5-Minute Mindfulness Practices for Busy Lives

5-Minute Mindfulness Practices for Busy Lives

    Life is busy. Whether its the demands from work, school or home. Our society seems to be structured to keeps us going all of the time. With that busyness we burnout, get stressed and forget the important things. Sometimes we need to take a break and re-center ourselves.

    Being mindful is choosing to be present in the moment you are currently experiencing. Not dwelling in the past or worried about the future. 

    Choosing to be mindful and being present allows you to put down the baggage of yesterday and worries of  tomorrow. When life is already busy and demanding being present is the healthiest way to process life.

Some methods for mindfulness  are

Grounding 

Imagine you’re in a ‘happy place’.  I have many, a field of sunflowers or a tree by a stream. 

Tune into your senses 5-4-3-2-1 technique where you list:

• 5 things you can see
• 4 things you can touch
• 3 things you can hear
• 2 things you can smell
• 1 thing you can taste

Breathwork

• The 4-7-8 breathing exercise

• Box breathing

Meditation 

Pause and observe your thoughts

    In 2020 life was very difficult. I found myself imagining I was in a happy place whenever life felt to heavy to hold. Over the years the happy place or places have changed and evolved based off of my internal emotional needs. I highly encourage utilizing your imagination to give yourself a moment to feel safe and breathe. 

I got into meditation and breath work then as well. I love the 4-7-8 method. It pulls your focus into the moment you are in.

There are so many benefits for choosing to be mindful. 

Some noted benefits from the  American Psychological Association are:

• Reduced Stress
• Reduced negative thinking and rumination
• Boosts memory
• Boosts focus
• Reduces emotional reaction
• Improves relationship satisfaction
• Immune function
• Improvement to well being
• Increases empathy
• Increases compassion
• Decreases anxiety and depression

"I have really focused on mindfulness. That helps me make better choices both physically, psychologically, and emotionally."

-Kathy Bates

Take 5. 5 minutes to breath, 5 minutes to ground, 5 minutes to re center yourself in the moment you are living. Live life in the now. Embrace it.

Image credit to - geralt - Pixabay.com

Positivity in Quotes

 Positivity in Quotes

Quotes are our link to others who have lived, loved and lost.

    I started my YouTube channel years go when I was going thorough a really hard time. I wanted to send a message to the world that there is still good in the world even when life seems hopeless. A message that says you are not alone. I began making daily videos each with a single quote. I feel like adding quotes from people from all of the world, different walks of life and living from different times still shows that no matter how much the world around us changes, we are still human. Humans having human experiences. 

Quotes that boost positivity works like affirmations but with human experience reinforcing it.

    Quotes are a lifeline to other people. People who have lived through whatever were going through or worse. They are the light at the end of the darkness. Wisdom, patience and kindness can be found in the words of others, if we choose to listen. Beacons of hope.

    Some people like to buy those daily calendars that each day has an inspirational quote. I like to visit brainyquotes.com. There are other websites full of quotes but for the last few years it has been my favorite. Write down quotes from your loved ones.

When in need of inspiration

• Buy a daily quote calendar
• Look online for topic specific quotes
• Keep a journal page of quotes you like and resonate with

    Doing my daily quote videos helped me. It helped brighten my days when they weren't so good. They helped bring positivity to friends and loved ones who saw them. Kind and wise words from others is like a beacon in a dark world. A practice I plan to begin again.

"People who don't like inspirational quotes are the people who read them, but don't actually comprehend them or take them to heart."

-T. J. Watt

    I encourage you to search out the quotes and words of others. Hear the meaning. See the lived experience in the letters. Allow the encouragement from someone passed to give courage for your future. 

Live happily, bravely and positively. One day leave behind your own quotes for others to live by.

Get your free Quotes worksheet here!!