Disclaimer: I am not any spiritual/productivity guru. I firmly believe you are your own guru! These are some learnings from personal experiences, having said that, life to be lived and experienced.
I have always hesitated to create any content on spirituality, simply because I think I don't know enough. However, everyone learns from their own experiences.
Spirituality in three words means controlling your mind to me, and productivity is a byproduct. Maybe I got intrigued by the world of spirituality to increase my productivity but it's definitely just a byproduct simply because there is so much more to the spiritual world. Today I want to talk about Mindfulness. There has been a lot spoken in and about mindfulness. In true essence, it just means being present in the moment.
Why Mindfulness?
In my journey of these 21 years, I must have read about the concept of mindfulness maybe 6-7years ago. However I experienced it this past year when I started working at my first job at ThePrint, I realised how awake and open to learning my brain was. I was never the brightest child in my school days, however, suddenly I felt like my retaining power had increased.
Introspecting how it happened, Of course, the fact that I was doing what I love helped me focus better but mindfulness had a huge role to play and that is when I understood the power of mindfulness.
What is Mindfulness?
In today's world where our brains are working at 10x in all directions, there are so many factors distracting our minds. The question we should be asking ourselves is, am I fully aware of whatever I am doing currently, from daily tasks like brushing your teeth to presenting a PowerPoint presentation at work or giving your final exams.
How to practice mindfulness?
While meditation is the key to being a mindful soul. Just being… But there are these relatively minor upgrades we can make in our lives to achieve a mind which is in the NOW.
Turn off your social media notifications
While it's easier to say, delete social media let's face it, it's not possible. Humans are social animals, it's difficult to eliminate the social element to it and most of us have our work very much in connection with social media. So turning off your notifications won't be such a difficult step, however, it will help you not get distracted every time your screen blinks with a notification popping. Rather you can check your social media whenever you are free for example while commuting etc.
Don't watch Netflix while eating dinner
Having lived alone, watching Netflix while eating food goes quite hand in hand. However speaking from an Ayurvedic point of view, if you eat consciously you won't end up eating extra, plus your body will absorb more nutrients from whatever you are eating.
Chewing your bites and eating slowly will help you keep a check on how much you are eating and what you are eating. Hence, be mindful of the activity you are doing.
Journal/introspect
The core concept behind Meditation is to look at your inner self from a third perspective. Just letting the thoughts flow in. If you can get yourself to sit down and meditate, you can start with journalising. Writing your thoughts will help you be mindful of your actions and their repercussions. It will make you introspect, help plan your next move better and eventually guide you to your inner self (the soul)
Self-awareness is the greatest asset of all time.
"Self-awareness gives us a vantage point or a perspective on reality that goes beyond the senses and the mind." - Ram Dass
Have a daily tradition
Lately, my daily tradition has been reading up the horoscope daily, as stupid as it sounds, it helped me define a new day and a new start each day in the morning. Even though I don't believe in horoscopes, reading them every day made me mindful of a new day passing by. Other traditions like listening to a specific podcast or playing online games like Wordle, Sudoku, Quiz-up etc. These daily challenge games help keep your mind more aware of the surroundings and mindful.
Have a hobby
A hobby is something extremely important for the well being of the mind and soul. The task of wanting to create and learn something new. Besides work, it's a great way of relaxing and unwinding from work. To be in the moment for me, was through creating a routine and defining tasks for every hour, for example, this is my drumming practice time or this is my leisure time. So having a hobby besides work/study and leisure time helps you keep in check.
The mind is the greatest asset to human race.
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