Maintaining regular mindfulness practice has many benefits and I want to share some ideas to help you maintain that practice.

Doing even a few minutes of mindfulness practice each day can have many benefits. Listed below are some easy ways to remind yourself to practice regularly:

Setting a regular time each day means you will be more likely to practice.

Set an alarm (a mindfulness bell) on your phone to wake you up a few minutes early each day and practice then. I have a collection of morning meditations to listen to, but my favourite go to is to just follow my breath.

Do a Mindfulness Meditation for a few minutes each evening before you go to sleep.  Again, I like to just follow my breath, but you can find guided meditations online.

Do one thing at a time and totally focus on that. Concentration can be difficult when there seems to be a million things urgently needing attention, but this regular focus can help to improve this.

Look at your to do list and decide what is the most important thing you need to do right now. Start work on it, and don’t let yourself be distracted by anything else until it is done. Large tasks will need to be chunked down into smaller steps. If necessary, turn off your phone and any other distractions, such as email and social media notifications.

Come Back To The Present Moment

If you find yourself stressed, anxious, frustrated or ‘creating a story’, just come back to the present moment, even if just for three deep breaths .

Try to be present in all your interactions with others – really listen to the other person. Listening to someone without waiting to jump in and speak is a real gift. With clients, it can help you to understand them and their problems so much more. With colleagues and employees it can help you to understand things from their perspective.

Use cards such as oracle cards, choose one daily and meditate on that throughout the day. Write some affirmations related to your business goals and focus on them whenever you can.

Be open minded and flexible – if you miss a day (or more) then do what you do when you find your mind has wandered during a meditation, just bring yourself back to practice.

Be kind and non-judgmental with both yourself and others.

Make sure you are comfortable. You do not need to be sat cross legged on the floor. Sit on an upright chair, using cushions if necessary to keep you straight and comfortable. Or you can lie on your bed or the floor. It is all about what works best for you.

Remembering Mindfulness Practice

“Mindfulness isn’t difficult, we just need to remember to do it.”

Sharon Salzberg

You may think the aim of mindfulness is to get rid of your thoughts, but that is a virtually impossible task. The aim of practice is to focus on one thing, usually the breath, and just keep coming back to it again and again when realising the mind has wandered off.

Moment-By-Moment Awareness

This helps to develop the moment-by-moment awareness you are looking for. You will also probably find your thoughts lessen, but don’t make this a goal of your practice. It is probably the number one reason people give up and think they ‘can’t meditate’.

There are many mindfulness meditations available online. Try YouTube to start. I have a 3 Minute Breathing Space Meditation you can download free. It’s a really good one to get you started, but also useful for more experienced meditators.

I also have a Mindfulness For Busy People Course . This is a short 21 day course, and each day you will receive a practical tip for developing your practice, without using up hours of your precious time. Read more here.

Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t).

James Baraz

Best Gift

One of the best gifts you could give to yourself is mindfulness.

In Summary

I hope this has given you the information need to begin a mindfulness practice. Take your time, enjoy the process, be as aware as you can be. If it helps, journal when you begin your journey and note any changes. Always be kind to yourself – there is no wrong way to practice.