Health is truly a blessing. All your riches and assets stand worthless if you’re not healthy enough to enjoy them. So, the maxim, “health is wealth” stands entirely. But a question arises: how do we ensure health? It surely doesn’t come through money, property, or a mansion. If it had been, then wealthy celebrities like Robbin Williams and Kurt Cobain would not have committed suicide, after all, that had all the materialistic affluence that one could ever imagine. Entirely unaware of the reason for their tragic death, one thing is sure they lacked inner peace, the real promise of health.
Gautama Buddha rightly said, “Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
That’s true. Inner peace is driven from inside, and not from the outside world. The practice that teaches and ensures you can find peace within you is called mindfulness. Mindfulness is about being aware of everything you do and every thought that passes through your mind. It gives you a sense of calm and serenity when you introspect the acts and thoughts within you. Here are five ways mindfulness brings inner peace and rewards you with healthy living.
Mindfulness While Eating
When we are eating or drinking, it’s an ideal time to be mindful. We can observe every moment while eating. When we eat, we observe every bite we take, slow down a bit and we will feel relaxed when our focus shifts from eating to digestion. Our body will accept the food or drink we take. During the practice, we will begin to eat less. Eating less is one of the qualities of a healthy lifestyle.
How Mindfulness works: Be focuses on your body and the food when you begin to eat. Be conscious of the food and every bite you put in your mouth. See the food and be aware of its color, dressing, taste, and essence. You can chew it and sense the taste it unleashes in the mouth. Take a moment before you put in your next bite.
Mindfulness While Walking and Jogging
We mostly walk through our journey in a rush. We have so much urgency to reach a destination that we don’t pay attention to our surroundings while we walk. We can always put mindfulness in practice while walking. It just makes the experience of walking and jogging more real for you, and you can sense the serenity while walking.
How mindfulness works: When you’re going out for a walk, don’t just go on hopping. Begin by sensing your breath, feel the increasing intensity of it while you continue walking. See the road till the end, and feel the chirping of birds. Observe every step you take and feel the pressure of foot falling on the ground. Watch the movement of hands, and arms; observe how you’re sweating. Be conscious of every sensation within you.
Mindfulness While Performing Household Chores
While we work at home performing different chores, we tend to get frustrated as we have to perform various tasks at a time. Mindfulness allows us to be aware while performing every minute task such as cleaning the house, washing clothes, and setting clothes in the wardrobe. Mindfulness, at the same time, disallows multi-tasking and expects us to pay attention to every task we perform.
How mindfulness works: When you’re cleaning the sofas and chairs, notice the sound of cloth hitting the couch, and see how dust is being removed. Be conscious of how you’re moving your hand over and again to take dirt off the things. You have to do it slowly. Make sure; your attention is towards the task of cleaning. Mindfulness during cleaning reduces stress and depression. You need to practice it to be perfect.
Mindfulness While Driving
This is the task that we often do either for going to the office or going to market to purchase things. We often don’t remember things that came across us all the way driving to home. This is because we are less mindful during driving. Mindfulness can best be practiced while driving.
How Mindfulness Works: You sit in the car. Turn off the music, and your cell phone. Try not to get distracted by things within the car. Watch the surroundings closely, have the sensation of your feet on pedals. Let the mindfulness make you observe the movement of the car and in surroundings. You will feel much relaxed and stress relieved rather stressful as you would be before practicing mindfulness.
Mindfulness At Work
Putting mindfulness in action at work is a tough task but very much doable. We often experience distractions during work because of multiple tasks, heavy work load, and phone calls and emails make almost impossible to complete work in time. Mindfulness helps you maintain focus, save energy, and complete the work before time. The whole process of doing work while practicing mindfulness is quick and easy. It leaves you a lot of time to perform additional tasks.
How Mindfulness Works: Mindfulness requires you to perform one task at a time. Once you choose to do a particular task at a time, make sure your attention remains intact. For example, if you’re writing a blog, make sure your browser is off, cell phone at arm’s length, and put your energy on writing a blog only. Once you’re done writing, introspect within your body. You will feel much relaxed and energized enough to take on another task. Mindfulness increases your attention span, focus capacity, and ability to work effectively.
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Featured Image Courtesy: Flickr via Thomas 8047 (www.flickr.com/photos/93482748@N02/)
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