I bet I can guess what you're thinking... that you don't have the time or the focus to sit crosslegged and finger-curled for twenty-minutes in order to feel clear-headed and centered. Right? Well, I'm here to deliver some good news: mindfulness doesn't require a yogi-inspired position or even closed eyes; it can be practiced in real-time as you walk through the events of your daily life. (While I actually am a proponent of meditation as well, the practices are not necessarily one and the same.)
Mindfulness is essentially being present in the current moment - recognizing what is going on right now. This might mean attending to your environment, but it could also pertain to your internal experience - your thoughts, physical sensations and emotions. Before we outline how to be more mindful, let's talk about what usually gets in the way of mindfulness.
Take a second to think about your most recent worry thought. Maybe it was, 'How will I get all my tasks done this week?' or perhaps, 'What if my colleagues thought my idea was stupid?' The former thought is a great example of future-predicting, and the later, past-dwelling. Both take us out of the current moment and create emotions about things we cannot control. While they are both human and quite natural, they also are unproductive and should be re-directed; hence, mindfulness - bringing yourself back to the current moment.
According to Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), there are six basic tenets to practicing mindfulness:
What to Do to Achieve Mindfulness:
1. Observe - Sense or experience what is going on without putting words to it; Notice without reacting or getting caught up in commentary. Let thoughts, emotions or images come and go like waves.
2. Describe - Put words to the experience; label what you see and feel from a fact-based stance (no opinions, assumptions or speculations).
3. Participate - Throw yourself into whatever you are doing completely and whole-heartedly; let go of self-conciousness and ruminating.
How to Do the Skills Above:
4. Be Non-Judgmental - Examine the bare experience - separate your thoughts and feelings from what is actually going on. Things like "wrong, right, cute, ugly, etc." are subjective assessments based in personal perspective, not fact.
5. Be One-Mindful - Focus on one thing at a time. Yes, this means doing away with the notion of multi-tasking, which often results in poor quality anyway. Even if you intend to finish one task and switch to another, focus on giving 100 percent to whichever you're doing now, only.
6. Be Effective - Do just what works. Play by the rules. Don't make whatever you're doing harder or more complicated than it has to be. Let go of self-righteousness, revenge and the need to be "right."
Feel free to contact me to learn more about DBT and/or Mindfulness.