As much as many of us choose to overlook it, there are a lot of things currently in our lives that are self-sabotaging our success.

We sit in chairs all day long, we eat processed foods and we face constant stresses from work, our Relationships, our finances, and more. 

What’s more, we are constantly in demand, ‘plugged in’ and ‘stressed out’. 

Our phones are always ringing, texts are always coming in, we get a new e-mail every two minutes… And even when most of us aren’t working, we are still on Technology or multi-tasking, which means we’re still unable to really decompress.

Is it any wonder that our mental wellness is in such a state right now? 

So what can YOU do to change this?

Start a mindfulness practice!  And NO – you don’t have to be in a quiet zen spot, sitting cross-legged on a mat.

Using Mindfulness to Escape Modern Stress

Mindfulness simply means directing your attention in a purposeful manner. 

Sometimes this will mean focusing on your thoughts or the people and conversations you are in. In other cases, it will mean simply being more focused on your breathing and your environment through your senses. Even just a 1-minute practice a couple of times a day will start to make an impact.

Either way, the idea of mindfulness is to enjoy calmness and stop the incessant chatter of your mind. 

When you are completely engaged with your surroundings, or when you disengage from the negative chatter and constantly running to-do list in your head, it provides you with relief from Stress and allows you to simply relax and recover.

Mindfulness for Concentration

What’s more, practicing mindfulness is also the perfect tool for improving concentration. 

Mindfulness forces you to develop a ‘mental discipline’ that can be hard to come by in today’s hustle culture. Too often, most of us have 20 different things jockeying for our attention. Also, while we may believe multitasking makes us more productive (in fact – it doesn’t)  we’ve also become much worse at focusing on one thing for extended periods of time. 

This may make it harder to read a large passage of text for instance, or to work without feeling like you need to continuously check Facebook.

Again, mindfulness is the perfect remedy. In mindfulness, you are tasked with focusing on your environment, your thoughts, or your feelings for an extended period of time. And as such, you improve your own focus and mental discipline.

How to Start a Basic Practice

To help you start a practice, I want to go back to the basics of the 1-minute practice.  

1. Simply set a reminder on your phone to go off at various times throughout your day.

2. Then set a timer at that moment for 1 minute.

3. For that minute, you can focus on your breath, notice your senses (what you see, what you hear, etc), and maybe even some muscle tension release (i.e. shoulder shrugs, etc.)

Even setting aside that 1 minute, 4-5 times a day will help to reduce stress, improve focus, and increase calmness. 

So what’s stopping you?  

Let me know if you have any questions, as well as how your practice grows – I’m here to support you and cheer you on!

Originally Published on https://www.bestdlife.com/blog

Daniela Wolfe Burnout Prevention Specialist, LMSW

Daniela helps stressed and burnt-out professionals set themselves up for success by overcoming stress and burnout, productively managing daily tasks with ease, and having the time and energy for self-care every day!
She has been an LMSW for 27 years, focused on self-care, stress management skills, mindfulness, relationships, parenting, and managing all the chaos of life.
Her mission is to empower you to prioritize yourself on your to-do lists and learn the strategies to makeover your daily life.