5 Mindfulness exercises to practice mindfulness

Mindfulness practice helps each of us feel less like a separate self and more like part of a larger world..

This time we are going to talk about Mindfulness, a current philosophy that is becoming very fashionable and that tries to improve the physical and mental health of the people who practice it. In this article, you will be able to delve a little deeper into it.

Contents

• Before the exercises… What is Mindfulness?
• Easy Mindfulness Exercises to Practice at Home
  • 1. Landing breath
  • 2. The finger on the forehead
  • 3. Mindfulness breakfast
  • 4. Attention to sounds
  • 5. Body scanner

Before the exercises… What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a set of techniques that help those who practice it to stay in the day-to-day, in the present, with an attitude that allows you to reconnect with yourself and stay at peace.

With this, it is possible to create an environment conducive to well-being, promoting personal strengths and self-regulating behavior. Hence the name, Mindfulness, or what is the same: Mindfulness. That is, to be perfectly aware of ourselves and of the place we occupy in the world.

Easy Mindfulness Exercises to Practice at Home

Now, let's take a look at some simple Mindfulness exercises. Of course, keep in mind that these are some simple exercises. You can go much deeper and find others that are somewhat more complicated, but to start at home these can be of great help..

1. Landing breath

This exercise is one of the best when it comes to turning off the "automatic pilot" with which we usually take over our lives. With it, you can stop that constant flow of thoughts, memories, images and ideas.

You just have to focus on your breathing, taking a deep, smooth and constant breath through your nose. Fill your lungs, breathe out through your mouth with some intensity, and hold this practice for a few minutes.

You will notice that, when something distracts you, you will be able to focus your attention on that element that distracts you in a fairly successful way and, when that element stops attracting your attention, you will be able to focus on your breathing.

In this way, you will be much more focused on yourself, but, at the same time, the elements that distract you will seem much clearer, and you will be able to focus on them much more clearly..

2. The finger on the forehead

With your eyes closed or open, as you feel better, gently place one or two fingers in the center of your forehead..

Just feel the finger against your forehead.

And feel the sensations of your forehead against the finger.

You can sense temperature, texture, humidity, even detect your pulse.

Stay a while with this attention.

If the mind wanders, bring it back, gently, to the feeling of your finger on the forehead.

Then open your eyes, lower your hand and feel how you feel.

3. Mindfulness breakfast

Mindfulness breakfast, as you can imagine, consists of breaking the automatic pilot that we have on as soon as we get up. And it is that, in the mornings, we have this autopilot much more activated than during the rest of the day.

Therefore, when you wake up, go somewhere quiet, turn off any electronic device to avoid discomfort, and start eating breakfast normally. Without any element that can bother you around you.

Focus on the tastes, smells, and feel of the food and drink you are drinking. Don't just consume them as a necessary and mechanical process that you do. Feel good those foods.

You will notice the difference between eating breakfast as a need for food, and you will feel how you are consuming it for pleasure, living in the moment and enjoying all the nuances that it offers you..

4. Attention to sounds

This third exercise is quite simple, but it allows us to have a deep awareness of the world that surrounds us and that, normally, goes unnoticed. It's about focusing on the sounds.

And it is that, in these times, it is normal that the sounds that surround us rotate around us without us paying the slightest attention to them. If we stop to feel them, we will be much more in tune with the present.

So find a quiet place to sit and listen to the sounds around you. Don't judge them. It's not about listening to the birds sing and getting upset if a truck rings.

Just accept the sounds around you and relax with them. And, of course, when a thought related to those sounds appears to you, eliminate it. It is not about thinking the sounds, but about feeling them.

5. Body scanner

This technique is a bit more complicated, but it is very interesting, because it allows us to introspectively know our own body much better (you would be surprised how unknown our body is to ourselves!).

Just lie down somewhere quiet, and start by focusing on your breathing, as in the first exercise. When you are relaxed, begin to shift the focus of your attention from the breath to other parts of the body..

At first, this will be difficult, and you can only focus on some parts that “feel” more easily, such as the heart, but with time and practice, you can even focus on your fingertips.

This exercise is one of the most complete of Mindfulness, because they allow maximum relaxation, living in the present through the sensations of the body and, of course, greater self-knowledge.

As you can see, Mindfulness is a new way to relax the mind, orient it towards personal improvement, and, with it, improve health, both physical and mental. If you want to improve your life, this is a great way to start..