Five Mindfulness Exercises You Can Use Every Day to Help Reduce Anxiety, Manage Stress, and Improve Your Relationships

In today’s hectic world, it seems like we’re constantly bombarded by demands on our time and attention.
 
From our professional to our personal lives and relationships, our minds are constantly flitting from one thought, pre-occupation, and emotion to the next, leaving us feeling high-strung, stressed, and anxious.
 
If you’re at all like me, you know how difficult it can be to simply find five or ten minutes to sit and relax, let alone make the time to meditate and truly take care of one’s mental and spiritual health.
 
However, doing precisely this is essential for achieving balance, calm, happiness, and wellbeing in all areas of our lives.
 
Over the course of thousands of years, millions of people have used meditation to achieve a state of inner peace and tranquility. Even modern studies on meditation have shown that it helps reduce stress and anxiety, improves digestion, reduces insomnia, and may even inhibit the expression of genes associated with cardio-pulmonary diseases.
 
While the regular meditation practice offers numerous benefits for one’s physical and mental health, many people feel “antsy” when trying to meditate. And others simply feel they don’t have the time. If this is you, don’t worry…
 
The good news is that you can realize many of the benefits of regular meditation simply by practicing mindfulness in your daily life.
 
And practicing mindfulness is something that can be done at home or in the office, while walking, eating, or even while doing household chores.
 
What Is Mindfulness?
 
Mindfulness can be described as a mental state of relaxed awareness of the present moment.
 
Mindfulness is all about focusing on the present and quieting the inner voice that’s inside of all us, constantly providing a running commentary on everything we’ve done, are doing, or plan to do.
 
As with the practice of regular meditation, quieting this internal monologue and practicing mindful awareness can dramatically change the nature of our days and transform our relationships with others, our selves, and our world.
 
Mindfulness practices have been shown time and time again to help individuals develop concentration skills, reduce anxiety and stress, better one’s understanding of one’s self, and discover what’s truly important and meaningful in one’s life.
 
But how can you maintain a state of mindful awareness and stay focused on the here and now, especially when your mind keeps running away from you like it so often does?
 
How Can You Achieve Mindfulness?
 
Well, like most things in life, attaining a state of mindfulness takes practice.
 
While mindfulness is typically achieved by practicing meditation, all one really need do to practice mindfulness is simply quiet one’s inner monologue and focus on the present in daily life.
 
So, if you’re new to the idea of mindfulness, or you don’t have the time or inclination to practice meditation on a regular basis, here are five simple mindfulness exercises to help you clear your mind, quiet your inner critic, reduce anxiety and stress, and experience all the benefits mindfulness has to offer…
 
1. Mindful Breathing
 
Learning to meditate on our breath is the most effective way to jumpstart our mindfulness, as doing so forces our awareness on the present.
 
This is a very simple exercise that can be done pretty much any time, anywhere… sitting or standing.
 
All you have to do is be still and focus on your breath for a minute, breathing in slowly through your nose and out slowly through your mouth.
 
While some people prefer to use cycles of five to six seconds for each in-breathe and out-breath, you don’t have to interfere with your breathing. If your in-breath is long, let it to be long. If your out-breath is short, allow it to be short. Don’t force it.
 
This practice is all about quieting your inner monologue, letting go of your thoughts, and being calm and still by focusing on your breathing for a minute… And it can have a powerful effect.
 
Once you get used to it and begin enjoying this simple exercise, do it for two minutes, or even three. And, if you thought you’d never be able to meditate… Guess what? With this simple exercise, you’re already half way there!
 
2. Mindful Observation
 
This exercise is designed to help you connect to the present by using what’s around you, and, despite its simplicity, it can be incredibly powerful.
 
There are a couple of ways you can go about this exercise…
 
You can start by simply choosing one object from your immediate surroundings and focusing all of your attention on it for a minute or two. The object doesn’t have to interesting. It can be something as mundane as a coffee mug, your desk, or the carpet.
 
Simply pay attention to the thing you’re looking at and try to look at it as if you’re seeing it for the first time. Notice something about it that you’ve never noticed before. Connect with its purpose in the world.
 
Once you’ve done this, you can move on to using your other senses…
 
So, do the same thing with something you can hear. You can do this with a piece of music or, even better, turn the music off for a change and keep listening until you can distinguish a particular sound and focus your attention on it.
 
Again, try to hear whatever it is as if you’ve never heard the sound before. What’s something about that particular sound you’ve never noticed? How does it make you feel?
 
Next, do the same thing using your sense of touch. Notice something you can feel. It might be the pressure of the chair under you, the way your clothes feel on your skin, muscle tension in your shoulders or neck, your posture, or a slight breeze.
 
Again, focus your attention solely on this feeling, as if you’ve never felt it before. The aim is simply to be aware of the sensations that your body is feeling at this moment.
 
Remember, you only need do this for a minute or two with each sense. Then, once you’re done, rest your mind and enjoy the mindful awareness you’ve just achieved before mindfully going back to the task at hand.
 
3. Mindful Awareness
 
This exercise is designed to increase your appreciation and awareness of the tasks you do every day… many of which you largely take for granted.
 
So, think of something you do or happens each and every day. This can be something as simple as turning on your computer in the morning or something more involved, such as getting dressed or your before-bedtime routine.
 
Whatever it is, before it happens, stop for a moment and be mindful of where you are and how you feel in that moment. You can even appreciate what’s led you to this moment, be it the ability and understanding to use that computer, a good night’s sleep, a rewarding day at work or time spent with friends and family.
 
Just remember, the point of the exercise is to cultivate mindfulness in the present and create purposeful awareness of whatever it is you’re doing.
 
4. Mindful Immersion
 
Similar to the mindful awareness exercise above, the practice of mindful immersion is designed to focus our attention and appreciation on the process of whatever it is we’re doing right now, instead of getting caught up in always striving for results.
 
How? By taking a routine task and doing it like you’ve never done it before.
 
For example, you can reverse the order in which you do a particular process and enjoy the awkwardness of drying yourself off from toe to head instead of head to toe, or putting on your shirt and jacket first before putting on your socks, underwear, and pants.
 
If you’re cleaning your house, instead of rushing through it just to get it done, turn off the music and create an entirely new experience by paying attention to every aspect of what it is you’re doing. Discover a new way to clean something, feel each of your muscles as they work, become the motion of your movements.
 
Eat something new for breakfast, reverse the order in which you get ready in the morning, or drive a different route to work.
 
The idea is to fully immerse yourself in the PROCESS of whatever it is you’re doing instead of trying to rush through and finish each task you undertake… So, get creative and start discovering new experiences within your regular routine!
 
5. Mindful Attention
 
When we’re with other people – be they our colleagues, friends, romantic partners, or family members – all too often we’re only physically present. Mentally and emotionally we’re somewhere else.
 
We “switch off” because we either think we know what the other person is going to say – we think we’ve heard it all before – or we’re preoccupied with other tasks or our own thoughts about the past or future.
 
It is, unfortunately, all too rare that we give others our undivided attention. Yet, to live mindfully means being fully present with everything and everyone.
 
I’m sure most of us resent it when others only listen to us with half an ear. Shouldn’t we give others the respect they deserve, especially if we want to be treated the same way?
 
So, put down the smartphone, turn off the music or TV, and really look the other person in the eye and listen to whomever it is your speaking. It’s when we really listen that we hear – often for the first time – what the other person’s heart has been trying to tell us.
 
This practice has the added benefit of improving our understanding of and our relationships with not only those we love most, but also of our selves!
 
So, next time you’re with someone, whether it’s a co-worker, family member, or friend, really be present and give that person your complete, undivided attention.
 
Of course, this is only a handful of the numerous mindfulness practices you can incorporate into your life. But, it’s the quality not the quantity that matters most.
 
And please keep in mind that these are tools and nothing more.
 
Exercises are not what mindfulness is about. Mindfulness is awareness of the present moment. It’s living in the here and now.
 
Through mindfulness, you can free yourself from your thoughts about the past, your worries about the future, and discover who you REALLY are.
 
By putting each of these into practice every day, you’ll discover how mindfulness can reduce anxiety and stress and help you be at your absolute best, no matter what it is you’re doing or with whom!
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