Good Monday morning readers, welcome back! As we embark on another week of social distancing, staying home to flatten the curve, and washing our hands a million times, it seems like a wonderful opportunity to begin practicing mindfulness in your life. Mindfulness is the practice of intentionally living with awareness in the current moment, without judgment or attachment to it. When we are mindful, we are aware in and of the current moment. Practicing mindfulness takes repeated effort to bring the mind back to the present moment, without attachment or judgement and isn’t always easy to do. Where you unfortunately won’t become a zen master overnight, the good news is with some practice, you will be able to drop into moments of mindfulness when you encounter stress or anxiety.  When we take time to just be in the present moment it can often be difficult and uncomfortable. Trying not think about what happened in the past and what may happen in the future can seem impossible at times. Our brains want to think, after all it’s what they do best!

Mindfulness is not a place we go, it’s a place we are.

Trying to not worry or judge is especially difficult in these past few weeks considering all the changes that are happening in our world and in our daily lives. The key is to remember that you can always take a moment to focus on your breath when you are feeling anxious or stressed and bring yourself into just this present moment. With some practice you too can learn to redirect your mind from these judgments and worries we all tend to get caught up in and learn to bring your thoughts to just the present moment. Where I am not sure it is exactly a “superpower,” it has the possibility to create a noticeable change in the way you perceive your own thoughts and reactions.

Mindfulness can empower and help us be more resilient to the emotional ups and downs of everyday life.

It can be hard to be mindful, especially in recent days when there are so many more stressors around us however, it is possible. Taking a few moments wherever you are today, whether it be sitting comfortably in your chair or on your couch, standing six feet from another person in line at the grocery store, or hiding in the bathroom as you listen to the children argue through the door, take a few moments to bring your focus to your breath. Just notice the feeling of the breath as it moves in and out of your body. You may get distracted while trying to do this so don’t worry if that happens, just bring your attention back to the breath, gently and without judgement, over and over if you need to. Be compassionate with yourself and remember anything we become proficient in intentionally took a great deal of practice. Again, you don’t need to be a master of mindfulness to benefit from its effectiveness. Mindfulness is where you are, not a place you go. Mindfulness allows us to be flexible in the moment with awareness, while still being present in this moment and not attaching to any emotion or thought. Mindfulness won’t solve all your problems or make every moment tolerable. It will however help you start to build more resiliency to the stressors that may come your way. So, the next time you find yourself overwhelmed with stress or anxiety take a moment to check in with your breathing  and to practice a moment of mindfulness. Below, I included a video of a simple three minute mindfulness breathing exercise that you may find helpful. Give it a try and remember like anything else, mindfulness takes practice.

I hope that you have found this short introduction into mindfulness helpful towards reducing your stress and it brings you some calm today in these uncertain times. I will be back tomorrow with more tips and videos to help you find your happy place.

I am writing this blog to be helpful to you all out there during this turbulent time and am looking for your feedback. I would like to know your thoughts so, please feel free to leave your comments, questions and suggestions under the Contact Me tab at the top of the page. You can subscribe to this blog by clicking on the Subscribe button in the lower right corner. Just enter your email address and receive Self-Care Corner in your inbox every morning. In addition, you can now find Self-Care Corner on Twitter @selfcarecorners, where I will be posting daily affirmations and ways to cope with these changing times. I hope this will help others feel less alone, more relaxed and more empowered to practice self-care. Please remember to wash your hands and stay home if you can, practice social distancing of you can’t to protect the most vulnerable among us.