Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 2: Practice Mindfulness
• Part 2 of 2: Find Ways to Be More Mindful
• Tips
• Warnings

It doesn't matter if you study or work, you probably get the feeling from time to time that life is rushing by you. In our daily life, we are easily distracted by thoughts of what needs to be done after work / school, about plans for the weekend, and tasks to be completed. Or perhaps you are stuck in the past and regret a decision you made, would like to do / say something differently, and think about what a particular situation might be if you made a different choice. Thoughts like these can overwhelm your ability to be present and enjoy what you are doing here and now. Learn to live consciously and understand yourself and the world around you deeper. It will help you enjoy the present moment, no matter what you do.

Steps

Part 1 of 2: Practice Mindfulness

1. 1 Be present in the moment. Think about how much time in all your years has been wasted dwelling on the past that you cannot change, or worrying about future events that you cannot predict or change. When you are lost in such thoughts, it brings you tremendous stress and anxiety, especially when you realize that you are completely powerless and cannot influence the past or future.You can change something only now, only in the current moment, and these changes begin with awareness - awareness of where you are, what you are doing, and what is happening around you.
   • Observe what is happening around you without any judgment.
   • Just pay attention to your environment and the events that unfold in it.
   • Try to describe (mentally or aloud) your surroundings and any events in the immediate vicinity. Focus on specific, tangible sensory information.
   • Pay attention to how you fit into the environment. When you breathe in the air around you, walk on the ground, or just sit quietly, admit without judgment that you are temporarily part of this place.
2. 2 Eliminate distractions. There are many things that can distract you from enjoying the moment. In addition to the countless thoughts that pop into your head, electronic devices can easily distract you. Incoming messages, phone calls, emails, and social media updates can all distract you from what you're trying to do. Whether you want to spend quality time with loved ones or just sit in a relaxed atmosphere, your phone (or friends' phones) can quickly and easily ruin the moment.
   • Personal electronic devices such as phones and tablets can distract you from what is happening, whether you are alone with yourself or with friends.
   • Try to schedule time for yourself to use the devices, making time for activities without them. Or just turn off your phone when you want to enjoy a moment alone or with a company.
3. 3 Concentrate on your breathing. Every day, you take countless breaths in and out without even thinking about it. But when you actively focus on your breathing, it helps you live more consciously. Concentrating on the breath has been shown to help calm anxious thoughts and bring attention back to the present moment, which is an essential part of conscious living.
   • Concentrate on the feeling of air as it flows into the lungs through the nostrils and back.
   • Notice how the breath is felt in the nostrils, in the chest and down to the diaphragm (below the rib cage).
   • Feel your belly rise and fall with each slow, deep breath in and out.
   • Every time your attention starts to drift to other thoughts, just bring it back to that feeling of conscious breathing.
4. 4 Ignore fleeting thoughts. It can easily feel like your mind is in control of your thoughts and not you, especially in times of crisis or anxiety. But at such moments, it is important to remember that it is you who decide whether to dwell on a particular thought or not. Through mindfulness practice, you will eventually be able to observe your thoughts and choose whether to dwell on them or let them pass.
   • An important part of being mindful is accepting your thoughts as they are, not judging them, not holding onto them, not resisting them.
   • Remember that your thoughts are irrelevant. They only become meaningful when you give them meaning.
   • Do not try to push away unpleasant thoughts, as this can, on the contrary, focus your mind on the fact that this thought is causing discomfort. Likewise, you shouldn't try to grab onto pleasant thoughts.
   • Imagine that every thought that arises in your head just drifts through your mind, like clouds float across the sky.
   • If you do not like a specific thought, just wait, do not dwell on it, it will slowly pass by and float away.
5. 5 Let go of the past. It can be easy to get lost in memories. There is nothing wrong with enjoying past success or learning from past mistakes, in fact, it even needs to be done.But if you fixate on something that no longer exists or that no longer has anything to do with you, or suffer because you cannot change (for example, you would like to say / do something differently), you only expose stress and anxiety.
   • It must be admitted that there is nothing you can do in the present moment to change the past.
   • When you accept the fact that you cannot change the past, you take away its power over you.
   • Tell yourself, "I can't change the past, so what's the point in worrying about it?"
   • While there is nothing you can do to change the past, it is in your power to control the present. When you live with awareness, you determine how to live in this very present moment.
6. 6 Avoid thinking about the future. You may be thinking about the future with anticipation (for example, looking forward to the weekend) or with fear (for example, thinking about how hard Monday will be when the weekend is over). Yes, ambition for the future that motivates you is good, but if you fixate on the future in any way, you are missing out on your present. It can make good times pass faster, or it can fill you with a sense of dread when you expect something you can't control at the moment.
   • When you think about the future, you lose the ability to be fully present in the present moment.
   • You shouldn't look at your watch, check your phone, or expect something that has nothing to do with what you are doing right now.
   • Instead of getting bogged down in what might happen (or will happen), practice mindfulness and work to be present in the moment.
   • At the moment, you can decide how to act, what to say, which thoughts to stop, and which way of thinking to stick to. The choices you make will affect your future, so it's important to take as much of what you can do here and now as possible.
7. 7 Practice acceptance. You may be tempted to give some definition or assessment of the current moment. You might be thinking how much better this moment than last week. Perhaps you are thinking that this moment could be better if some particular factor was changed. But such assessments can interfere with your ability to consciously enjoy the present moment as it is. Better to work on accepting every moment and letting all emotions and thoughts just be without any judgment or judgment on them.
   • Resist the urge to judge. Giving any rating to a statement or thought can be a judgment, even if you think something is “cool,” “funny,” or “beautiful.”
   • Judgments go beyond people and places. You may be judging the situation you are in, the weather, or even the thoughts that pop into your head.
   • Mindfulness requires you to learn to accept things as they are, without giving them any judgments or judgments. This needs work, but when you learn to accept things in the present, you will feel much calmer and more peaceful.
   • Every time you find yourself judging someone or something, catch yourself on this thought and stop it. Tell yourself, “I will let this thought pass without any judgment,” and try to let go of the thought.
   • Try to understand that if you enjoy this moment as it is, without judgment or desire, it will make much more sense to you. And that meaning will stay with you as a strong, positive memory of the present moment.

Part 2 of 2: Find Ways to Be More Mindful

1. 1 Meditate. The main goal of most meditations is to fully focus on the present moment without being distracted by anything. This may sound easy in theory, but it can take a lot of effort to learn mindfulness meditation. However, whatever effort you put into meditation will reward you with a sense of calm and an expanded vision of the present.
   • You can meditate while sitting in a comfortable position or walking slowly in a quiet place.
   • Concentrate on your breathing. Take deep breaths using your diaphragm. Feel your belly rise and fall with each inhalation and exhalation.
   • Scan your body and note what physical sensations you are experiencing. Perhaps you feel the air flowing through your nostrils into your lungs, perhaps you feel the floor under your feet, you feel calm or, on the contrary, fear / anxiety.
   • Do not judge the sensations that you notice, and do not keep your attention on them. Just acknowledge their existence and let go.
   • Whenever a thought comes to your mind, do not cling to it, but do not push it away either. In the same way as with sensations in the body, you need to acknowledge the existence of this thought and just let it go.
   • Every time you lose focus or get distracted, return to your breath and focus on feeling each breath.
2. 2 Focus on your feelings. In the mind, there seems to be an endless river of thoughts that continuously rushes through it, every moment. Most of the time, these thoughts are helpful and helpful, but sometimes they can be distracting or even harmful. The best way to calm your mind is to focus on what you can observe. Pay attention to specific, tangible sensory information and make your mind focus on what you see, hear, taste or smell, or any physical sensations in your environment.
   • Take a look around and notice the intricate structure of the world around you.
   • Listen to the sounds in your environment. If you are in a noisy place, such as a crowded cafe, try to listen to the constant hum of all voices together instead of trying to pick out individual sounds.
   • Feel the chair / sofa / floor under you and notice how you feel with your legs or buttocks. Pay attention to how your feet touch the floor, how your hands are on your knees, or how your forearms gently touch your sides.
   • Don't force yourself to feel everything around you. If you are fully present in the present, you will notice everything in the immediate environment.
   • When observing your surroundings with your senses, resist the urge to judge. Think of everything that surrounds you that it simply “is” and not “is bad” or “is good”.
3. 3 Try to appreciate the little things. You may be tempted to think of your life as a series of major events, and these events are important. But do not forget that life also consists of countless little things that are available to you every day. One of the easiest ways to enjoy a moment is to be consciously present in that moment and appreciate it for what it is. You can do this every day in countless simple ways to make every moment more meaningful and peaceful.
   • Pause each day to assess the sight, sound, taste, smell, and feel of things.
   • When you shower, pay attention to how it feels when you massage shampoo into your hair or shower gel into your body.
   • Every time you eat, pay attention to your food: how it looks, how it smells, how it tastes. Chew slowly and think about how much water, sunlight, and human labor it took to make this dish.
   • Be fully present in every moment, and then you will learn to enjoy and appreciate every aspect of every moment.
4. 4 Learn to see things from a different perspective. If you are upset with something your friend, family member, or coworker has said or done, that frustration can quickly ruin the enjoyable moment. It's easy to get angry with others when you look at that person's actions from your own perspective. But it should be borne in mind that the choice of this person made sense for him.
   • When you feel that you are upset about the other person, stop and take a step back.
   • Try to think of three positive reasons why the person might have said or done something that upset you. Focus on positive motives, don't say something like “He did this to annoy me” or “He doesn't know what he is doing.”
   • Once you've come up with positive reasons, try to see the situation from that person's perspective. Most likely, he had a rational reason for this behavior, which you may not have seen, because you limit yourself to the framework of your own vision of things.
   • Learning to look at things from the perspective of other people will help you see the situation more objectively and feel calm and present in the present. It will also help you become a more understanding, compassionate person.

Tips

• Try to be always present in the moment, being acutely aware of your thoughts, feelings, words and actions.
• Don't resist the seemingly random thoughts or feelings that wander in your head, but don't get carried away by them either. Just acknowledge their existence and let them pass by without judging or judging them.

Warnings

• Mindfulness is NOT about going into your own world and not paying attention to what is happening around you. This can be harmful and potentially dangerous, depending on your environment. Awareness is full presence in the present, awareness of yourself and your environment.