Top tips to better your mindful practice

A calm mind is a useful mind, and practising mindfulness can help you to become a calmer and more productive person. Well-known to boost positivity, improve focus and reduce stress, the practice of mindfulness is a daily habit achievable by anyone. But, what exactly is it, and how do you do it?

To put it simply, by practising mindful living, you are becoming more aware of the immediate present. In a busy world your attention can be thinly spread across multiple things, from your worries and stresses at work, to staying up to date with your social media. With so many different things consistently on our minds, we can then becoming engulfed in obsessive thoughts about past regrets or fretting about future possibilities. And those thoughts can lead to anxiety. Yet no matter how far our thoughts have strayed, we can use mindful practice to collect our thoughts and focus on the present.

Mindfulness techniques and tips

The good (and bad?) news is that there is no one correct way to practice mindfulness, and no one technique will work for everyone. Regardless of the technique, the goal of any form of practice is to achieve a state of alert, focused relaxation by paying deliberate attention to all mental thoughts, emotional feelings and bodily sensations.

Mindfulness Meditation
Get your om on. Meditation can help to manage stress and boost compassion, focus, empathy and patience. By clearing the mind and relaxing the body, you can increase the quality of your awareness and mindfulness. Different types of meditation can include Body Scan Meditation, Sitting Meditation and Walking Meditation.

Mindful Massage
Concentrating on deep breathing and visualisation during a massage treatment can help to further relax the body and de-clutter the mind. Try to stay as present as possible throughout the session.

Mindful Yoga
Think back to the last time you experienced a yoga class and found your mind drifting during particularly difficult or painful movements. Stop! In mindful yoga, focus more so on your breathing and feel every movement in your body.

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