We can all agree we live in a stressful world. Work, bills, the environment, even conflicts in our communities… Sometimes it feels like we have no control over our life, and that helplessness can easily become overwhelming. When those bad feelings creep in, practicing mindfulness is one of the most effective countermeasurements.
However, we can’t always go on a retreat just to reconnect with ourselves. So, here are seven ways to practice mindfulness at home.
How to Practice Mindfulness
Practicing mindfulness is not as complicated as some gurus try to make it seem. Fundamentally, mindfulness practice is here to help you understand a few things:
- Where you are in life
- Your biggest challenges and concerns
- Your most precious assets and advantages
- What truly matters the most to you
- Where your negative emotions are stemming
- What stimulates your positive emotions
- What are the most valuable goals to you
Practicing mindfulness is about beign consistent, honest, and objective with yourself and your surroundings. Therefore, you should always start with a safe environment: and what’s safer than your home?
Keep a Journal
Journaling is one of my secret to staying mindful most of the time. Don’t go with cheap composition books. Instead, treat yourself to a journal with a design that connects with you and high paper quality. If you want, you can get one with a lock, too.
Start with logging your thoughts and experience daily, even if it’s only one or two paragraphs. As time go by, you will discover the best frequency and length for journaling.
House Plants
Who doesn’t like refreshing plants and colorful flowers at home? Plus, there are plenty of air purifying plants that will physically make you feel better, too. Studies have shown that houseplants can help people be more connected to their space and improve your mood. If you don’t believe you have a green thumb, start with air plants, purple hearts, or spider plants. Even a black thumb can keep them alive!
Develop a Self Care Routine
Weather it’s a weekly salt bath or a fifteen minute session with your shiatsu foot massager, having a self care routine is a great way to practice mindfulness to reduce stress and anxiety. Other ways of selfcare include:
- Cooking yourself a good meal
- Buy yourself presents
- Taking naps
Basically, self care means making yourself feel loved, cared for, and valued. Validate yourself and understand that you deserve a comfortable and happy life is the first step to mindfulness.
Practice Zen Meditation
Meditation is a great way to practice mindfulness at home. It helps you to connect with yourself and reflect on things that’s been bothering you.
If you’re not used to meditating, try to start with natural sounds or low-fi music in the background. These frequencies are known to create calmness and boost concentration. Our MYST humidifier also comes with guided meditation presets while finetuning your environment.
Grounding Practice
If you’re practicing mindfulness for anxiety, you should learn a few grounding practices. These are simple methods used to manage your mental health. If you’re familiar enough with these methods, you can even stop a brewing panic attack or breakdown.
Usually, grounding practices begin with reaffirming where you are. A popular one you’ve probably heard of is naming three of each things you can see, touch, and smell.
Find a New Hobby
Neuroscientists have proven that hobbies rewire your brain and help break negative thought patterns. However, don’t let others push you around and turn your hobby into a new hustle. Sometimes we just need to have fun without any secondary agendas.
Get Into the Nature
If you’re not the outdoorsy type, that’s totally fine. Get into the nature can be as simple as sitting in the sun for a few minutes each day, or taking a stroll in your neighborhood. When you’re out, we also recommend you to put your phone away. It might feel weird at the beginning, but having some offline time outside can sometimes open your eyes to important things you’ve been neglecting.
The Benefits of Practicing Mindfulness
Remember how we talked about new year anxieties? The biggest benefits of practicing mindfulness is that it reduces your stress, improves your patience, and helps you fight depression. If you practice mindfulness at home, you’re likely to have way fewer fights with your families or partners. Even if you live alone, mindfulness can help you stay calm during busy weekdays and find joy from small things.
