9 Practical Ways To Cultivate Mindfulness

Trust me, Cultivating mindfulness is one of the best decisions of your life. 

Maybe, you don’t know its value for now, but once you reach a certain level of mindfulness, then you will realize that it was worth making. 

I have been practicing meditation and mindfulness for the last 5 years and have tried every single technique. So, believe me, it has the power to transform your life. 

However, researchers have also proved the benefits of mindfulness, such as improving our mental health, emotional well-being, and functioning. 

Although mindfulness has become famous practice to treat psychological problems, many people use mindfulness to overcome mental stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. 

Related Article: How Can Consistent Mindfulness Help A Person?

But, unfortunately, many people start mindfulness and accept defeat in the ongoing race and can’t maintain their mindfulness practice. The biggest reason behind giving up is they can’t be able to cultivate mindfulness into their habit or routine. 

So,

How To Cultivate Mindfulness?

Mindfulness can be developed by being aware of what you are doing or what is happening around you. Also, it could be cultivated through meditation and the observation of your thoughts, emotions, and sensations without making any judgments. 

Now, Imagine if you have structured your day and develop a routine in such a way that in every activity, you can practice mindfulness. If this could happen, then there is no way of giving up. 

So, In this article, you will know 9 practical ways to cultivate mindfulness in your daily routine.

9 Ways to Cultivate Mindfulness

1) Vipassana Meditation

Vipassana means to see things as they really are. It’s an ancient mindfulness practice rediscovered by Gautama The Buddha, and he used it to attain self-realization or Nirvana. 

Also, It can be used as a tool for self-transformation through self-observation. 

I have been practicing vipassana meditation for the last 3 years, which has helped me to develop self-awareness and mindfulness. 

With the improved self-awareness, I can distance myself from the thoughts and emotions that come and go. Also, it helps me to cultivate mindfulness. 

Vipassana meditation suggests observing deep interconnection between your body and mind. It suggests witnessing the impermanent nature of sensations, thoughts, and feelings that rise and fall in our consciousness.

According to my experience, Vipassana meditation the most effective way to develop mindfulness.

If you want to learn this meditation technique, you can join 10 days Vipassana meditation course at your near Dhamma center. 

2) Mindful Breathing

Breathing is a continuous life process, and you can access it any time at anywhere. But unfortunately, we barely pay any attention to it, so it becomes an unconscious process for us. 

To develop mindfulness, breath is a perfect tool to use. You can bring some awareness to breathing by noticing the depth of the breath, the touch of the air at nostril, belly movement, or inhalation and exhalation process. 

Mindful breathing helps to declutter your mind from mental turmoil and gives some headspace. 

You can practice mindful breathing during the meditation session and anytime when you remember. 

3) Look inside the Mind

This means observing your mind objectively, notice the pattern of thoughts and how they come and go. See how thought affects your mood and behavior. 

Once you are mindful of your mind, your mind becomes calm or produces fewer thoughts. 

Just like mindful breathing, you can be aware of your mind anytime when you remember.

When you practice this regularly, you will become familiar with your mind and know its mechanics. Thus, you could train it for mindfulness and may get some control over it. 

4) Be aware of Surrounding 

This is a mindful practice of observing what is around us or what is happening around us. 

When you go somewhere consciously, pay attention to the things (small and big) and people around you without making any judgments or interpretations. 

For instance, When you are in the garden and wandering in imagination. And suddenly, you remember to practice mindfulness. Then you can start paying attention to tresses, benches, playing kids, people, birds, or anything under your vision. You can focus on one thing or consciously move attention from one thing to another. 

5) Be with yourself

Whenever you have no work, don’t just make yourself busy listening to songs or surfing on the internet or social media. Instead, use this time to cultivate mindfulness by being with yourself. 

Being with yourself means, observe your body, thoughts, feelings, breath, or sensations. Spare some time in knowing who you are? What makes you alive? What keeps your heart pumping? What keeps your breathing on? What is the real purpose of your life? From where did you come, and where are you going? 

Most people find pleasers and happiness in someone or something and completely ignore themself. They have time for their friends, family, kids, and pets, but they don’t have at least a second for themselves. So, make sure you don’t make this same mistake too.  

You should spend some time loving yourself and expressing gratitude for what you have. 

When you do this, you naturally feel stimulated with positivity, and your mind becomes cleansed. Thus, mindfulness will grow within you. 

6) Be inclusive 

We often take the virus of anger, hatred, resentment, or envy and expect someone else to die.

So, when it comes to alleviating poison from the mind for good, the attitude of being inclusive helps you most. Also, it cultivates a positive mindset and healthy behavior too. 

The idea here is to accept any situation and person as they really are, not expect them to behave in a certain way that you want. 

It also includes an emotion of forgiveness and letting the past go into the trash. 

You may ask, what’s the concern of all of these with mindfulness? 

Well, you must understand that mindfulness could be easily cultivated when you have a low burden of negative thoughts and feelings. Isn’t it?

So, when you are told to be all-inclusive and accept a person with whom you are not comfortable means you are asked to declutter your mind from energy-sucking vampires and perpetuate it in a constructive direction. 

Thus, this trick makes you free from compulsion and provides a mindful way to direct your life. 

7) Mindful Walking

From now we will try to expand our awareness (mindfulness) by integrating it with different activities. So here, the first action is mindful walking.

When we walk, we are either in the mess of the past or in the planning of the future. Actually, we are used to walking without the awareness of walking, and this has become our compulsive behavior. Isn’t it?

We all walk from morning to evening to night all day long. So, why don’t we make it as a tool to cultivate mindfulness. 

Now you ask, How?

Well, it’s very simple. When you walk, pay attention to the movement of your feet, legs, and hands. Notice the sensations produced due to contact of feet and shoes, the friction of shoes and surface, and notice the systematic movement of your hands and legs. Also, you can just be aware of your walking. 

Try to rest your attention on any one of these activities or consciously move your attention to these one by one. 

Isn’t it simple? If yes, then flex it.

8) Mindful Eating

Have you noticed that when you are eating, your mind rumble everywhere except staying on the meal, It either in the past or in the future or in a talk with a person seated with you, but not with eating.

So, you take a change from now and pay attention as much as possible in eating by avoiding talking, chatting on the phone, and watching a Tv. 

When you eat, bring some awareness in eating, count the number of chews, smell and taste your food with full involvement. Also, you can observe the chewing process and your jaw or tongue movement. 

Thus, you can develop mindfulness with a simple act of eating. 

9) Speak less

It could be offensive advice, but trust me, when you flex it, it will help you for sure. 

However, It’s ok to speak when it needs to or on some occasions. But, the idea here is to stay quiet whenever possible and not vainly make communicate with others. 

When you apply this practice, you will feel an easiness, deep peace within, and will enjoy a company of yourself. You may fall in love with yourself, and you no longer need to depend on fragile things to make you happy. 

Thus, the feelings of calmness, satisfaction, and joyfulness will build mindfulness in you. 

Related Article: Tips to Build Meditation Habit

When you start practicing these methods of mindfulness, you face the challenge of mind wandering. This happens when you try to hold your mind into practice, and it just wanders away in a fraction of a second. 

So in this condition, don’t get frustrated or anxious. Instead, accept the monkey nature of your mind and keep doing your practices. No matter how many times it is carried away in thoughts, you will be gentle with your monkey mind. Right!!

Also Read: 9 Attitudes Of Mindfulness

Conclusion

Mindfulness is the practice of bringing awareness to what you are doing or what is happening around you without making any judgments. 

It’s not a separate act from what you do; instead, it’s an act of doing things with more awareness and involvement. 

However, there are many external practices and disciplines (as described earlier) to cultivate mindfulness. 

Meditation, breathing practice, observation of thoughts and emotions, being with yourself and surrounding, etc. are those practices and disciplines which arise mindfulness within you. 

Related Article: 8 Mindfulness Exercise

So, If you want to cultivate mindfulness, then start putting these techniques into action one by one, keep patience, and keep practicing; thus, you will succeed. 

Finally, the best of luck, my Mindful friend. 

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