Daily mindfulness practices

• When you wake up in the morning, you can pay attention to your breathing. Exhale and inhale calmly five times before you get up from the bed.
• How about you do at least one of your morning routines mindful and in peace? Can you, for example, be present in the shower without thinking about the next meeting? How does the water feel on your body? How is the scent of the shampoo?

• How do you encounter others? Can you meet another person so that you don’t evaluate them through your own interpretation? Can you listen to their story in peace without disagreeing or agreeing instantly? Do you have the patience to hear them out and not hasten to say your opinion?
• How do you touch another person? Are your hands present? Can you focus while you shake hands and pause when you look in the eyes?
• When you hear your phone ringing, breathe mindfully three times before you answer.
• Whenever you hear a bird singing, a person laughing, a car honking, or any sound that gets your attention, use that as an anchor for this moment. Pause and listen to what you hear here and now. Could you, at least a few times during the day, spend a little private mindful moment focusing on your breath? Breathe calmly in and out five times.
• While you are having meals, acknowledge what you are eating. You can focus on the food’s aesthetics, structure, scent or taste. Chew mindfully and sense when you are about to be full.
• Wherever you are walking, you can leave your mind’s tales and look around curious and in wonder. Truly see what you are looking at and really listen to what you are hearing. You can also sense your body’s movement and the weight of your steps. Do you feel the breeze in your face?
• While you are waiting for the traffic lights to switch, you can enjoy a little moment of approbative mindful presence and observe the sensations that waiting brings up in you.
• Are you aware of what thoughts you are having and what type of action they guide you to?

Before you go to sleep, you can focus on your breathing. You can calmly watch how the air flows in and out, how your midriff fills up and goes empty. If your worried thoughts start to go in circles, gently refocus your attention on your breathing. It returns you instantly to a mindful state and in the present.