Friday, October 2, 2020

The Other Way of Practicing Mindfulness

 

The Other Way of Practicing Mindfulness

Mindfulness has no perfect definition. It's a science of knowing your inner self and thereby understanding your actions. It is a way of becoming the best version of yourself. 

Ways to Practice Mindfulness:

We can classify the ways to practice mindfulness broadly in two categories:

Time Dedicated Mindfulness

  • Time Dedicated: In this way, we intentionally dedicate few minutes daily. You can do a guided meditation or just normal mediation. Sometimes it is all about concentrating on your breath and some other time it's about focussing on your body senses. By daily practicing it, you will feel the difference. You will get more focused on the positive side and at the same time, you will get distracted from the negative ones.

not time dedicated mindfulness
  • Not time dedicated: In this way we don't dedicate a special time. This is the other way of Practicing Mindfulness. Let's go a little deeper in it:

The Other Way of Practicing Mindfulness:

As I said we don't have to give special time to it. We just have to do our daily work by being fully present in it. Does it sound easy? Well, it is easy, you just have to keep reminding yourself to be in present. For example, if you are going for a walk, then instead of worrying about past/future problems, enjoy the way. See the color of the sky of that of a tree. See how birds are chatting with each other. In fact, you can notice the path on which you are walking. There is a lot of such stuff which you can do. If someone is talking to you then try to notice the way he speaks. Pay attention to what he is saying. Similarly, you can try doing daily work with this new perspective.

How is this the other way of Practicing Mindfulness:

Mindfulness has two main core concepts:

Mindfulness: Presence

  • Presence: It helps in making you aware of your present situation accurately without being biased. Biasing here means that some people complain about their state without being aware of it- they judge their situation on the basis of either past experience or future expectancy- or they just see the negative side and ignore the positive ones. 
    Mindfulness: Acceptance
  • Acceptance: Accepting your present is very important. This makes you understand clearly about your present and then you can decide better for your future. It's like knowing your capacity. So after getting aware of your capacity you can then correctly decide either to increase it or decrease it or maybe you don't want to change it. 
By using this other way, we start living in our present and thus have a better knowledge of our current condition. This knowledge helps in accepting our present without trying to change it. We cannot change our past or present. So it's better to accept it. But we can change our future by living and accepting our present.

Some healthy rituals which you can follow with "the other way" :


Mindfulness: Journal

  • Gratitude Journal: Whenever possible, try to write one or three or any number of things to which you are grateful today. You can extend this to a daily practice. Writing a gratitude journal daily is best for your mental health.
  • Doodle Journal: This is a little bit different from the normal doodling process. Just close your eyes and draw whatever comes to your mind with your eyes closed. You can even draw the room in which you are sitting or anything with just eyes closed. You can set timer of 10 min or so. After this open your eyes and try to interpret your doodle. This will help you in understanding your present emotional state.
  • Affirmation Journal: You can use an affirmation daily or whenever possible. This indirectly controls your subconscious mind and is very helpful in removing negative thoughts.
  • New Experience Journal: It is similar to the above-mentioned. But here we write new experiences of our life today. This can be as small as the first time watching a spider creating its web. This is all about breaking the monotonicity of life. After some time, you will notice that each day u have a new experience. This feeling will ignite light inside you and make you feel more alive.
  • Self Praise Journal: In this we praise ourselves. Each day we find the best part of ourselves. Again it can be small or big. This helps in increasing self-confidence and self-worth.
There are many such options. You don't have to use every ritual mentioned above. You can select the one which best fits your purpose. To know more about journaling click here!

We have wasted our whole life wanting mental peace. Now let us accept the present and find that peace here. This will help you in changing your future for the better. Do subscribe to this blog ( from the link given at the bottom) to stay connected. You can follow me on Instagram and Facebook. You can even share your views by commenting below. Stay Motivated!

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