Mindfulness, Meditation, & Other Inward Practices

The world stops for no one. Sometimes, though, we wish we could just hit the pause button and take a breath. We wish we had time to take stock of our lives and check in with our wellness physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. At the same time, we often get in our way by procrastinating and doubting ourselves.

Are you hoping to improve yourself inwardly for 2022 and beyond? Looking for inspiration for inward practices you can add to your daily life to slow the world down and help you cope with stress? Look no further–I’ve dedicated my life to helping people build healthy spiritual and psychological habits that improve their lives from the inside out.

Practicing Mindfulness

There’s no better building block to all other spiritual and mental habits than practicing mindfulness every day. Practicing mindfulness helps you to be more aware of yourself and your environment. You’ll be able to live in the present rather than in the past or the future. Ultimately, you can begin to appreciate life for what it is at that moment rather than stressing over the past or wishing for a better future.

For example, mindfulness helps you to stay in tune with your body. Practicing mindfulness can improve your fitness efforts, as you are constantly checking in to make sure you’re not in pain, hurting yourself, or pushing yourself further than is healthy. It also helps with tracking your progress by seeing and feeling the benefits of your efforts physically. At the same time, mindfulness can help you detect when you might be falling ill as you’re very aware of the way your body usually feels, and even slight changes can alert you long before others who are always rushing through their days.

Similarly, mindfulness can help you be one with your mind. Those who live in the past or rush towards the future are often running away from how they are feeling in the moment. Maybe there are responsibilities they want to avoid or overwhelming thoughts and feelings. Being mindful of how you feel in the present forces you to confront your feelings and any emotional problems you might be experiencing. Then, you can get to understand yourself better and apply solutions to enjoy your life better.

Finally, mindfulness can put you in touch with your spirit. Those who are mindful are comfortable checking in on their soul and faith experience. They are highly aware of their daily practices and how they affect their spirituality. These people are also very aware of internal and external factors that might be getting in the way of fully delving into their spiritual life, helping to more quickly and effectively clear any spiritual blockages.

How Can I Start Practicing Mindfulness?

Mindfulness can be as simple as frequently remembering to stop and breathe for beginners. Try forcing yourself to stop throughout the day to turn inward regularly. Start asking yourself questions such as:

1. 1. 1. What am I feeling right now?
      2. How is the current action I’m doing affecting the way I feel?
      3. What is surrounding me in my environment?
      4. Is there anything in my environment that is affecting the way I feel?
      5. Am I alright to continue what I’m doing, or should I stop?

You can apply these questions to your physical, mental, and spiritual life by asking yourself these questions as they relate to your physical wellness, emotions and thoughts, and finally, your spiritual health.

Some practices for mindfulness that you can apply to your daily life are to focus on one task at a time, eat slowly, schedule brain breaks, limit time using devices, and spend more time in nature. Question your habits and automatic reactions throughout your day. The ultimate goal is to live intentionally, understanding the reason behind every action, thought, and emotion and paying attention to how these affect you.

As you become a mindfulness master, you’ll start noticing patterns in your behavior and be able to pinpoint the good and bad energy working in your life. Then, you can seek to address those. Mindfulness, meditation, and other inward practices put together can skyrocket your spiritual journey.

Add Meditation to Your Daily Routine

Mindfulness and meditation go hand-in-hand. You can start one or the other first, but ultimately, one will improve your practice of the other. For example, if you are meditating regularly, you’ll naturally become better at slowing down, breathing, and turning inward. If you start with mindfulness first, you’ll have built up your self-awareness skills and break up the monotony of your daily routine with breaks to reflect. Consequently, practicing both simultaneously is key to self-awareness and improving your life.

Meditation comes in many forms, some instituted by religions, others recommended by health professionals, and others still invented by those just looking for ways to slow down and turn inward. Meditation can be as simple as deep breathing and as complex as focusing the mind on spiritual energies within the body. Regardless of your skill level or exposure to meditation practices, you can start right away with nothing but yourself and the will to learn. Combine mindfulness, meditation, and other inward practices for the best benefits.

How to Begin Meditating

The most common and popular way to meditate is to get into a comfortable position, close your eyes, and focus on your breath. Taking deeper, slower breaths can help the body and mind relax. Meditation can stop right there, or it can go deeper. You can choose to find a happy place, imagine your favorite place to go, focus on your most happy memories, and try your hardest to stay in that place for as long as you practice. Or, you can begin focusing on the physical world, listening to the sounds and textures around you, how the floor supports your weight, and how each limb and appendage feels in this position.

Those with a deep spiritual practice go even further by focusing on their chakras or spiritual energy centers within the body. If certain things are ailing you, such as back pain or emotional stress, focusing on the chakra in charge of those things can help you unblock that energy center and restore you to complete wellness. Many choose to combine mindfulness, meditation, and more with yoga, mantra, and other forms of outward meditation.

Fasting and Prayer

There are many other forms of meditation and practices you can combine with mindfulness meditation, including fasting and prayer. Once you have slowed down your body and mind, prayer can be that much more potent for tapping into your spiritual life and connecting with the Universe and the Divine. During your meditation practice, you can choose to add prayers, whether they are candid or rehearsed, as a way to delve deeper into your practice.

A great way to focus on prayer is to pick a focus on the Divine. Is there a deity or divine master that inspires you? Is there a spiritual practice or trait that you’re seeking to improve within yourself? Set your intentions for your day and inward practices so that you always have the motivation and the reasons to guide you.

Fasting is another way to enhance your mindfulness as well. Intentionally choosing to skip meals or reduce the amount of food you consume is both physically and spiritually good for your wellness. It helps your body slow down and reset the digestive system for your health. For your mind, it enables you to be more mindful of the way you eat and how often. For the spirit, you’ll be able to focus on your sacrifice and how it has made you feel.

Take Your Inward Practices to the Next Level

If you love rituals, check out my Free Resources pages. You’ll find ancient ceremonies, lovely prayers, and encouragement that you might find helpful during times of change and transition. You might also consider using my Personality Cards – they’re wonderful for all sorts of rituals.

REMEMBER!

What is good for you and your body is entirely up to you. Experiment with these practices, do what you feel is comfortable, and only continue with things you feel benefit your life. Please realize that these aspects are only suggestions to help ease some stress and improve your inner life. You are far more powerful than you realize.

To improve your vibration, luck, and happiness, spend time chanting Sanskrit mantras and love-filled sutras. Pray for others and the Universe prays for you.

YOU ARE LOVE!

You are a beautiful Living Being filled with light and love, born from stardust. You are unlimited potential in every direction. With a focus on discipline, virtue, and your own goodness, you can become as expanded and liberated as you desire.