A Simple Mindfulness Technique

So much is demanded of us in our lives. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with work and other life pressures that our heads are either planning for the future, worrying or dwelling on things we could have done better in the past. 

We can’t eliminate stress and anxiety entirely, but we can learn to work with it and declutter our sometimes frantic minds.

Setting aside five to ten minutes a day to practise mindfulness has proven to relieve stress and anxiety by bringing us back to the present and enable us to recognize thoughts and feelings for what they are. 

The history of mindfulness can be traced back for thousands of years with origins in Eastern philosophy, and over the past 40 years, it has been taken up in western societies.

There are several resources available to aid us in our mindfulness. Apps like Headspace and Calm are a great start, with guided, short meditations for all sorts of situations. 

Or, here is one simple mindfulness technique you could add to your daily routine:

• Sit in a comfortable chair with your back straight and feet flat on the floor. Lying down can be relaxing but it might pay to set a soft alarm just in case you drift off to sleep. 

• Gently close your eyes and take 3 nice deep slow breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Then return your breath back to its natural rhythm. 

• What can you feel? Cold air on your skin? Your weight against the chair? Can you smell anything? 

• Check-in with your emotions. How are you today? Are you skittish? Are you tired? Are you tense?

• Start a full body scan, starting from the top of your head going right down to your toes very slowly. You don’t need to change anything, just notice how each part of your body feels. 

• Bring your attention back to your breath. How does the air feel as it moves past your nostrils? Is your breath smooth or does it feel a little rough?

• Start to concentrate on each breath as it fills your chest then belly, and then as it is exhaled. 

• Start to add a count to each breath. It might only be four counts to each inhale at first. As you carry on with this, try to lengthen the out-breath by two counts more than the in-breath. 

• Continue this for around 5 minutes (or as long as you have set aside).

• Once you wish to end your practice, gently blink open your eyes and have a stretch. 

Well done! 

You could start with a two-minute routine every day and gradually increase – some can spend a very long time practising mindfulness but it is recommended to aim for around five to ten minutes a day.