Bettering Youth tutors wanted to take a moment to share our 8 easy and powerful ways to incorporate mindfulness into your day. We appreciate how prevalent Social Media is in our everyday lives so we went the extra step and shared our top 6 favourite accounts you must follow to benefit from their uplifting, high vibes posts.
Above all else, it seems our world needs some time to connect. While it may not be possible to connect with those we care for in-person, a great start is to connect with oneself.
Practising self-care, in the form of mindfulness, is a fantastic way to regain inner calm, build resilience, manage stress and anxiety effectively and establish a connection to one’s self.
Here are our simple and effective ways to incorporate mindfulness into your day.
8 easy ways to incorporate mindfulness into your day:
- Mindful breathing
Start the day by taking 5 deep belly-breaths. This helps to energise the body, wake up the brain, and get grounded in the moment.
- Mindful drinking
After being asleep for hours, our body requires water to help rehydrate, energise and kickstart the metabolism. Drinking mindfully means observing how the water looks, smells, tastes and feels. It’s about becoming engrossed and present in the act.
- Stay on task
Doing one thing at a time not only helps to keep you laser-focused and productive; it enables your brain to stay present. Calendar blocking is an incredible way to both work and study to ensure you’re able to keep focused.
- Tune into your senses
Before you switch tasks take a moment to check in with your body. Are you feeling tight? Have you been clenching your jaw or holding your breath? Have you noticed your shoulders are up to your ears? Take a moment to notice how you have felt during that task and take a few moments to ground yourself with some breaths.
- Listen intentionally
Mindfulness is about being present and non-judgemental of the moment. Practice this when you’re listening to your partner or child. Concentrate on their words, the way they’re sharing them, and the expressions they’re showing you. Contemplate your response before sharing.
- Mindful eating
Eating mindfully heightens the senses and allows you a more powerful eating experience. Start by tuning into this action and making sure there are no distractions. Take a moment to observe the colour and texture of your food. Breathe the smell in and let it flood your senses. This will trigger the glands in your mouth and before long you’ll be unable to resist that first bite. Allow the taste to fill your mouth.
- Mindful walking
Movement is such an important part of our day. Sometimes we get to a new room without remembering the journey – or forgetting why we’re there! Taking a moment to become present as you feel your core engage to lift one leg and place it in front of the other helps us to reconnect to our body and take a moment from our headspace.
- Body scanning
Before you enter a new space or interact with someone new take a few minutes to do a body scan. This can be done seated or standing. Close your eyes and imagine a spot light illuminating your feet. You’re not to judge, comment or change anything you notice, just make note of it. The spotlight will travel up to every inch of your body in a slow and mechanical way. Once your whole body has been observed take a moment to return to the areas of tension and send five deep breaths to relax these muscles
Now that you have tried the 8 easy ways to incorporate mindfulness into your day, reap the reward by taking a few moments to pause before bed.
Before you start your zoned out scroll of social media, let’s take a moment to ensure you’re following some empowering accounts that will support your journey to improved self care and mindful intake of outside sources.
Top 6 mindful-inspired social accounts you need to follow now!
Black Girl in Om/ @blackgirlinom
Bringing together a community of women with the mission of ‘creating space for black women to breathe easy’, Ash, founder of Black Girl in Om, shares guided movements, journal prompts, and empowering podcast episodes. Be sure to check out this power house community for your daily dose of empowerment.
The Good Good Good Co / @goodgoodgoodco
Looking for a breath of fresh air and positivity? Then look no further. The Good Good Good co is a social platform dedicated to curating the best news from around the globe. Be sure to check back daily for your dose of happy.
Sprxead positivity / @sprxeadpositivity
Looking for an account that provides gentle reminders to love, honour and respect yourself? Then this account is sure to do the trick. Founded by a Canadian from my home town, this account is sure to keep you smiling and remembering that things always get better.
The Body is Not an Apology / @thebodyisnotanapology
If you ever wished you had a bff who could speak to you with kindness and empathy, this would be your account. This account is vehemently advocating for body love: ‘Learning to love radically means loving the hardest yet most beautiful parts of ourselves unapologetically’ Founded by Sonya Renee Taylor, this account will boost you up, and help you reclaim your body for the magical, powerful and beautiful vessel it is.
The Nap Ministry / @thenapministry
Focused on the power of naps, rest and recovery, this social media platform will never make you feel guilty for taking a break… in fact, they encourage it! Founded by poet and performance artist Tricia Hersey, this social media account’s mission is to ‘examine the liberating power of naps.’
Keeping well and practising Mindfulness
We hope this blog has inspired you to find small pockets of time to honour your body and mind with some space to reflect, regroup and breathe.
The world is uncertain, times are tricky, and with a family who looks to you for guidance, the weight of the world is on your shoulders.
Our 8 easy ways to incorporate mindfulness into your day is but a mere step in the right direction, but it will make a profound impact if you do so consistently.
Lean on your community, get in touch with us. Share this to help support other family leaders.
We’re all in this together.
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