Mindfulness practice for the “time-poor”

Have you heard about the benefits of mindfulness and thought that you would like to try it but just can’t seem to find the time? You might be surprised to know that there are many ways that mindfulness can be practiced, some of which do not require you to find any extra time in your day.

Mindfulness merely involves being present in the here-and-now from moment to moment. As such, mindfulness can be practiced any time that you consciously bring your attention to the here-and-now moment and attend fully to your current experience. What this means is that many mundane tasks that you typically perform throughout your day provide an opportunity for you to practice mindfulness. For instance, you can practice mindfully washing the dishes, cooking dinner, taking a shower, even brushing your teeth or applying hand moisturiser. 

You may have noticed that while you are doing these types of everyday tasks that your mind wonders and you are not really focused on the task at hand. This is because with everyday tasks that have become habitual require very little attention to be performed, and so can be done quite mindlessly. However, by intentionally shifting the focus of your attention to the here-and-now moment-to-moment performance of any such simply task, you have the opportunity to practice mindful awareness. 

Practice

So to begin pick a mundane task that you perform each day – brushing your teeth or having a shower are great options that can be practiced at the same time each day as part of your regular routine. Now when you preform the task set your intention to be consciously present moment-to-moment in your performance of the task. Do this by noticing how your body feels while performing the task, notice the movements that different parts of your body may make in space as you currying out the task, notice any sensations that you may feel against your skin, notice any things that you may see, sounds you may hear, or any odours you may smell. 

For instance, for brushing your teeth you may notice yourself picking up the brush and applying toothpaste, you may notice the way your hand and arm move in space as you put the brush to your teeth, you may notice the sensation of the brush bristles as they move against your teeth and gums, you may notice the cool feel of the toothpaste against your tongue, or the taste and smell of the flavour of the toothpaste, etc…

Whilst you are performing the task, it is important to remember that your mind is likely to wander and drift off to thinking about other things (e.g., memories, thoughts, judgements, planning, or daydreams), this is completely normal – it’s what minds do! If you notice your mind has wondered, be careful not to criticise or judge yourself, rather simply notice that it has wandered and gently bring your attention back to your here-and-now experience of performing the task. Every time that you notice that your mind has wandered and bring your attention back to the present moment is itself a practice of mindful awareness!