5 Ways You Can be Mindful without Meditating
By: Jenny Mk
Tags: Mindfulness, Meditation, Stress Management, Wellbeing, Stress

By Jenny MK

Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash

We all wish we had time to meditate on a daily basis. Sure it sounds pretty easy — just find 10–15 minutes a day and meditate away. I found myself committing to meditating every day, succeeding for a while, and then reality happened and I was too busy to stick to it for the long run.

Well, in some cases it can be easy, and we can find the time to really commit to a daily meditation session. But there are times in our lives when we feel a moment cannot be spared for our own wellbeing … sad? yes! understood? of course! Is there something that might be done to be mindful when we have no time to meditate? I believe so!

We are so busy in our modern hectic lives, sometimes we find little to no time to invest in our own mental wellbeing. Nonetheless, we have a rational understanding of its benefits, we sometimes fail to priorities it above other daily routines that are considered more important. Why do we do that? well, that is a subject for a different post (let me write it down please).

Now, let us focus on what we can do when we can’t find the time or in other words, can’t prioritize meditation above other tasks.

Even though it is still recommended to try and be consistent and find time to meditate as often as possible if you want to reap the benefits of mindfulness, If you find yourself too stressed out to find the time to meditate, try to be mindful whenever you get the chance to.

I tried these small mindful moments and felt it was helping me to be calmer even without meditating daily.

1. Mindful breathing

Breathing is the basic and most essential concept of mindfulness. It is the most common tool every mindfulness savvy person has in their toolbox. Why? because breathing is always available, and when you focus on it, it helps you relax and become present at the moment, taking a break from chasing your thoughts. It is obvious that conscious breathing can become the go-to helper for mindful moments when you can’t meditate. Just take several breathes wherever you are, and focus on the way the air comes in and out of your body. After several breathes you will become more present and therefore more mindful and calm.

“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

2. Mindful Eating and Drinking

Here is another mindfulness tool that you can always find time for, that is of course if you eat and drink during your day, do you? If the answer is — Yes, you can “Multitask” and eat and be mindful at the same time… sounds hard? At first, it’s not easy, because we are used to thinking about anything other than food when we eat. If you focus on every bite you take, the texture and the flavors of the food - you will enjoy it more, be mindful at the same time, and perhaps even won't overeat. Drinking is similar but can be practiced even more often than eating. Notice how the water/tea/coffee tastes and how it becomes part of you in seconds. Everything to do with connecting to our senses makes us instantly more present. More about this in section 4.

Photo by Niclas Illg on Unsplash

3. Mindful work

When we get stressed during work, trying to handle several tasks at the same time, we can become so anxious and overwhelmed that focusing will become very hard.

“Staying constantly sharpened can wear out the blade” ~Lao Tzu

If we take a few breathes and try to regroup to see what is the most important thing to focus on at the moment — it will bring us back to the present. Even several minutes with our eyes closed can calm the mind and help us refocus. Staying present and focused on one specific task at a time, will help to reduce the stress around the other tasks that will be handled in the future. Writing down the future tasks will clear your mind and will prevent you from holding them in your memory and help you be less stressed.

4. Mindful connection to the senses

Our senses are sometimes almost blocked by stress or other emotions, but paying attention to our senses will allow us to head back to the present. How? the moment we focus on the input of one or several senses, we are immediately connected to our body and thrown out of our heads.

Try focusing on the touch of the floor beneath you, on the keyboard or smartphone in your hand, or on the sounds around you — the cars or better the birds outside. Sitting in the same room for several hours (especially when working from home), we become used to the sounds our computer or the Air conditioner make, sometimes only after turning it off we notice the sound of silence. Try to focus on the sounds around you every once in a while… It will amaze you how easily we ignore it when we are busy and stressed.

One of the most powerful senses is of course the smell. Focus on the smell of something — like coffee. Focus on one object that you see in your surroundings. This intentional activation of your senses will trigger your “Mindfulness muscle”.

Feel the sensations of what is happening in your body and become aware of your senses.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

5. Mindful of your feelings

one of the best metaphors for “Thought cathing” I have ever heard in regards to meditation was the “Next to the driver seat” metaphor. When you feel the mind is being taken over by thoughts and feelings— pretend you are driving a car and imagine that next to the driver seat the person that is sitting is also you but it’s you having a panic attack, being very stressed, or any other feeling you might feel. Imagine you are looking at yourself being overwhelmed with those emotions and just let it happen, acknowledge what your other self is experiencing and you will soon see those feelings are no longer taking over you. The most important idea here is not to dismiss your feelings, but give them space and observer them from the side…you are the one in control, you are the one driving the car, not your feelings.

Why do these ideas help? When we train our brain to notice moments in the present, we simulate the action that is made when meditating. Think about meditating like an exercise that we can’t find time to do every day. When we practice our mindful moments several times a day on different occasions and situations, we do short spontaneous exercises instead of one long one. Of course, it is more effective to do them in addition to meditation — but let’s get real: when we don’t have time for the real thing, small moments of mindfulness are better than nothing.