3446: 7 Ways to Make This Year More Mindful by Melani Schweder with No Sidebar on Intentional Living

This is optimal living daily seven ways to make this year more mindful by Melanie schwaiter with no sidebar dot com and I'm just a molly. Welcome to the podcast where I read to you covering mental health and self help topics like mindfulness happiness productivity and minimalism. We get right to our post for today as we optimize your life.

Seven ways to make this year more mindful by Melanie Schwaiter with no sidebar.com.

A brand new year is upon us, and whether or not you've actually written down a list of resolutions, you're probably hoping that this year will be better than the one behind you. We all want to feel like we're moving forward in a good direction, growing instead of remaining stagnant, experiencing new things, and learning new skills that will make our lives more simple and more meaningful. Doesn't sound too hard, right?

The only problem is that we humans are pretty good at getting into ruts, and not so good at overcoming the inertia created by them. Enter mindfulness. No matter your background, your physical health, or your spiritual beliefs, mindfulness can change your life for the better.

And one of the best parts about it is that it will support and encourage all the other healthy changes you're trying to make. Pair anything with mindfulness from a new nutrition plan to a new work project and you'll see better results. But what exactly is mindfulness anyway? You've no doubt heard it mentioned a lot over the last few years as it has enjoyed quite the social renaissance as of late.

The dictionary defines mindfulness as the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something, or a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations used as a therapeutic technique.

Either way you look at it, to be mindful requires you to be here, to be grounded in your body, to be aware of your position in space, to observe the happenings around you, to be fully engaged with your senses, your words, your thoughts, and the people or things around you. Mindfulness as a practice has been shown to have many great benefits,

Lower stress hormones, greater resilience to stress or conflict, better sleep quality, more fulfilling relationships, improved cognitive functioning, deeper understanding of self, and lower rates of depression and anxiety.

That sounds pretty nifty, right? Now, I'm sure some of you hearing this already have a solid meditation routine, spiritual practice, or other habit that helps you be more present in the moment. Some of you may have tried these things and couldn't make them stick. I'm sure some of you are new at this whole thing. But no matter what your experience is, you'll be able to implement and benefit from at least a couple of things on this list. How to make this year more mindful.

Want some small, actionable steps that you can use to be more present, aware, and grateful this year? Here are seven to get you started.

Number one, make some kind of daily practice. And no, it doesn't have to be meditating or praying or saying affirmations. Think of your ritual as a little thing that acts as a touchstone for each day. Psychologists call this your anger habit. This is something that you practice at roughly the same time every day. And ideally, it doesn't take a huge investment of time

money or energy. You can do something like mindfully make your bed, do three sun salutations, doodle a little something in your sketchbook, complete a round of breathing exercises, or whatever else strikes your fancy.

Number two, put your phone away while socializing. I admit, I struggle with this one. I think most of us do. But there's something that happens during that split second when you're out to coffee with a friend and you instinctively look at or pick up your phone when it buzzes. It creates a separation and you can't get that moment back.

Whoever you are with deserves your full presence and you cannot be mindfully engaged with someone when your phone is sitting on the table. Number three, try monotasking. As more and more studies are coming out about the actual impossibilities of multitasking, there's a movement to reclaim the idea of monotasking or focusing on one thing at a time.

Your brain can actually concentrate better. You'll end up being more productive and likely less stressed when you single-task. Try closing out those dozen browser tabs. Put your tablet away during breakfast or turn off the radio or put the phone down while washing dishes.

Number four, join a mindful community. It's so much more fun to live a mindful life surrounded with people who strive to do the same thing. Look around your neighborhood, community, and city for meet-up groups, spiritual organizations, meditation centers, and other places where you can go to meet like-minded people. One of the greatest benefits in my opinion of mindfulness is the ability to connect more authentically with others, so I'll make the most of it.

5. Really experience your food So many of us eat meals and snacks in a state of extreme distraction and that prevents us from actually tasting it or registering when we're satisfied. Mindless eating has been linked with weight gain, favoring lower quality food.

foods, and general poor health. Give mindful dining a try this year. Put away the distractions, utilize all five of your senses to enjoy your food, and pay attention to when your body says I'm done. 6. Take regular

mindful moments. I admit I'm guilty of hyper focusing and powering through a huge task without taking a break, and my body and mine always tell me it's not a good idea. Taking regular breathers can do wonders for your energy levels, concentration, memory, and preventing burnout.

Set a reminder on your phone, watch, or computer to put your task aside for a few minutes. Use that time to stretch, do some deep breathing, refill your water glass, or do a body scan. And number seven, focus on gratitude.

It sounds cheesy, I know, but it really does work to shift your mindset and help you be more aware of the events of the day. I found that the easiest way to focus on the joy and abundance around me is to keep a gratitude journal. Every night I write down three things that I was grateful for that day or three good things that happened. There are many variations of this, so go with what feels right. And hey, your gratitude journal counts for number one too, making a daily practice.

Mindfulness doesn't need to be something that is esoteric or difficult, and it certainly doesn't require sitting on a meditation cushion for an hour every day. There are lots of little changes that you can make to create a year of intention, presence, and meaning. You just listened to the post titled, Seven of Ways to Make This Year, More Mindful, by Melanie Schwaiter with NoSideBar.com, and I'll be right back with my commentary.

Fees are everywhere these days. From airline baggage charges to ticket processing fees, they all add up. And don't get me started on banking fees. But that's why I love Chime. They actually spot you up to $200 with no overdraft fees when you're running low. Plus, you can get your paycheck up to two days early with direct deposit, no monthly fees, no maintenance fees, and access to over 50,000 fee-free ATMs. What's really cool is their boost feature, where friends can help increase each other's spot-mail limits.

It's like having your friends back financially. To date, Chime has spotted members over $30 billion. Make progress toward a better financial future with Chime. Open your account in two minutes at Chime.com slash old. That's Chime.com slash OLD.

Chime, feels like progress. Banking services and debit card provided by the bank, court bank, NA, or stride bank, NA. Members FDIC. Spot me eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Boosts are available to eligible Chime members enrolled in spot me and are subject to monthly limits. Timing depends on submission of payment file. Fees apply at out-of-network ATMs.

Thank you to Melanie. My brother and I also narrate from her site, which is a brighterwild.com. You can find my brother's podcast. That's optimal health daily. This one relates to something I mentioned from time to time. I went to a personal growth retreat where mindfulness was a huge focus.

And something I learned there that I've been implementing ever since is this daily check-in practice. Super simple, but I think it's really powerful. Every morning, I just take a couple minutes to check in with different parts of myself, like my body, my emotions, my thoughts, and what the best version of myself would do that day. You know, before the retreat, I probably would have thought this kind of practice was a bit too woo-woo, as they like to say.

But I'm finding it really does make a difference in how my day goes. And I think that's what Melanie is getting at here. Mindfulness doesn't have to be this big, complicated thing with hours of meditation. It could be as simple as just being aware of what's going on with us in the moment. And gratitude was also a big part of the retreat I did. At the end of the day, we write down just three things we appreciate about ourselves and three things we're grateful for. I think both of those are important and can benefit us.

So maybe pick one small thing from this list that sounds doable to you. It doesn't have to be anything huge. Even just putting your phone away during meals could be a good place to start. Let me know what works for you. You can always get in touch through oldpodcast.com or by replying to my weekly newsletter. The main thing is just taking that first tiny step. That's what this podcast is all about after all. I'm right there with you trying to be more mindful too. So hopefully we can figure it out together.

With that, hope you have a great rest of your day. Thank you for listening and being here every day. And I'll see you tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits.