Creating Calm through Mindfulness

Mindfulness. It’s a practice I’ve integrated into my life that I simply love.

As a busy mom, my mind is constantly being pulled in different directions. There’s a lot going on inside of my home!

Sometimes, my nervous system gets overwhelmed and I need to take a short breather. One of the best ways to ground myself is to be mindful.

Mindfulness involves paying focused attention to the environment around you. Mindfulness is grounding, and it can help our heart and nervous systems to slow down when they are overwhelmed.

It can also help alleviate worry. While focusing our attention on one thing only, problems have a hard time working themselves into our heads.

There are many tools that we can use to become more mindful, one of which is journaling. Journaling can help us focus our minds on what we want to accomplish during the day, without overwhelm.

I’d love to share a short morning and evening exercise with you. Hopefully, this will be easy to fit into your day, even if you are a busy woman like me.

First of all, choose an affirmation for the day. I have a bag that contains several of my special things, one of which are affirmation cards. For example, my affirmation for the day might be:

I am a vessel of kindness of peace.

When I accept myself as I am, I am better able to grow into who I was made to be.

I usually repeat my affirmation to myself a few times. I feel calmer already!

Next, decide on a focus. What do I want my day to be about? I usually think of an underlying theme. Do I need to practice being patient? Or perhaps it is a day I’ve dedicated to rest, and I need to focus on self-care.

Then find five things around me, and think about them. This is a simple mindfulness exercise, which will prepare me to practice mindfulness throughout my day. I ask myself a few questions. What do they look like? Why do I appreciate them?

Before this short morning time is over, jot down a few goals for the day. By now, I am calm and focused. I’m able to see with more clarity what I need to accomplish.

Throughout the day, I practice mindfulness as much as I can. I pay attention to what people are saying to me, and my reactions. I take time to appreciate the details of the things around me, and try to savor my food. I’ve discovered that living this way creates so many more memories than when we go through life mindlessly.

At the end of the day, I go back to my journal for a super short writing session.

First, list a few of today’s accomplishments. Every day contains them, no matter how small. Be kind to yourself and think of what you accomplished, even if it’s just washing a load of laundry for your family. Everything you do is important.

Next, think about today’s challenges. What didn’t go as I’d planned? I think of changes I can make to make the day go better next time.

Finally, brain dump anything you’d like to remember. Knowing that our thoughts are written in a journal will help us to release these them so we can sleep better at night.