9 Mindful Habits for Well-Being
Cultivating and protecting our well-being is deeply personal. It requires us to check in with ourselves regularly and be open to whatever we may need to feel less stressed, more fulfilled, and generally at ease. In this guide to well-being, you’ll explore nine habits to integrate into your daily life that will serve as helpful tools in sustaining emotional wellness.
Meditation
Meditation is exploring. It’s not a fixed destination. Your head doesn’t become vacuumed free of thought, utterly undistracted. It’s a special place where each and every moment is momentous. When we meditate we venture into the workings of our minds: our sensations (air blowing on our skin or a harsh smell wafting into the room), our emotions (love this, hate that, crave this, loathe that) and thoughts (wouldn’t it be weird to see an elephant playing a trumpet?).
Inquiry
The practice of inquiry invites us to shift our ordinary way of being in the world. It’s based on cognitive reappraisal—a form of cognitive behavioral therapy used to change the meaning of a situation that causes us distress or unease. In essence, cognitive reappraisal is a way of combating stress and building resilience by shifting the lens through which we view the world.
Presence
Presence involves a simple yet incredible shift—from the ordinary state of mind wandering to bringing our attention to the experience of what is happening right now. You can make this shift anytime, anywhere.
Engagement
Our ordinary state is one of mind wandering—a state in which our attention drifts between the present moment and thoughts about past and future. When we practice presence, we begin regularly shifting our attention back to the present moment whenever this happens.
Gratitude
Practicing gratitude can be a game-changer: it has far reaching effects, from improving our mental health to boosting our relationships with others. Living your life with gratitude helps you notice the little wins—like the bus showing up right on time, a stranger holding the door for you, or the sun shining through your window when you wake up in the morning.
Compassion
Compassion has no boundaries. It goes beyond extending loving-kindness to your inner circle of friends, family members, and other loved ones. Compassion is the art of loving all beings—even those who would seek to do us harm. It’s also about opening to love ourselves, even those dark and hard to reach corners of our being.
Movement
In this practice, however, we want to focus less on formal periods of exercise and more on micro-bursts of movement throughout the day. After all, we all know that exercise holds profound benefits for the mind and body. However, the research on movement shows that peak mental and physical fitness isn’t just about exercise. It’s also about breaking up sedentary behavior with brief periods of movement as we go throughout each day.
Relationships
When it comes to well-being, relationships might just be the most important practice to master. Just think about what sustains you when life gets rough. Think about what will matter most when you look back on your life. For most of us, the answer is simple. It’s not work, money, or status. It’s the care and connection we share with our friends, family, and coworkers.
Contribution
Where compassion is a state of being, the inner experience of extending empathy and love to all beings, including yourself, contribution is compassion externalized. The act of contribution takes many different forms. You might donate your time at a local senior center. You might set aside a certain amount of money each year for charitable giving. Or you might engage in small random acts of kindness.
Maintaining our well-being can be easier than we think. We don't need fancy gadgets or expensive gym memberships. Read these 9 tips and it will help you and your team improve well-being when you make them a habit.
Reference:
https://www.mindful.org/9-mindful-habits-for-well-being/