5 Tips for Your Daily Mindfulness Practice

Mindfulness requires constant practice. The more you do it, the better you are at being mindful. However, it is almost impossible to be mindful from the moment you wake up in the morning to the time you fall asleep at night. So, instead of trying to be mindful 24/7, it is easier to focus on small chunks. Here are some tips for your daily mindfulness practice. 1. Set your mind positively from the start When you wake up in the morning, the first thing you need to remind yourself is that you can set your mental state for the rest of the day. This is especially important if you have the habit of waking up grumpy, not looking forward to the day or with the mentality of having to fight through another day. Your early morning mental state sets the tone for the entire day. Contrary to your limiting belief, this mind state is within your power to set. You do have a choice, provided that you are conscious about it and not merely functioning on autopilot as soon as you wake up. To set your mental state, pause for a moment when you wake up in the morning instead of jumping out of bed and running around to rush to work or to whatever you do in the morning. Take a moment to be with the calmness of your mind in the early morning state. Feel the quietness, the peace. If you are habitually negative in thoughts, focus on three things that you are grateful for. Allow that positive mental state or gratitude to stay for a while. Enjoy this state. Soak it all in. This will help set the tone for your day. 2. Cultivate a habit of introspection Ordinarily, we put our attention more on external events and experiences than inwardly in our mental landscape. It is important to put aside some time for looking inward as great insights and self understanding can come from this. To cultivate this habit of introspection, slot into your daily schedule some space to simply be with yourself, alone. Even a 5 minutes space will suffice. Use this space to pause from your hectic daily schedule, to slow down, to find momentary relief, to rest. Center yourself in the present moment by bringing your attention to your breathing. When your mind is centered in the now, it is at rest, not worrying or feeling anxious about the future. 3. Put a space between the experience and the experiencer This is a practice in being non-judgmental or non-reactive to experiences. Notice how easy it is for you to get caught up in the drama when you personalize or get caught up or suck into all your experiences. Instead, learn to simply watch the events and experiences unfold as if you are a non-partisan scientist curious about how things work. This opens up your mind to more possibilities. There is more than one way to interpret the events or experiences. There is an alternative perspective. 4. Listen attentively This and the next tip are essential for good communication and relationships. Learn to listen attentively, without your mind wandering away to your own personal things when someone is talking to you. You have to actively remind yourself to focus on the person's speech and not allow your mind to stray, as is so often the habit. To be able to listen actively and attentively like this is good training for your mind to be in the present moment. More importantly, it shows respect and care for the person communicating with you. People can sense that you are genuinely there for them, that they are important to you. 5. Speak impeccably To speak impeccably is to speak truthfully, choosing only things that are beneficial and appropriate to talk about. This is called the triple filter test. First, is it true? Speak only the truth. If it is not true, why say it? Then, is it beneficial to the listener? If it is not going to benefit the listener, why say it? What is your motivation? Is it more for your personal agenda, or pride or ego? Lastly, even if you are going to say something true and beneficial, is this the proper time and place to say it? Is it appropriate now, or should it be said at another time or another place, in private rather than in public?