May is mindfulness month apparently. Unfortunately, I missed it, but smiling mind has an initiative in June. That’s better I thought, we haven’t gotten to June yet.
Taking the time to recalibrate yourself has been one of the things I hope to take away from the lockdown adventure. Each day, at some time during the day, taking 10 to 15 minutes to put on some headphones and shut out the noise is made every day that much better for me. No notifications or calls, SMS or email alerts. Just mind balancing exercise and nothing else.
I use my G-mee, of course I’d use this device, I am the creator of it. However, you can use any device that gives you the same result. The key thing is to shut out the interruptions and give yourself the time to just float.
Smiling mind is a great app to use and they run regular exercises to help specifically in this area. But you can choose from a range of different options. Some days I listen to classical music. I have a playlist on my Spotify that goes for 20 minutes. I slip on my Bluetooth, noise cancelling headphones and press play on the headphones. I lean back in my chair with my feet on the desk and everything else melts away.
Other days I listen to a meditation podcast. There are loads of them around just download a couple and save them on your device. Now regardless of whether you have Internet or not you can play that pod cast.
I’ve also found that it helps to change up your location from time to time. There is a nice spot on my office Veranda that gets full sun around 11 AM. I also like to lie back on the grass, again in the full sun, with my sunglasses on. I leave my G-mee nearby and relax.
By moving away from your desk it does help to cut down external distractions. No phone, no laptop and no alerts.
So smiling mind, a classical music playlist or a meditation pod cast, you choose, but do it every day and try and do it around the same time every day. For me it helped clear my head for the afternoon and provided more clarity between the work I’m doing the morning and the things that are most pressing for me to get to in the afternoon.
Good luck and go find your mindfulness solution.