3 Key Mindfulness Practice Tips for Beginners
Mindfulness has been around for a very long time both in concept and practice. As it has picked up in popularity internationally, it’s become a bit of a buzzword - especially in Western cultures. But while the word may be everywhere, it’s not as common to fully understand what it is, how to do it, or even why to do it.
If you search the internet for how to begin being more mindful or for meditation tips and tricks, you’re likely to be hit with 6 million and 2 results ranging from uber specific to way too vague. It’s not really that helpful to be told “try living for the now” or “meditate” when we still don’t know what the heck that means.
So, let’s demystify.
Best mindfulness tips and beginners meditation techniques
First, I want to break down what mindfulness is and distinguish it from meditation because the two get wrapped up in one another very easily!
Mindfulness is the ability to be in the present moment. There’s a lot of fancy, lengthy definitions out there, but they really all boil down to this: being fully in the now. It does not mean being at complete inner peace, it does not mean having no stress, and it does not mean that you will feel wonderful indefinitely once you’ve practiced it. Meditation is a really beneficial form of mindfulness, but it is not a synonym. It is true that as you meditate you are working on becoming more mindful, but they are not one in the same or guaranteed side effects of one another. Think venn diagram instead of two sides of an equation.
How mindfulness works: live in the moment to reduce worrying
If you’ve checked out the blog before, you’re probably well-versed in the idea that our brain can only go in so many directions at one time. Mindfulness (and/or meditating) is a common intervention to help reduce anxiety and stress because if you are focusing on the current moment, you are less able to focus on the stressor or all of those anxious thoughts floating around your head.
The most basic principle is that by staying in the now, aka being mindful, you are redirecting your mental attention away from the stress/anxiety and towards the present reality. Because of this, mindfulness can help us to reduce anxiety, decrease physiological reactions to stress, potentially stop worrying if we’re stuck in a loop, and improve our mood. To learn more about the process of stress physically and mentally and have a more in-depth understanding about why redirection is helpful, check out our blog on anxiety and unconventional techniques to help here!
Meditation tips and tricks
The goal of meditation is to become more aware of yourself and shift your internal response. (Yes, your response to yourself!). As you increase your self-awareness, you will uncover ways you process, reflect, and interact with yourself and the world around you. For most of us, not all of those processes and patterns serve us all of the time. Listen, we’re all doing our best. It’s also really hard to see, let alone step out of, our own patterns. So an important part of this work is being compassionate through your experimentation and growth.
There is no pace things “should” be happening on, no expectations for things to become more aware of, and definitely no predictable outcome of what you might learn and what things in life will change. Let things come to attention and then go from there. What I mean is that it is healthy and human to have a full range of emotions, thoughts, and reactions. Mindfulness and meditation practice works to relieve our tendency to want to brush over less desirable - or what I like to refer as more challenging - experiences simply because they’re not as pleasant to experience.
Doing this is not a place to come from to live for the now. Judging or censoring yourself actively takes you away from what is currently happening and going into the past or imagined realities that come up from anxious thinking. Either way, it's counterproductive. True mindfulness involves tuning into your thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and environment with openness and curiosity rather than judgment.
I encourage everyone I work with to start small. We have this vision of being able to simply sit down, close our eyes, and be able to quiet our brain for 40 minutes without a problem. Then we get to go on our merry way. Yeahhh…that’s not how it works! Can it, for some people? Sure. Is it a starting place for literally anybody? Definitely not. So remove the pressure to embody this specific vision you have. Remember, being mindful simply means being in the moment without judgment.
Aim for 5 minutes and see how that feels. If it’s consistently easy or you find yourself naturally going for longer, increase your time! The person who is meditating for 40 minutes is not having 0 thoughts for 40 minutes. What they are doing is accepting and releasing their thoughts when they arise.
Visualize or think of a wave. We can experience a wave of water, maybe even see it coming, and move with it as it rolls by us. We might feel rocked a bit, but ultimately this is a pretty calming or neutral experience that ends when the wave is past us. If we try to prepare for that wave or even fight it, we’re gonna get rocked and trapped up in that wave. Our thoughts and feelings are the same. As you notice them, acknowledge and release them. You can even say to yourself something along the lines of, “I recognize this thought/feeling about X and am letting it go.”
Another tip for beginners is to be where your feet are. As your mind takes you to a hundred different places, see if you can center and ground yourself more literally. Bring your mind back to the reality your feet are rooted in - not somewhere your mind has taken you. This is signing your own permission slip to take things a moment at a time.
Breaking worry and life down like this can feel a lot more possible and easier to focus on. Bring attention to your breath by identifying each inhale and exhale. Maybe you can focus for a couple breaths and then bring your attention to your body. Are you feeling tension leave your shoulders? Is tightness loosening in your chest? Are you feeling warm anywhere? This is being where you are and living in the now.
A few specific ways to practice mindfulness
With regular practice, mindfulness can provide inner calm, clarity, and insight into your personal values and priorities. What that practice looks like is different for every person. Here are a few specific ways to incorporate mindful ideals into your life.
Mindful eating → Use this natural ritual of daily life to be more present by focusing on your senses. Notice flavors and textures, smells and temperatures, maybe even colors and sounds as you eat.
Eating can actually be quite a mindless activity where we’re just kind of shoveling food in until we’re done in order to move onto the next thing on our list. Experiment with slowing down here. Chew slowly, put down your utensils between bites, and reflect on what is coming up in your body and/or mind. Try to use this as a time to connect with yourself instead of a moment for multitasking.
Mindful movement → Intentionally move your body with focus on connecting with yourself and the surroundings you inhabit.
Mindful breaks → Set reminders on your devices to pause during the day and tune into your present moment.
It’s easy to be “go, go, go” once things get started. Schedule in some time to intentionally take a step back, slow down, and attune back to the reality of the moment. Aim for 2-3 minutes of checking in with your emotions, thoughts, environment, senses, posture. Again, this is not a moment for multitasking; it is for recalibrating.
Wrap up: how mindfulness works
Mindfulness is about training your brain to be more actively aware and present. Becoming more mindful helps to redirect from anxious thinking, reduce stress, improve focus and concentration, boost emotional resilience, and ultimately improve your general mindset on life and enhance relationships. Start with a small and slow mindfulness practice. Really living in the moment is a skill that takes patience and persistence to become more comfortable and capable with. Enjoy the journey of practice as you notice more clarity, calmness, connection, and focus.
If you are wanting to continue and expand on this type of work in therapy to help manage anxiety and stress of life, I’d love to join you! Reach out to me here for us to get started.
As always, take good care of yourself
-Elise