The 3 Best Times to Be Mindful
Do you constantly lose your keys, find it hard to focus, or rush into decisions you later regret?
Mindfulness can help you with all those things. And more.
For example, the American Psychological Association says mindfulness can:
Reduce rumination
Decrease stress
Boost working memory
Sharpen focus
Increase cognitively flexible
Decrease emotional reactivity
You need a regular mindfulness practice to gain those benefits.
But if you’re not ready to dive into a full-on mindfulness practice, you can start by inserting moments of mindfulness throughout your day.
You won’t get far with a willy-nilly approach, however.
Instead, use the three mindfulness anchors, I’ve suggested. They’re perfect because they occur daily and stretch over the course of the day.
As a former mindfulness teacher, I’ve seen hundreds of people use specific triggers like these to become more mindful. You can too.
Curious? Let’s explore.
1. Waking
As soon as you experience the first stirrings of consciousness, eyes open or closed, pay attention to your thoughts and emotions.
Don’t get out of bed. Don’t grab your phone.
Just look at your mind.
Is it:
Racing with thoughts of the day to come?
Groggy and eager to hit snooze?
Depressed and resistant to lifting the covers?
Mindfulness is simply being aware of whatever passes through your mind.
You don’t need to change it, judge it, or follow it up with more thoughts and emotions.
Just notice the content of your mind.
Through mindfulness, you discover mind has two aspects—the content of mind (thoughts, emotions, and sensory experiences) and the awareness of mind.
Most of our troubles stem from getting lost in the content. This can cause us to be distracted, emotionally reactive, or stuck in incorrect beliefs. That often leads to pain and suffering, doesn’t it?
Do you want unruly thoughts and emotions running your life?
Mindfulness, on the other hand, allows you space between the awareness of mind and the content of mind. At first that space may be just a split-second. But in time, the gaps will grow more distinct and last longer.
This means, instead of reacting habitually, you can make better choices .
Even if you do this morning practice for just one minute before stepping out of bed, it can set a more aware tone for the day.
For example, you’ll be more likely to pause when you encounter difficult moments in the hours ahead. You’ll also be more likely to stop and breathe now and then instead of push, push, push.
Try it for at least a minute each morning. If you can stay aware for five minutes that’s even better. But don’t set an unrealistic goal you won’t be able to maintain.
You can also extend these first moments of mindfulness to your morning routine if you wish. If you do, you’ll probably lose your mindfulness many times over the course of morning preparations, but that’s part and parcel of learning to be more mindful.
In the beginning, the length of time you can remain mindful is less important than catching yourself when distracted and returning to the present moment—however many times that might be.
2. Mealtimes
Whether you gobble a sandwich while standing up or indulge in a twelve-course affair, meals are one of the best times for mindfulness.
As you eat, awaken your senses:
Inhale the aromas
Savor the flavors
Delight in the colors
Listen for the crunch
Feel the textures as you masticate
Especially be mindful to chew. According to one professor of nutrition, thorough chewing can improve your digestion and might even help you lose weight.
If you’re eating with others, listen attentively when another person speaks.
If you’re eating alone, take another moment to be aware of thoughts and emotions as they pass through your mind. Or, people watch without adding judgments.
These are all present moment activities.
If you wander into the past or future, don’t chide yourself. Just bring your mind back to the ever-present now.
Mealtime mindfulness will reinforce the awareness habit you began in the early morning. And since you likely eat two or three (or more) times a day, it will naturally strengthen your mindfulness if used as a trigger each time.
3. Bedtime
Sleep is another unavoidable daily activity that can be turned into a mindfulness trigger.
Even if you sleep with someone else, there are always those moments before you drift off when you’re alone with yourself and your own mind.
Use those moments as a chance to be present to whatever thoughts and emotions move through your mind.
The goal isn’t to evaluate the day, practice gratefulness, or plan your next day. You could do any of those as a prelude to bare awareness. But this time is solely for the purpose of mindfulness—being aware of the content of your mind and letting it slip and slide past.
This is another time to tune into your senses as well, unless doing so will make it difficult for you to sleep:
Smell the clean sheets.
Feel the softness or firmness of the mattress.
Listen to the sounds around you. I often fall asleep to a coqui frog symphony.
Remember, your day is done.
You can’t change what has occurred no matter how much you think about it. You can’t fix the future worrying about.
Let go. Be here now.
It could make for a better sleep.
Will This Work?
Yes, I’ve seen it work time and again.
But you’ll need to practice consistently (most days) over an extended period— like a few months. This will allow you to gradually build your mindfulness muscle. As a result, mindfulness will slowly become a more natural and automatic response.
You don’t have to be perfect.
Especially in the beginning, you’ll forget to be mindful. You’ll jump out of bed without a single thought of mindfulness. Or, you’ll start chomping down on a hoagie while talking a mile a minute between bites.
Even if you remember to be mindful of these triggers thirty to fifty percent of the time, that’s a good start. That percentage will gradually increase with practice.
You might be surprised to find mindfulness seeping into other activities as well.
But I won’t lie to you. You won’t fully master mindfulness by only practicing with triggers during the day.
I believe a formal mindfulness practice is necessary to more fully establish a mindful life.
That means sitting on your bum (in a chair or on a cushion) and watching your mind or the external world as it appears to your senses for a predesignated time most days. It could be ten minutes, twenty minutes or more.
But if you can’t manage that, I understand. Life can be crazy busy in these modern times.
So why not practice in life using the triggers I’ve provided?
More mindfulness is better than none at all.
Closing Thoughts
Even busy people can be more mindful if they use mindfulness triggers during the day.
I especially recommend these three mindfulness triggers:
Waking
Mealtimes
Bedtime
They’re some of the best mindfulness triggers because they occur daily and together stretch across the day. This affords you consistent opportunities for retraining the brain to be more mindful on a daily basis. And thus you will build a momentum of mindfulness.
Now, you might disagree about these being the “best” triggers. Maybe you’d prefer sex, speeding, and sunsets to trip your mindfulness response.
But let’s not quibble! Use mine or choose your own and get on with it. Because mindfulness has far too many benefits to be ignored.
And you don’t want to keep losing your keys, do you?
[Image by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels]
Thank you for your presence, I know your time is precious! Don’t forget to sign up for Wild Arisings, my twice monthly letters from the heart filled with insights, inspiration, and ideas to help you connect with and live from your truest self.
You might also like to check out my Living with Ease course or visit my Self-Care Shop. May you be happy, well, and safe – always. With love, Sandra
