It's A Mindful Life

I believe that as we grow we unlearn so many important skills given at birth. As adults we spend far too much time intellectualizing on how to get those skills back. Sometimes we got to make it simple and get back to basics.

It is my belief that one of the greatest gifts we were inherently are given at birth is mindfulness. A babies inherent appreciation for world around them is so keen. They own the ability to breathe and appreciate the immediate world around them like the smell of their mother when they first enter the world. My memory doesn't allow me to feel that but when I see human life just born, their reaction to just the touch or smell of their mama is incredible and the joy they feel when being swaddled. I think they are simply using their biological gift of mindfulness.They are so aware of the moment and grounded in it. As we grew into young toddlers our gift of mindfulness is still intact as we often stopped to smell the roses, followed a bug crawling on the sidewalk, and took notice of the bird or plane flying overhead. Inquisitive and fully present in the world in front of them. When was it we began to unlearn this skill? Why did it fade away? Naturally so we began to develop into intellectual creatures and our need for problem solving and adapting to the world took over. I know we can't go about our everyday willy-nilly and distracted chasing butterflies and wooing at things that fly by, but we absolutely can take the opportunity to have a mindful life.

Are you are the organized-stick-to-a-schedule kinda person who leaves little room for down time, or the hot-mess-express who feels overwhelmed with chores and activities and lost in a sea of mix matched socks. Maybe you are the busy career parent/person who works 40/hr a week and has no time for yourself and spends nights eating fast food in your car and running kids to activities (that is me!). Do you sometimes go through the motions so fast you don't remember doing them? (That is me too!). I tend to have two speeds fast or slow. When I am on, I am on and can power through a list of chores like a mad woman! When I am off, I tend too be too off, and wastefully-unpurposed. I might be busy but not productive. When my conscious identifies that I am swinging to far to one end of the spectrum, I take a moment wherever I am and do a mindfulness exercise such as grounding. I remind myself of where I am in this moment and I might ask myself "how is this very moment impacting my day and what is my purpose?" My immediate mindset is moved to making a more cognizant choice and become more centered in the moment.

For those of you not familiar with the term grounding it simply means "being content and connecting to the present moment". It is most effective when feeling overheard or stressed. It works to reset your brain so that you can be more focused or perhaps more clear headed. Grounding can be hard to explain as it is defined more in the spiritual sense and how one feels with the world around them. To achieve grounding one can do different exercises. It can be 10 seconds of breathing quietly before making my next move, or a minute glancing around the room naming off things I can see, feel, touch, or hear. For a deeper spiritual experience once might spend 10-20 minutes or more in meditation or progressive muscle relaxation. If your immediate need is simple and can be improved by breathe work do that, and do it often! If your needs are more complex take time and find a place to focus and complete a longer exercise. It is better always better to take some time to do an exercise than never do any at all! 

Now...I wanna hear from you! Start talking, share, and comment your wisdom, tips, tricks, and creative ways that get you through this busy life with mindful practices inserted in moments where we are overwhelmed and busy! How do you ensure that you are using tenants of mindfulness in your day to make "It A Mindful Life"?

Please share openly and respectfully. Rude or negative comments will be removed.