5 Mindfulness Practices to Help Boost Your Mood

In Buddhism, the belief is that while pain is inevitable, suffering is not. It’s thought that suffering comes from wanting to cling to positive memories from the past and striving to avoid negative situations in the future. Unfortunately, the only constant is change, and painful experiences are guaranteed. Mindfulness was derived from Buddhism and aims to alleviate suffering created from that pain by cultivating present-moment awareness. What are some mindfulness practices that you can incorporate into your daily life to help boost your mood? Focus on your breath. You can practice focusing on your breath before you start your day, during the day if things get hectic, or at the end of the day to wind down. It’s usefully anytime! You might choose to close your eyes, but it isn’t necessary. Take some time to notice the quality of your breath—is it deep or shallow, slow or fast? Wherever it is, see if you can deepen it. You might start to inhale for a count of five, and then exhale for a count of five. Notice how it feels to create equal inhales and exhales. Breathing deeply for just a breath can help slow your heart rate and relieve anxiety. Notice where in the body you’re holding on to tension. So often our shoulders can start to creep up toward our neck without us even noticing. Take a few minutes a couple of times a day just to observe your body. Notice which areas hold the most tension and tightness and which areas feel soft and strong. See if you can breath space into those tight spaces to release and soften. Spend at least five minutes journaling each morning. Using stream-of-consciousness writing—having no direction and no ideas of where your writing is headed—can help get thoughts out that might have otherwise been stuck. In other words, journaling in this way can help us work through thoughts, feelings and emotions that we might otherwise have dwelled on for hours or even days at a time. Journaling is a way to remain present with your thoughts, but also allows you to set them aside and not let them eat away at you. Take a walk in nature. Spending time in nature is always a great way to come back to the present moment. Place your phone on silent, and maybe even avoid taking photos while you’re out. Use your walk to settle fully into the present moment and experience the beauty in the world around you. Notice the sounds, the sights, and the scents that nature produces. Breathe deeply and enjoy the moment you’re in. Develop a physical yoga practice. The physical practice of yoga is just one small facet of a much broader practice. While there is much more to yoga than just the physical, developing a physical practice is a great way of getting out of the mind and into the body. This in itself can help alleviate stress and anxiety as well as lift depression. If you’re new to the physical practice, start small. According to lawyers in Indiana, “Soft tissue injuries can occur when muscles, ligaments or tendons are stretched, torn or bruised.” Take it slow and listen to your body in order to avoid injury. rnFocusing on your breath, noticing sensations in your body, journaling, taking walks in nature, and developing a physical yoga practice are all fantastic ways to incorporate mindfulness into your daily life. Keep these practices in mind to help boost your mood by cultivating present-moment awareness.