Wellness
Mindfulness Tips to Stay Intentional, Focused, and Aligned in 2021
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Anybody else feel the challenges of 2021 already? It’s here with full force and the energies following it are no different. As we all acclimate, re-ground, re-center, and re-energize, it’s going to be more important than ever to bring intentional mindfulness into this new year. Intentional mindfulness is all about, you guessed it, intention and being mindful!
We’re all guilty of our routines and habits running our lives at one point or another. We’re all guilty of being attached to our schedules and our to-do list. We’re all guilty of running on a loop every now and then. As the energies of 2021 continue to shift, we get to ask ourselves the intentions of why and how we are participating in the places we are participating in, the thoughts we are thinking, the habits we are cultivating, and the communities that we are a part of. This intention and mindfulness process can not only shift our own experiences but of those around us as well.
Here are a few tips to bring in intentional mindfulness into your daily life:
1. Develop a breathwork practice.
Breathing is the life force. It regulates our anxiety, stress, depression, sleep, happiness, mood, and everything else that you can legitimately think of. As we lean into more intentional mindfulness in 2021, the first thing we need to be intentional and mindful about is ourselves. Tapping into a breathwork practice that allows you to notice how you are feeling in the now, in the present, will change the way your body, mind, and energy processes and reacts to whatever is happening around us. I’ve shared a few easy methods here and you can experience guided breathwork here.
2. Practice intentional journaling.
Dear diary. No, I’m just kidding. But also, this.
There are different ways to journal, of course. Writing out your day-to-day, what happened, what you experienced, and giving the play by play in writing is one way to go about it. But bringing intentionality into your writing practice or your journaling practice is about being very specific about what it is that you are writing about at this time.
Are you manifesting? Are you problem-solving? Are you venting? Are you brain dumping? Are you expressing? Whatever it is that you’re doing, bringing an intention into your journaling practice can change this into an intentional mindful experience.
Try giving yourself a prompt or a topic before you start. This is going to help you deep dive into one specific topic, the thought, or the idea that you are working with. Other things may come from this topic, but you’ll be able to peel off the layers in a deeper way by sticking to the intention of what you are writing about.
3. Practice observing.
Another big lesson for 2021 is a lesson in observing. It literally doesn’t matter what you want to observe. It could be a sound, a color, a person, a feeling, an emotion, a thought—anything. Whatever it is, take deep breaths and explore this particular thing. What is it? What are the textures and sensations? What is the shape? Notice the subtle differences. Observe your relationship with observing. Do you feel calm? How’s your breath? Do you feel impatient? Do you want to move on? What thoughts float through?
Nothing to do. Just notice.
If you’d like to try breathwork, mindfulness, or play classes with me, check out these workshops and training sessions that work with your schedule. For other breathwork classes, browse Mindbody.
