Everyday Mindfulness Tips

A Personal Healing Ritual:

Replace those “shoulds, have tos, always, nevers” by inviting yourself to consider what is truly meaningful to you - what brings you strength and self-compassion.
Identify some simple object (a written word, ornament, nature item, picture) that represents your truth and place it in an easy to spy location.
During times of stress or sadness, allow that object to invite to once again access your innate wellbeing.

Mindfulness Bells:

Identify a sound that typically happens daily beyond your control (phone ringing, dog barking, wind chimes).
When you notice the sound, invite yourself to pause for a moment and open to the experience of breathing, body in contact with floor and/or furniture and sensations (taste, touch, smelling, hearing and vision).

Consider adding mindfulness to your stress reduction strategy:

Begin to notice your tell-tale signs of increasing stress and anxiety (your typical thoughts, sensations, emotions and behaviors)
Also take notice of the well practiced ways you typically distract and deny your thoughts, sensations and emotions.
When you notice the above reactions, for a moment, invite your focus to shift to body breathing (the experience of expansion and release in belly and chest).
Consider committing to staying with your breath for three full cycles of inhale and exhale, each one a little more slowly and longer on the exhale
Over time, practice with a longer series of breaths.
At any time, remember you can return to the old strategies of distraction and denial. This is not an either/or approach. Practice and play with the old and the new to develop a broader response to stress and anxiety.