Mindful Moments 1.3

March’s Mindful Moments to help bring gratitude and perspective to appreciate your everyday life.

• Remember that today is a gift

  • When you wake up, feel lucky to be alive. When you open your eyes, be grateful that you can see. You have the ability to see colors, faces and beauty every day. Most of us can still walk and move on our own. So if you have legs that work, use them! Appreciate your abilities for many others in the world are not as fortunate. We are each given the gift of today to spend time with loved ones and to experience the beauty around us if we chose to see it.

• Give your presence

  • Giving our full attention to someone is a very valuable gift that is often overlooked. Being fully present with someone is a sign of love, appreciation and respect. When someone is talking, are you thinking about something else? Are you moving around taking care of other things? Even if you are distant from a loved one, you can still share your presence with words and gestures via the internet or phone. Let those that you care for know that you are there.

• Prepare a morning ritual

  • This can be anything: brewing a cup of coffee, skincare routine, meditation or yoga practice etc. But make it a ritual by making it sacred to you. Create a nice space that you enjoy coming to, look thoughtfully at your materials and value their presence. Make each movement considerate as you gently place each item back in its place and methodically move to the next step. Take slow breaths so as not to rush through and smile as you enjoy each moment of your ritual.

• Use a timer

  • Be more aware of how you spend your time so you can properly allocate your energy to things that feed you. You can do this two ways: Use a timer to limit yourself to a certain activity like watching TV, social media or even sitting. When the timer goes off, it’s time to stand up and change positions. You could also use a stopwatch if you know you’re going to continue with an activity and use it as a gauge and track the activity throughout the week. There are apps on your phone to help tract your usage of certain apps or phone usage in general.

  I hope you find these Mindful Moments useful and incorporate them into your month. I like to pick one that resonates most with me and try doing it every day for at least a week. Let me know how it goes!