There are some days when life requires so much of our energy. May it be a nerve-wracking presentation in front of your boss or a pile of laundry sitting on top of your couch at home, wanting to be folded away from sight. We are all living our professional and personal lives which take a toll on our well-being when out of balance.

When these two overlap in ways where it is hard for us to be present, we often feel defeated. That is because, one, we have too much going on, and two, we feel not in control of our lives anymore.

Many have talked about the benefits of mindfulness when applied in daily life and great resources are out there in form of books, talks, and videos. But you know best the reason behind your desire to be better with the help of mindfulness.

Identifying your north star, the reason why you want to start practicing mindfulness, will be of great help in staying consistent with your path. We all come from different walks of life with reasons unique to us, and you might find yourself in one of these below.

I will start practicing mindfulness because…

I want to be calmer and respond to situations appropriately.

I want to gain clarity and be present with what is happening in my life—big or small. 

I want to be mindful of my thoughts and train myself to be emotionally intelligent.

I want to invest in my relationships and give my undivided attention at all times.

I want to perform better at work and be a great leader.

Whatever reason you have, mindfulness got your back. You can break away from constant worrying, overthinking, and feeling lost. Mindfulness can be trained and by doing so, you can access the gift of the present moment.

Mindfulness is not something that happens overnight, but with consistent practice, you can become mindful one day after another through small and actionable routines. In this section, we will walk you through some of the practical and effective ways you can do today to start practicing mindfulness in daily life.

You probably discovered this article through our Mindful Moments card set! This is a new mindfulness product from metaFox becoming which has 55 cards divided into three categories. Learn more about how these cards can help you live a more mindful everyday life as you continue reading.

*The Mindful Moments and Repeat After Me card sets were co-created with a mindfulness expert and life coach, Sabrina Specken. She is the founder of the happy life - Coaching & Mindfulness and has expertise in the mind-body connection.

Starting something new and unfamiliar is not easy. I remember my first attempts at meditation which didn’t always go smoothly. Many thoughts or distractions of any kind came up from time to time while I was sitting in silence. Things like this are normal and part of the process especially when you are set to try something you have never done before.

As a beginner, after defining your why, it is helpful to set a specific routine for yourself. You can get yourself a habit tracker and be clear with your cues and goals. For example, you assessed that you have more time in the morning, meditate for five minutes a day after brushing your teeth. The simple and attainable goal is five minutes a day and your cue is after brushing your teeth. If you want, you can also get a meditation companion, our meditation bench.

Guided meditations are beginner-friendly. If you are someone who does not have any prior experience with meditation, you can start by downloading mindfulness applications like Insight Timer and Atom. One of our recommendations is Stephen Procter’s meditation program. Based on experience, having a voice to guide you while meditating is effective in keeping you on track during your meditation period.

Meditation helps train the mind as self-awareness is one of the keys to mindfulness. Self-awareness can go from being aware of your thoughts and emotions to being mindful of how they affect you and others. This is also the first step to building Emotional Intelligence.

Diving deeper into cultivating self-awareness, you might want to grab your dusty old notebook and start journaling.

Journaling has been one of my favorite forms of self-care. Expressing and capturing your thoughts on paper is liberating. Your journal can be your saving grace at times when your mind is holding on to so many thoughts. Doing so can result in a clutter-free mind and fresh perspectives.

You can start this habit today as long as you have a notebook, journal, or digital notes. Go with writing about your day with some prompts like “what is the highlight of my day?” or “what am I grateful for today?”. If you find it hard to be motivated, you can instead write about something you want and treat your journal as a diary from when you were young.

This mindfulness practice allows you to make sense of your thoughts and gain clarity. The bonus thing is that papers are patient. Think of them as friends waiting for you to tell how your day went. Sitting around a bonfire with faces lighting up against the glowing fire.

We are all as busy as a bee. This desire to be productive and do things right stems from different personal and valid reasons. It may be providing for your family, saving up for that dream house, or pursuing career advancement. Whatever it is, do not forget to take breaks.
 

Intentionally crafting your day where you have time blocks for breaks is a way to cultivate a work-life balance. Have five to ten-minute pauses in between your pomodoros and choose one card from the “Exercises” category.
 

These green cards consist of quick and practical activities that you can do in the middle of your workday. Below is one example.

Mindfulness exercises like this can give you rest, recharge your energy, and make you ready for that next task on your to-do list!

An old but gold saying on habit goes like this..

This means that if you want to be mindful, you have to be committed and do mindful habits regularly. Some of the everyday and seemingly mundane things in life offer you the perfect opportunity to practice mindfulness. Here are some of the orange “Habits” cards.

You can consciously do these routines daily until they occur naturally to you that you can’t eat or listen the same way as before.

An average human being has more than 6,000 thoughts inside of his or her head every single day. Since our brain is made to think, we mostly find ourselves in situations where inner monologues and thought patterns can be overwhelming.

With all the thoughts we tell ourselves, let us try to choose the good ones. This does not mean that we will get rid of the unpleasant ones, with the help of mindfulness, the goal is to make peace with these thoughts and flow with them.
 

Practicing affirmations can guide the brain rewiring process and develop a positive outlook in life. Sometimes, all it takes to come back to the present moment is reminding ourselves that all is well and everything is working out for our betterment.

Some positive affirmations in the red “Affirmation” cards that you can repeat to yourself are the following.

To expand more on your affirmations practice, you can work with our “Repeat After Me” affirmations card set and nurture positive self-talk one card at a time. You can pair it with our free affirmations audio!

We are honored to be with you in taking a step into a more mindful daily life. Use some or all of these tips from us and experience a shift in the way you live your every day. And if all else appears hard to do or you can’t squeeze it into your day, I want to leave something to ponder for you.

Let me quote Chade-Meng Tan in his bestselling book, Search Inside Yourself. All we ask is one mindful breath a day for the rest of your life. That’s it.

Inhale, exhale, now show me your teeth,

Louise from metaFox✨