“All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone," a quote from the French philosopher, Blaise Pascal. An interesting and, in my view, a hugely valid point.

This article is about the importance of mindfulness in our daily lives and I shall give you some ideas of simple mindful routines. Who knows you may already do some of these!

Why is it so important? In this crazy world we live in we have lost sight of the human beings we are and have become stressed out human doings. It really doesn’t serve us. Our bodies are on a constant state of high alert waiting for the next thing that needs doing to come to us, having ridiculously long and impossible to achieve to do lists and at the constant beck and call of e mails, social media posts, whatsapp messages and all the myriad means of communication that exist in our world today

There is a ridiculous amount of stress in the world and it can’t go on .. what message are we giving to our children and grandchildren and what are we doing to ourselves. I wrote about the impact of stress in a recent blog

What we’ve done in our mad 21st century lives is forgotten that the most important time for us is right now, it’s the only reality. We can be depressed about the past and anxious about the future but if we live in the present moment we can be at peace. That is why mindfulness is so important.

So what is this thing called mindfulness? It’s defined on the mindful.org website as “the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us”

Dr Rangan Chatterjee, in his fabulous book, “Happy Mind, Happy Life” recommends that we take a holiday from our busy lives every day and he suggests the following principles to guide us. This holiday is:-

· Something you do alone

· Something that brings you into the present moment

· Something that doesn’t rely on a smartphone

· Something that is done in complete silence

Neither he nor I are suggesting this is something that is going to take hours of your time, let’s say 10 minutes, just for you.

So here are some ideas:-

I’m going to start with meditation which I remember thinking was sitting cross legged under a banyan tree! And somehow emptying that hugely busy mind of mine How wrong I was! I now meditate for 5-10 minutes most days. I use various apps to help guide me. One very good one is the Calm App. I know most people know about meditating now and many more people are practising it. But in case you don’t here’s some very simple instructions:-

Find a time and a place where you have complete peace and quiet. Sit comfortably with your back straight and your hands on your knees or thighs. Now breathe deeply from your abdomen. Focus on your breathing and let any thoughts go by, don’t try and control them & don’t judge them, just focus back on your breath. If you’re anything like me you will have to keep returning to your breath as another thought attracts your attention! It may help to count your breaths: “I’m breathing in, I’m breathing out” And repeat for 10 minutes

How about a 10 minute walk round the block, whatever that means to you. and while you’re walking use your 5 senses. Look at the world, the sky, the colours, the shapes. Notice the sounds so please don’t plug into your phone, remember phones are not allowed on your daily holiday. Notice how it feels: is it hot, cold, windy etc? And right now, as I write this, it’s spring and there’s some gorgeous smells out there. As for taste I’m not sure but just notice. All this is being mindful, being present in the moment, not thinking of the past or worrying about the future..

It doesn’t have to be walking though, you may prefer yoga or pilates, cycling, running or swimming. It’s all good and will also improve your health and wellbeing but make sure you choose something you enjoy, because you’ll stick with it. Another great exercise is gardening and I do find I am incredibly mindful ie in the present when I’m gardening .. there really is something about being that close to nature .

The third practice that I would recommend is some kind of writing practice .. we hear a lot about journaling but what is it? Journalling can make sense of your thoughts .. just sit down and write, don’t overthink it and see what comes out of your pen. I’ve used it when I’ve got an idea in my head or something I want to think through, reflect on and it’s really helpful and helps me make sense of it

Or have a time every day when you write down at least 3 things to be grateful for. It’s one of the best things you can implement on your life. Why? Because however bad your life feels right now you will find something to be grateful for. Look outside at nature, listen to the sounds of birds, just be in wonder at the natural world. It’s truly amazing how many successful people have a practice of gratitude.

Or how about taking up a hobby like photography and look up mindful photography or knitting? Michelle Obama, in her book, “The Light we Carry” shares how knitting helped her with the anxiety that was plaguing her in covid

Or just sit in silence

So my call to action to you is make that daily holiday a habit and choose one or more activities that you can really enjoy so they will become a habit

Mindfulness & Self Care

Have you ever had dreams?

Have You Ever Felt Like I Did?