Have you ever had a wonderful moment that you felt you would never forget? Only to wake up weeks later without a single thought of it? Chances are you were not truly mindful of the situation you experienced.
The word “mindful” has taken society by storm. No matter where we turn, the remedy to many issues we face is to spend time living mindfully. Although it’s possible, it takes effort on our part.
Here we’ll look at the methods for mindfulness along with necessary beginning steps.
Also, we will address 3 stages of mindfulness. Spending five minutes intentionally during your day can promote newfound focus and lead to further success with your health.
In This Article
Understanding the Steps of Mindfulness
Instances and experiences string together to form our journey. What we make of them is in large part about our view and attention. This includes our willingness and methods for engagement.
Let’s clarify the difference between meditation and mindfulness to better understand our goals.
Meditation – A method that increases inner peace by turning your attention inward.
Mindfulness – Using your senses and focus to increase engagement of your current state including those things around you.
While these two ideas work together to create greater spirituality, characteristics, and well-being, they are different.
We’ll learn more about mindfulness and gain a deeper understanding of the actual steps to take for success.
1. Intentionality
The first necessity of mindfulness is opening your mind to the idea that it must be an intentional effort.
We’re quickly tossed around by daily situations and don’t always consider ways to put a stop to it. Intentional steps will lead to better success with mindfulness since it begins to decrease your aimless movements that take place daily.
Begin by committing to the process and focusing your thoughts on what you would like to accomplish. This might include decreasing stress or anxiety, increasing your memory, engaging in daily activities, controlling emotions, or any number of things.
When we start with solid intentions, it propels us forward. This could include a daily intention that you use once or want to continue beyond one day.
Laying the groundwork allows you to prepare your mindset for the steps to come. This is important since our thoughts determine our actions.
2. Awareness
Also important is our ability to take steps to create awareness in our everyday life. This is necessary when attempting to be more mindful. Without awareness, it’s impossible to move into the other areas correctly.
The first step after intentionality is to begin to focus on the present moment. Begin to settle in to where you are and what your desire is for mindfulness. This can be done by intentionally putting yourself in a place where you would like to practice these skills. Or even by stopping in your current space and leaning in.
Awareness encompasses the preparation of focus for attention to your senses. You can be still and begin to allow things around you to slow. Give focus to your breathing. Instead of deep breathing, try to slow your breathing. This allows a more natural introduction into deep breathing and the two often happen together.
Close your eyes if needed to increase your focus on breathing and the stillness of the moment. When you have more practice with awareness, you can accomplish the steps with your eyes open—and more quickly—to prepare for presence.
Awareness is not about clearing your mind, but rather controlling the things you are currently letting in. This practice begins to create a pathway to mindfulness and encourages better thought processes all throughout your day when you use it.
3. Presence
After the introduction of awareness, you can then move to a greater focus on your presence. That is, a deeper attention to what you’re experiencing through your senses.
This is an important part of building mindfulness skills, and once you practice and reach a deeper understanding, you’ll be able to use it anytime and anywhere.
Continue the slow breathing and relaxed state you accomplished during awareness. Next, go through each of your five senses and allow your mind and body to purposefully encounter each.
We mentioned earlier that mindfulness is experiencing your current state by those things around you. This includes your sight, hearing, touch, taste, and the smells around you.
Take time and do not rush. It’s important not to assume that a certain sense is muted, or nothing is present that would appeal to that sense. It’s more important to take time with each for a richer experience. Step through each one of your senses intentionally and make a mental note of what you find.
Look around and take in a sight that you focus on in the moment. This may be out a window or around you outdoors. Stay focused on it.
Allow yourself to tune in to a natural sound that you notice. Don’t get distracted during this phase.
Use your hands to find a texture or object to remember. For example, if you are outside, the grass might be experienced by touch. You might also enjoy feeling the wind blow on your face.
If you can taste something in the moment, take this opportunity. You might even have prepared by planning a type of food to enjoy.
Breathe in and notice the most powerful smell that is present. Do this several times to keep your breaths slowed and to use your sense of smell.
4. Reflection
Reflection is important in the moment, as well as after your encounters.
During the time of heightened presence, you are intentionally increasing your awareness. This should naturally help you journal what you find that encouraged your mindfulness. If the outcome is something you would like to try again, make sure to take note of it.
For example, if you positioned yourself to spend some time sitting outside or connecting with nature, and you enjoyed your present moments, recall in writing what you liked the most. This can be used later to revisit the same method. Or by reading the encounter when you would like to return to this place mentally.
Our minds work well with vivid reminders and visuals so a description—or even a drawing—would be beneficial.
This method of mindfulness is also a great skill to use when you are eating, especially if you’re trying to stay fit and increase your body health.
Your mind is very powerful. Use these skills as you are beginning a meal. As you increase your awareness and presence by focusing on your senses, it can slow down your eating time. Also, with more attention to what you’re eating, and how it smells and tastes, it becomes more enjoyable not a quick gulp and go.
It’s important during these steps to realize how powerful your mind is and what results can come from a healthier focus.
3 Stages of Mindfulness
Now that we’ve taken a closer look at the power of our mindset, and ways to practice mindfulness, we’ll look at 3 different phases for deeper engagement. Continuing your journey through each stage improves mindfulness skills and is a part of your whole-body wellness. These skills can be used for growth in each area of your wellness: physical, mental, spiritual, social, and emotional.
Primary Mindfulness (5 minutes)
Primary mindfulness is the first step when considering the skills we’ve discussed. Not only is it a launching point when learning and practicing mindfulness, but it’s also the space we return to when we’re versed and need a quick pick-me-up.
Primary mindfulness is exactly what it says, a place to begin. Since it’s the initial phase, we focus on practicing this stage for about 5 minutes. (This is time spent on the activity not the length of time it takes to learn.)
The main reason is that distractions are common when first trying to practice mindfulness. One of the biggest is your own mind. Controlling your thoughts is an important skill to acquire. Trying this for short periods is a good way to learn.
Primary mindfulness is great for any short increment of time or a way to initiate a longer period of mindfulness once you have distractions under control.
The method is done by following the mindfulness skills and focusing on your immediate vicinity, breathing, your senses, and disengaging from any distraction or situation pulling your attention. This is especially true to avoid a focus on negative thoughts.
Spend one minute thinking of your intentions, increasing your awareness, and slowing your breathing. The second minute can be spent focusing your senses of sight and sound. Next, take about a minute to add touch and taste to the focus. Finally, spend about a minute increasing your attention to the smells around you. Each focal point is added to the one(s) before it.
This brings you to minute number five. Use this last amount of time to reflect on your time of mindfulness. It helps your attention, awareness, memory, and can quickly turn negative moments around.
There are challenges when learning to change your focus. It may not be possible to notice each of your senses every time. Lean into the ones that you detect. Stay focused on what works.
This type of mindfulness can be used at work, when driving, when sitting, or if you need to take a moment to engage in your wellness.
Persistent Mindfulness
As your skills increase with successful primary mindfulness, you can proceed by increasing the length of time spent engaged.
For example, you might block off more time each day to focus specifically on mindfulness skills. Once you have practiced several times, its beneficial to change your location and create even more intention.
A large part of persistent mindfulness is gaining confidence in your abilities to use the skills. This helps you realize that it’s possible in multiple areas and at different times throughout the day.
If you practice short-term skills, you’re able to use them continuously and can set aside time more often as you gain confidence. The more you practice your focus, the easier it becomes to engage in the moment.
This stage can be described as a period of increasing your skills for both ability and frequency.
As mentioned, reflection is an important part of each stage when building mindfulness skills. This technique can be used for assessment of what you think is going well during your time of focus. You may also take note of any area that is challenging for you.
This information creates deeper attention to your efforts and enriches your time.
Persistence pays off when you begin to realize the benefits of removing yourself—physically and mentally— from the things distracting you. It allows engagement in your own time and creates greater wellness and growth.
Prolonged Mindfulness
Prolonged mindfulness is just as it sounds. It pertains to spending an extended period that you have set aside for more quality time in the moment. It’s also the point where you use these skills multiple times day. This stage comes when you have practiced and developed better abilities with mindfulness skills.
When you’ve reached this point, your comfort level with mindfulness has increased. Perhaps you have started seeing the benefit personally and even the things that are helped in other parts of your life.
This phase propels you into an intentional process for a lifetime. It adds an important layer to your journey of wellness. When you’re in this stage, you’ve acquired a deeper understanding that spending time disengaged from negativity, increasing wholeness, and being confident is necessary. It’s how you propel forward in coping, growth, maturity, health, and overall wellness.
Practicing mindfulness skills and making your way to this stage gives you excellent tools for your journey.
Once you’ve surpassed the transitional phases and have a deeper understanding, you can bring in other items for focus. If you can’t get away or go outside, use a photo that is calming to you. There are also scented oils that are soothing. Using a sour flavor for affect as a way to heighten your senses.
After you’ve established the methods and understand the skills and reasons behind them, feel free to substitute items that increase your focus. Other examples are a piece of soft fabric or material, and instrumentals that appeal to your sound. Try to steer clear of songs and lyrics because those become quickly distracting.
Benefits of Mindfulness
We’ve touched on some benefits of learning mindfulness skills but there are many more. You can use these concepts to decrease anxiety, stress, depression, anger, and increase your attention to thoughts. Remember, your emotions and actions stem from your thoughts. Gaining greater focus helps create confidence and greater wholeness for life. View this article for points of mental and emotional healing.
Better Perspective
One point to mention is the natural occurrence of an optimistic perspective. This creates an honest place for you to realize you’re not perfect and that trying to stay positive all the time is fake and can be exhausting.
A better outlook is one of optimism which allows room for mistakes and growth while understanding that perfection isn’t the goal. We can be optimistic even through difficult times.
Learning the skill of focusing on your immediate vicinity and taking note of the moments is beneficial for a realistic view of life.
Even though others can quickly drag us down, it doesn’t have to be that way. Nor do we have to stay in the place of despair.
We often try to “just change” and fail over and over without knowing why. The approach we use is usually the culprit. Following the steps of mindfulness—and taking time to learn and understand them—instills confidence and revelation into optimistic perspectives.
Time spent increasing comfort with mindfulness skills helps you see the world a little differently. The more able you are to focus in the moment, the less distractions will swirl and drag you into chaos. It doesn’t “just happen” so understanding the steps is important to create a breakthrough.
Personal Growth
Greater confidence in yourself—and a focus on your wholeness—helps you realize that many of the areas you’re giving attention and energy to are unnecessary. Using your newfound focus as a filter and for discouraging distractions allows natural personal growth.
When you continue sharpening your mindfulness skills, your mindset changes. You’re able to move more quickly into focused moments and other issues fall away during that time. Once you practice this mental maturity, other skills are also sharpened. Often, you notice assessment present with situations because you’re more thoughtful and controlled. Also, communication can become more focused and intentional instead of reactive and sporadic.
Relationship needs may be considered more readily when you gain mindfulness skills. These steps help create focus, but with more confidence, we realize that we’re worthy and capable.
We readily know the challenges of relationships, but often don’t have solutions. When everyone in the relationship creates encounters for mindfulness, a calming and mature view is possible. Even if only one person practices mindfulness, their outlook and mindset changes. This can encourage and affect everyone involved.
Greater Wellness
While making efforts to increase mindfulness, you will likely notice growth in multiple areas. It’s similar to eating for increased energy and strength and to promote physical growth. Then realizing you feel better from more activity.
Mindfulness brings nutrients to your mental state that increase your optimistic thought patterns. Efforts are beneficial as you brain rewires in reaction to the healthy changes. This can create better space for social success, provide greater spiritual insight, and even promote wellness in your emotions.
Emotional distress is real, and it happens quickly. Gaining control of your thoughts and incorporating mindfulness skills helps you gain a better foundation for emotional strength. It’s challenging but is possible.
Trying to focus on all areas of our being can become overwhelming. Regardless of what may surface as a challenge—in any area of your health—practicing these skills incorporates authentic attention.
Using the steps of mindfulness when you’re faced with a challenge encourages coping and can even initiate healing. Gaining control of your thoughts is beneficial before attempting to solve problems or fix issues. It keeps us from taking irrational steps.
Making changes takes effort. It’s easier to see the benefit from attempted change when we have a plan and know how to take steps.
Final Thoughts About Mindfulness
It’s easy to spend days, weeks, months and even years aimlessly trying to fix problems and live better. Without specific understanding of how you create this change, you’ll continue to feel frustrated and unsuccessful when making the attempt.
Mindfulness skills are an important part of creating thoughtful patterns. This not only increases your focus in the moment but begins to give you more success in other areas. It’s beneficial to understand what mindfulness is and how to use it to create greater wholeness in your health.