“Practice Mindfulness” Challenge

This week I invite you to join me in this practicing mindfulness challenge. ?‍♀️

Why is mindfulness important?

Our brains are constantly working and creating drama for us. This is where anxiety and worry come from.

Mindfulness brings our brains to the here and now. If I allow my brain to keep worrying about something that may or may not even happen or something I have no control over, then I will stay in a state of anxiety and constant stress.

?Just off the top of my head – (I’ll consult my notes later)

• stress produces cortisol – you want to keep this hormone regulated if you are trying to lose weight, work on your heart health, blood pressure, temporal mandibular joint syndrome, sleep better, etc.
• anxiety robs you of today – when are too nervous, scared, and anxious to live your life, you are truncated. You can’t move forward. You get stuck in a place in which you don’t actually want to be. This can hinder your life in many areas, like with your career, your family, or even socially. – I know this from experience. You are constantly worried, “What if I fail?”, “what if I get rejected?” “what if”, “what if”, “what if”

What if everything will be alright?

How can you practice mindfulness?

Mindfulness and meditation are often used interchangeably because they both are very similar. Actually, in order to meditate you must practice mindfulness.

You can meditate/practice mindfulness anywhere anytime.

Start by taking a deep breath. It all starts with breathing. When you are tense and anxious and stressed what do you do? You stop breathing!

So, take a deep breath. Inhale, exhale slowly. The slower you can breathe in and then out the better.

Then focus on spotting something about this moment. Do you see something in front of you? What is it? What does it feel like? What color is it? What is it used for?

Now you are not thinking about your worries or anxieties, now you are simply breathing and being mindful of what is in front of you right now.

“Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” A.J. Cronin

So, I encourage you to take a few minutes each day to focus on your breath and to let go of any negative thoughts or emotions.

xoxo