Mindfulness, meditation, and yoga practices are everywhere. We see them online, in the news, on social media—simply everywhere.
We long for a break and a deeper connection with ourselves. This is good. We need this, now more than ever. However:
Most of the offers are high- priced, time-intensive activities.
Here are 5 easy and free hacks to implement and integrate into your daily life to stress less and strive more:
Start your day consciously
Focus on your breath
Take your time when you eat
Screen-free breaks
Gratitude
Start your day mindful
Your alarm goes off, and your phone buzzes and beeps on your bedside table. You hit snooze without even opening your eyes, and you've just bought yourself another seven minutes until it starts again. After the third time, you give up, take your smartphone, and automatically check your Whatsapp messages and Instagram feed. Suddenly, 20 minutes have passed, you are now officially late. Stress kicks in, you jump out of bed, take a shower, and get dressed. There is no more time for breakfast at home, you will pick something up on the way.
Mornings like this one happen more often than we'd like to admit. This story is not fiction. It happens to me too. And I literally mean happen, I don't plan for such a morning, it just happens.
But it does not have to be this way. A few small tweaks can support you in avoiding such a stressful start to the day:
Use an alarm clock.
Leave your smartphone outside your bedroom.
After you have woken up take a few moments for yourself. Forget social media or the news. Take a deep breath and make an effort to scan through your body:
How do you feel?
Are you well rested?
Is there an itch, an unease, or a feeling of pain somewhere?
Do you need a big stretch? - Stretch
Additionally, you can set a positive intention for your day. That's it. Just breaking the cycle helps already, and these two to three easy changes can set you up to start your day relaxed and focused.
Focus on your breath
Your last meeting ran long. The initial plan was to use the 15-minute break in between your back-to-back schedule to call a colleague and check your inbox. Now you only have 7 minutes left, that's not long enough for anything. So you open Instagram...
You missed the Outlook notification informing you that your next call started. It's a Slack Pop-up message that pulls you away from the hilarious and cute dog reel, "Are you joining our meeting?", asks your colleague. Exasperated you switch from your phone to your laptop and join the call...
Our days are usually packed with meetings, calls, and failed attempts at reaching a client. On top collaboration software such as Slack or MS Teams continuously interrupts us throughout the day. Although they were built to make us more productive, those tools keep us from concentrating on a single task for more than a few minutes.
We are rushing from task to task, meeting to meeting, yet seldom feel we accomplished anything. When you stumble across a few "task- & meeting- free" minutes you usually jump down the rabbit hole that is social media. You think you are taking a break when you are achieving the opposite.
Instead of giving yourself a break, you fire additional stimuli at your brain. This is anyything but relaxing.
Next time sit up straight, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths in and out. Try to feel where in your body each breath is flowing. Is your chest lifting or is your stomach bending outwards. Feel how your body relaxes when you exhale.
5 Breaths take a minute max, that is 60 seconds you can spare. Try it and see how relaxed and rejuvenated you will feel when you do nothing instead of doomscrolling hunched over.
Here is a more detailed explanation of a relaxing breath exercise:
Count to four while breathing in, hold your breath for another 4 seconds, then slowly exhale for 6 seconds. This technique helps to calm your mind and stay present.
Take your time when you eat
How often do you eat without doing anything else? How often do you check the time when you are eating breakfast? Have you ever checked social media while shoveling down your meal?
After your last work lunch, you felt bloated, had a stomachache and desperately needed a nap. At the same time, you can't even remember what you ate. Try slowing down next time and focus on your meal. Smell and taste your food, feel the texture and enjoy one bite after the other while thoroughly chewing in between.
Pro Tip: What helps me the most is putting knife & fork down after each bite. Otherwise, I'll just keep shoveling food in.
Engaging all your senses fosters a deeper connection with your body and environment.
If that sounds too spiritual, You might also realize when you are full, even notice which ingredients and foods you can digest well and which are not for you.
Bonus:
On average, mindful eaters lost seven more pounds than those who just dieted. More impressively, those who practiced mindfulness were more likely to keep the weight off more than two years later. (Source)
Screen-free breaks
EOB - end of business day and you close your laptop, arrive at home and all you want to do is chill out. Tired you let yourself fall onto the couch, take out your phone and quickly check the news headlines and notifications. All of a sudden you realize: it is dark outside!
Where did the last hour go?
"Breaks" such as the one described above are energy vampires. We usually achieve the opposite of a refreshing break. Movement, on the other hand, can help. Especially after a long day at the office:
get off the subway or bus one stop early
take one round around the block after you've parked your car or before you return home
Try to discover something new on every walk, something you have not noticed before. The key is that it is IRL (in real life) and not something in your phone...
You should also incorporate short breaks during the day to give your mind, body, eyes and nervous system time to relax and refocus. Go outside for some fresh air or take a few moments to close your eyes. These screen-free breaks can work wonders.
Gratitude
A loud sound pulls you out of your dreams. Complete and utter darkness surrounds you except for the glaring light of your TV, iPad & smartphone. You have no idea what just happened in the TV show that is still running or which episode is on. You switch confused and groggy from the couch in your living room to the bed. You'll brush your teeth in the morning as you are too tired now...
In the same way, we can start our day mindfully, a few tweaks can help us end our day in a good mood and prepare us for the next day:
Focus your thoughts on something positive by remembering and writing down 3 things you are grateful for. Those can be small things such as the delicious dessert you had after lunch or the fact that on your way home the subway did not drive off right when you entered the station.
This easy exercise helps you close out the day with a sense of gratitude and contentment. It is also scientifically proven to help you feel happier.
Our days can be pretty packed, even overwhelming sometimes. A few simple and easy tricks can help us find the breaks we need and focus on the things that help us dance through life a little lighter.
You liked these ideas but sometimes have a hard time ditching old habits? No worries, I am here to help:
Just choose an appointment via Coaching and I am looking forward to getting to know you!
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