Zen Practices

 

 

 

Zen Practices:

1.  Develop rituals

Creating a habit through rituals – it can be a wonderful way to achieve mindfulness. If you don’t already have a morning or evening ritual to prepare your body for alert time or sleep time, start by creating one now. If you like to drink tea or coffee in the morning, get up a bit earlier and sip your beverage while on your porch or on a yoga mat. Think about yourself conquering the day and getting things done in a positive energy state. At night, unwind with a book or a bath and use soothing essential oils to signal to your body that it’s time to relax. Healthy rituals create consciousness and awareness from within.

2. Create space between things

There is nothing more distracting than clutter. Take your home or office room-by-room and create more space to move around. This will force you to streamline, or recycle things you no longer need, opening up space for creativity and focus. Visualize the entryway into your home right now. Walking into a cluttered entrance causes stress signals in your brain. By creating more space to flow into your home (or office), you will feel more centered.

3. Smile often

This one seems simple, but many of us spend our days pursing our lips tightly. If you’re feeling stressed or worried or simply run down, try smiling for 20 seconds. You may feel silly at first, driving alone in your car and grinning like a clown, but it will work. You will start to feel better, lighter. This simple meditation-like technique can quickly turn your mood around.

4. Meditate on the mundane

At times we all feel buried by mundane tasks like organize emails and cleaning. Instead of dreading these projects, try implementing meditation techniques into the tasks. Breathing deeply while doing the dishes (or even right now), for example, and spending an extra minute rubbing your hands under the warm water can make you feel more centered and peaceful. While folding the laundry, take time between shirts to stretch your hamstrings or do simple standing yoga poses.

5. Stop multitasking

For many of us, multitasking can mean that tasks do not get done to their full potential. Consciously try to do one thing at a time and avoid the urge to be distracted by your phone, email, or the countless other things vying for your attention. Focusing with intent will allow you to get more done and make you feel more accomplished and grounded at the completion of the task.

There are many ways to find moments of peace and to center yourself throughout the day.  We encourage you to be creative in finding your own ways to create moments of peace and calm within the daily storm of activities, obligations and distractions each of us lives through.

If all else fails, just remember to breath deeply, hold your breathe in for a few seconds, and let it out slowly.  Feels better already, doesn’t it?

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