Are stress and anxiety getting to you? Do you want to find ways to help calm your mind and cope with stress in a healthy way? Mindfulness activities are a great way to clear your mind and help to focus so you can face life’s challenges cool, calm, and collected. These mindfulness activities are a great place to start.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is being in the moment, focusing on what you are thinking and feeling at that moment without worrying about the past or future. It is giving your mind a break from stress, judgment, and fear. While you can practice mindfulness as a form of meditation, mindfulness can come from a host of activities. Anything that helps your life at the moment.
10 Mindfulness Practices For Beginners
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1. Take deep breaths – This mindfulness activity is a classic form of meditation where you focus on each deep breath as it flows in and out of your body. Focusing on your breathing is a great way to calm your mind quickly, allowing you to relax the tension in your body and prepare yourself to face what is going on with a clear mind. Try closing your eyes and taking ten deep breaths focusing on each intake, and exhale as you count.
2. Read a book – Reading is a great mindfulness activity. When you are reading, you do not focus on your own thoughts and struggles but on the world that flows from the author’s mind. This allows you to escape your one head for a bit. Grab a book and find a comfy place to relax so that you can calm yourself and relax your body. When you put the book down, you should be much calmer and ready to cope with what is going on with a clear mind.
3. Go for a walk – When you go for a walk, you get away from whatever is stressing you out, be it work or home with your family. A simple walk gets you a few moments to breathe fresh air and think without all of the distractions around you. In the warmer months, a walk exposes you to green plants like the grass and trees that have been proven to help fight anxiety and depression. For the best results, take time to step away from home and find a nice park or trail to walk along.
4. Take care of yourself – Self-care is not just some new buzzword. It is a legitimate tool for your mental health. Brushing your hair, painting your nails, or even a simple hot shower can all be great mindfulness activities that take your mind off your problems and give you the opportunity to clear your mind so you can make healthy choices.
5. Workout – Exercise is a great tool for fighting stress, anxiety, and depression. When we work out, we release hormones that help balance our emotions and make us feel better. While working out, you are focusing on what you are doing rather than what is bothering you. Each footfall, each breath, each lift takes focus and attention, allowing you a great tool for keeping your mind off of things for a bit.
6. Color – Adult coloring books are growing in popularity because this is a great mindfulness activity to help relieve stress and anxiety. Find a relaxing coloring book and some smooth gliding colored pencils or gel pens and let the creativity flow. Unlike other forms of art, coloring doesn’t take talent, so anyone can enjoy this great mindfulness activity.
7. Create – That said, if you are the artsy type when you need a break from life, going and creating art is a great way to work through emotions and refresh the mind so it can better cope with life.
8. Work in the garden – The microbes in soil have been proven to be viable to our mental health, and taking time to work in the garden helps get you some fresh air while taking your mind away from the things that stress you out in life. Plant new flowers, weed the garden, or find a more strenuous job like lugging around fresh mulch to help with your garden problems.
9. Watch the sky – Spread out a blanket and lay down to relax and stare up at the sky. This can range from watching the clouds pass by during the day or stare up at the twinkling stars at night for a great way to relax and clear your mind. The night sky can be particularly relaxing on a clear night.
10. Write in your journal – Sometimes, the best way to clear your mind and help return your focus is to write down what is distracting you. If you really want to distract your mind, try your hand at writing fiction and take your mind to a whole new world of your imagination.
When we take the time to practice mindfulness, we give ourselves a break from the things that stress us and allow our minds and bodies to calm down and relax. Mindfulness activities are great for dealing with stress and anxiety in your everyday life.