Mind Your Mindfulness

Do you ever get the feeling that you're constantly running around and at the end of the day you don't feel like anything was accomplished? Or that you blink your eyes and your children have grown a foot and you can't remember the last time you just stopped and marveled at them? Or you find that everything you do is done while multi-tasking at something else?

I think a lot of people would agree that in this day and age of technology, speed and efficiency, stopping and taking time to appreciate life in the moment and one moment at a time is nigh on impossible. I've had enough!! I am frustrated and tired with it all. And if I ask myself if I am giving my children the time that I could, I know that a change needs to come.

1, To Do List. Pare it down! How much of it is essential for today? Make a list of daily things you want to accomplish. Include spending time with family, calling friends, eating more fruit, going for a walk and reading to your children before you even think about adding anything else. Everyone can fit these things in, even if you are juggling work and family. It's about time management and getting into good routines.

2, Meditate. Morning meditation is excellent for quietening your mind. It allows you to focus on your daily tasks and you'll find you perform them more efficiently due to your new levels of focus and concentration. If you're not quite there with meditation and you don't think it's maybe for you, how about yoga? Whether you go to a class or you use a DVD at home for an hour, not only are you strengthening, toning and realigning your body, you are also focusing on your breath, taking an hour for yourself and enjoying the post practice relaxation, which has all the same beneficial qualities as meditation and will lead to a more productive day. Not to mention you'll get really bendy! And you will inevitably lose weight, feel better about yourself and often change not just the shape of your body as your muscles lengthen and lean but also your outlook. I know that I have so much more patience and deeper resources of calm when I have done yoga.

3, Mindfulness! Mindfulness itself is a real discipline that takes lots of practice. This is something I have just started in earnest and I know that it will take me a long time to master.