For us at Spirit of Eden, mindfulness is one of the most important principles overall. But what does "mindfulness" actually mean? And does mindfulness have a measurable effect? On this page, we would like to explain our understanding of mindfulness and show you how you can become a more mindful person starting today.
1. Mindfulness: Introduction & Definition
2. How does mindfulness work?
3. Exercise for beginners
4. Different mindfulness techniques
5. Conclusion: Your personal path to mindfulness
6. Bonus: Jewelry for more mindfulness
Introduction & Definition
Many associate mindfulness with a state of ultimate silence. They imagine a person sitting in a lotus position on the floor, meditating for hours, and then starting the day balanced and smiling happily.
No question - meditation and quiet can be part of mindfulness. But for us, mindfulness is much more. It is a moment when you feel completely alive and fully connected with yourself and the world around you. A moment that can be fun. When you might laugh out loud. When you forget the future and the past. Or simply be completely with yourself.
Perhaps you have experienced such a moment before? A brief moment when everything was truly perfect, when you were completely satisfied with yourself. Perhaps while exercising? While cooking? After a date? Or maybe even while tidying up and organizing?
Mindfulness allows you to experience these kinds of moments, this feeling of happiness and self-acceptance more often.
Or to put it a bit more formally:
“Mindfulness describes the effort to arrive at oneself through conscious pausing. In everyday moments, mindfulness brings about deceleration and a focus on the here and now. In the long term, mindfulness leads to inner peace and a more conscious life.” - Jan Lenarz (A Good Plan)
How does mindfulness work?
As you can see above, mindfulness is not about being good at something or doing it right. Just the effort - that you are thinking about mindfulness right now - makes you more mindful.
For many people, this conscious pause feels unusual at first. Perhaps even uncomfortable, as the brain is thrown off its usual routines and suddenly has to expend energy for something new and unknown.
But don't worry: The more often you consciously pause, the more your body will get used to this new state, and you will see that you can enter a state of liveliness and joy faster and deeper.
We will show you a few techniques that you can try out in your daily life without any prior knowledge. They will help you find a sense of your intuition and calm your thoughts.
How can I become more mindful now?
Mindfulness begins for us quite simply with a small moment that feels light, in which you are connected to the world around you and accept what is already there. Let's do a little experiment.
Don't worry, it's really quite simple and everyone should try it at least once. It's truly astonishing.
Simply close your eyes... and focus only on your hearing for 60 seconds. Try to discover all the sounds that are around you at this moment. It’s not about figuring out whether they are pleasant or disturbing. It’s just about really discovering ALL the sounds that are present at this moment.
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What do you hear? Is there music playing somewhere in the background? Do you hear sounds from the street or from the next room? The neighbors, an electrical appliance, the rustling of your clothes? Or maybe at first, you hear nothing at all?
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Still reading? Set a timer right now and give it a try. Try to be like a detective, really find all the sounds present - even the inconspicuous ones - and listen to them for a moment.
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And - what did you hear?
If you just did this exercise, then you were mindful for 60 seconds. Not so hard, right?!
Perceive the world with all your senses
You have just fully engaged in the moment and felt the essence of something that has already been present in your life without judging it.
Sounds are just one possible example. You can also try this exercise with all your other senses:
Sit down with your eyes closed and try to really feel everything that exists around you with all your body parts. How does your little toe feel right now and what is touching your back? Or chew your food slowly and mindfully with your eyes closed and really try to taste every little nuance and every ingredient of your meal.
Perceive the world around you with all your senses.
You will be amazed at how many exciting things exist around you all day long that you have never consciously noticed.
You can do small exercises like this anywhere: on the train, during your lunch break, while walking home in the rain, or just before an important meeting.
Mindfulness is a skill that you can learn. And the more often you have such experiences, the easier and deeper these short moments will feel. And the best part: you don't need a special place, no retreat, and no expensive equipment, just your body and a little curiosity.
This is how you cultivate mindfulness in everyday life
The exercise above was just a small taste of what mindfulness can feel like. We will show you several ways to experience mindfulness in your everyday life.
Not every method is right for every person. Just try out different techniques and discover which one you like right away. Maybe there is also a technique that seems terrible at first - but after you are done with it, it feels strangely good?
Find out for yourself, be curious, and discover how to perceive the world around you in a new way.
Mindfulness Techniques
1) Categorize less
Our body is evolutionarily trained to handle energy as efficiently as possible - our Stone Age "self" never knew when it would get food again. One thing our mind does automatically to save processing time in the brain is to categorize everything experienced and seen. This saves a lot of energy - you don't have to think that a tree is a tree when you see it. However, this also leads us to generalize many things without discovering the specifics in detail. And often we simply overlook something because of this.
In everyday life, we are constantly surrounded by influences that tell us how we should see something: advertising, friends, family, work, news, social media…
To be mindful, you can take a step back and break down the things you see and hear into parts. What colors does the object in front of you have? What texture? How does it feel? What does it look like when you really get close to it with your eye?
Challenge for you: Mindful Walk
Challenge yourself! Walk for five minutes through the city and try not to read a single word. You will notice how difficult that is - how often our brain wants to read everything immediately. Now observe: what meaning does the object in front of you take on when you ignore the words on it? And how does the billboard appear when you really just look at the object behind it? How do you feel now?
2) Forget the cliché of mindfulness
Distance yourself from the idea of how mindful people live. It doesn't have to be a perfect, calm morning routine; you don't have to go to yoga or meditate.
It's pouring outside and you only have 5 minutes? Open the window, stretch your hand out to the drops, smell the scent of the rain, and try to feel each individual drop. This is also mindfulness, and you might be surprised at how significant such a small rebellious act, a deviation from the routine of everyday life, can feel.
3) Talk more deeply with your favorite people
The next time you talk to someone you know well, try to forget your own thoughts and really engage only with the other person. It doesn't matter what you want to say, how you are feeling right now, or what clever thoughts you have.
Just listen without saying anything yourself - until it really becomes uncomfortable. You will be amazed at how much and how long your counterpart can talk when you simply give them the space for it. And when silence eventually settles in the conversation, don't share anything about yourself, but ask a question like "oh, and how was that?" "How do you feel about it now?" or "and what do you think about that?"
You will be surprised at how little we really listen to each other, what deep emotions and thoughts of our counterpart we miss, and how magical new conversational paths open up when we simply let others finish speaking.
4) Meditation
Of course, you can also meditate in the classic way. We have a guide for meditation with mantras for you in this article. This type of meditation is especially well-suited for beginners because you can focus your thoughts on a mantra instead of just "doing nothing."
Find your path to mindfulness
We are quite sure that you will find your own path to mindfulness. Resist the urge to research everything first, to want to understand everything, and to come up with a reason why you can't start right now.
Remember: It's not about perfection! Just start, notice what is happening around you. Because only then will you find the path to mindfulness that works best for you personally.
All you need for that is five minutes of conscious time. The rest you already know.