11 Daily Mindful Reminders to Develop Mindful Habits.

Meditation, sitting daily and quieting your mind are essential to living a mindful and present life but it is not enough. A healthy mind requires a mixture of approaches (I call it my mental health formula; for me, it’s running, meditation and time to write).

I have been working for years on my own meditation practice. I wanted to understand how mindfulness, so beautifully explained by Thich Nhat Hanh could finally wake me up. I wanted to be present, so I started to meditate. Meditation and mindfulness have brought me through hard times and I have immense gratitude for this simple practice.

Post: 59 Affirmations for Gratitude and a positive daily attitude.

It has been a very long road for me but meditation is part of my daily life now. Recently I wanted to start taking my mindfulness practice off the cushion and out into everyday life.

Post: Meditation for Mums who don’t have the time to Meditate.

How did I do this? By using mindfulness reminders. With the explosion of wearable devices and smartphones, it is easy to create mindful reminders through a new mindfulness app. Create a random notification on your phone, apple watch or computer and there you have it.

There are, however, a number of non-technical little reminders you can tune into throughout your day.

11 Daily Mindfulness Reminders.

1. Laughter.

Your child’s laughter, your partner, a person on the bus, a co-worker. Laughter is so effective at bringing us out of a haze of thoughts and back to the present moment. That’s why I gave it the top spot.

2. Car Sounds.

When I lived in the middle of the city car horns were an easy mindful reminder, they were so frequent. Now I am in a much quieter place but you still cannot escape from the noise of cars. You hear a car horn. You hear an acceleration. You get the picture.

3. Visual Mindful Tokens.

Keep mindful tokens in places you will look at often such as your handbag, near the kettle, shoe rack. These might just look like a small rock or ornament to anyone else but to you, it can be a reminder to reset and come back to now.

4. Sensory Mindful Tokens.

In the same way as a visual reminder can work a sensory reminder does the same. Leave a beach pebble in your coat pocket, or a gem attached to your purse.

5. Your Name.

If you are a mum (or mom) like myself then the 100 or so times a day the word ”MUUUUUUUM” is used should be enough to set as a mindful reminder. If not then your name being called can work just as well. It might sound daft but repetition is key when it comes to daily mindfulness. Why not use this (usually frustrating) little jolt back to reality as a mindful reminder?

6. Nature Sounds.

This is my second favourite (after my children’s laughter). Getting out into nature as often as possible has its own health benefits but nature provides the best mindful reminders. The sound of wind in the trees, a trickling stream, a bird tweeting. It might sound a little too flower child to you but this works so well. Once you become more mindful you will notice how much more you notice. If that makes sense?

7. Mirror Messages.

How many times a day do you think you look in a mirror. Quickly check your hair, put on some lipstick, or simply glance at yourself as you walk past a mirror. I think you might be surprised at the number. Why not use that quick glance for a mindfulness reminder? Get some big post-it notes or pretty paper and write a positive affirmation such as “Remember to breathe” or “Be Here Now”. I love what these guys have created over at Dunne with love. Magic mindset mirror stickers filled with important notes to yourself.

8. Boiling the Kettle.

Anyone else a tea drinker? I love a cup of tea, several times a day (not all caffeine, of course, I am a herbal tea collector). I decided to start using the kettle as a mindful nudge as I noticed it was a time and place that I would happily find myself staring into space (how good is this for our heads and how sad is it we never do it now because of our phones). Every time I make a drink, I use this time to stop and reset my thoughts. It’s a powerful way to break up a busy day and grab some mindful moments with a yummy tea (and chocolate biscuit perhaps?).

9. Set an alarm.

You can set an alarm on your phone or watch for every 30, 60, 90 minutes (you decide on the time). Once you get used to the tone of the alarm as a mindful reminder it will become a habit. Or you can create random notifications on some phones or watches.

10. Washing your Hands.

Ok, we have been doing a lot of this lately. I read in a book on meditation that the easiest way to bring meditation off the mat and into your life is to pick one daily activity and bring mindfulness to it. Start with washing your hands. Focus solely on the task; the feel of the water, the smell of the soap, the sound of the tap. Once you have created a mindful reminder habit for this one task, move on to another. Walking down the hall, opening the curtains. The list is endless and so is the number of opportunities for mindful reminders throughout the day.

11. First thing in the morning.

Before you jump into the manic day just stop, notice, breathe. It’s a reminder signal to your brain that you can do this at any point in the day.

Of course, there are many great meditation apps available. I love the Calm app. I use this daily for its guided meditations, a new quote after each meditation (from zen masters and rock stars alike which I love), a simple breath session and sleep stories to keep you in the right frame of mind. They also have a relatively new feature called the Daily Trip, daily meditations with Jeff Warren “these meditations are adventurous and exploratory—and yes, they might feel like a mini “trip” for your mind”.

Other mindfulness exercises I find useful are:

Mindful colouring. (especially good when going through hard times or insomnia).

Mindful walking.

Mindful cooking. 

What works for you? It’s a good idea to try out a few mindful activities and see what works for you. Anytime you take part in conscious breathing and come back to the now is an act of self love. These simple habits make big changes.

Stop thinking, and end all your problems.

Lao Tzu

Here with you.

Amanda x