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”

Both quotes address the waiting game we sometimes play; or maybe the idea that we will eventually get around to what we want to accomplish.

It isn’t uncommon to push something away if it seems difficult but becoming more mindful brings so much positive into our life. It is worth an intentional effort daily.

Even when things don’t seem to go well, or if you aren’t able to make it through multiple steps, simply finding things to practice presence with is a great place to start.

The main idea is to get started.

Be realistic with yourself and don’t take on too much at a time.

See this article on wellness that discusses setting realistic goals.

Keep Taking Steps

Just as important as taking the first step is maintaining forward propulsion.

One of the most common difficulties we have is quitting when the going gets tough.

By nature, we are not kind to ourselves and quickly judge the steps being taken against what we think should be happening.

Instead, begin celebrating even tiny steps each day. This technique encourages more effort, increased movement, and creates greater success in the long run. View this article on emotional and mental healing.

I always encourage people to have the thought process that even a small step is indeed a step.

Stay Curious

It was mentioned earlier that our negative thought patterns often create fear. This can keep us from taking forward steps.

Instead of operating from a place of fear, I encourage you to focus on things you’re curious about.

I believe that the opposite of fear is curiosity.

Based on this mindset, there is no need to have all the answers before stepping into a situation or becoming more mindful of it.

Our nature is usually a desire to understand all parts and know what we are getting into.

However, leaning into curiosity promotes exciting steps.

Focusing on mindfulness, while stepping toward curiosity, propels us into a dimension that we might otherwise fail to embrace.

Instead of treading fearfully, you can create a space of mindful living and positive movement while addressing curiosities.

This creates greatness!

Final Thoughts About Mindful Living

Too often we operate from a place of hesitancy and fear. With correct focus on living mindfully, you can progress into a healthier realm.

Focusing on the steps of mindfulness includes intentionality, awareness, presence, and reflection.

Initiating these steps helps to create a greater recognition of the five senses and our place in the moment.

This is necessary to recognize real opportunities and create an optimistic focus on those things that may otherwise create negativity.

Mindfulness is a choice and can become a way of life; one that will create greater overall health.

Other Articles You May Enjoy

Living Mindfully: Yes, It’s Possible!

About the Author

Check Out More Wellness Articles: