How to Get Started With Mindfulness Practice

As the new year approaches, many of us are thinking of new commitments to make for our health and well-being. With so much uncertainty surrounding us these days, many of us are trying to find ways to calm our frayed nerves, feel more centered, and take better care of ourselves.

You’ve probably heard or read that mindfulness is a great tool to achieve these types of goals. But how do you start? On the surface it seems simple: Just download a meditation app, and you are good to go. But then all sorts of questions arise: How long should I meditate for? What if I don’t have that time? What kind of meditation should I start with? Perhaps you’ve tried a meditation app or a recording that didn’t click with you — too fast, or too slow, too much guidance, or too little guidance, or the subject didn’t appeal to you. Many people give up on meditation after a short time because they can’t figure out how to fit it into their lives or where to start.

Here, I offer a beginner’s guide to mindfulness practice — what you need to get started and stick with it. In subsequent posts, I will talk about next steps.

First, let’s think about the purpose of mindfulness meditation. You’ve probably heard that it is very helpful in many ways but may not know why. Having a good reason for going to the trouble of acquiring a new habit will help you stick with it. One main reason is that mindfulness meditation has been shown to change the structure and function of the brain — it actually helps grow more gray matter in some parts of the brain, produce greater activation in others, and improve connectivity between different areas of the brain. As a result, mindfulness meditation practice contributes to our ability to learn and remember new things, pay attention, understand other people’s perspectives, regulate emotions such as stress and anxiety, and chose helpful action in response to challenging circumstances. If this is not a great reason to include mindfulness into your daily life, what is?

Having a good reason to be mindful will help you get into the practice. However, it is still not so simple. We lead such busy lives that the thought of carving out yet another 20 or 30 or 40 minutes in your day for meditation may stop you in your tracks. I have good news for you: You can get started without carving out extra time at all. How does that work? Being mindful means allowing yourself to be in the present moment accepting it as it is. This means that you can turn any moment into a mindfulness practice.

You do this by starting with an informal practice — being mindful wherever you are, doing whatever you are doing. Think about an activity that you perform every day, maybe even more than once a day. You can choose to do any one of those activities mindfully and build a new habit at the same time. You do not need to figure out where to get extra time, you only need to choose to be fully present in any one of these experiences. Here are some options:

• Take a mindful shower — the beauty of a mindful shower practice is that you likely take a shower every day already, and there isn’t anything else you are typically doing at the same time. Give yourself a few moments to feel the sensation of warm water on your skin. Allow your mind to return to the sensation of the water whenever it wanders off. Then bring your attention to the sound of the water. Just listen, and gently bring your mind back to the sound whenever it wanders off. Bring your attention to the smell of the soap or shampoo. Stay with it, gently returning your mind back whenever it wanders off. Watch the way the stream of water falls on the shower floor and the fog forms on the tiles or the shower door. Again, bring your attention back with kindness whenever it wanders off.
• Brush your teeth mindfully — notice the shape and color of your toothbrush, feel the sensation of holding the toothbrush in your hands. Give this a few moments, don’t rush. Bring your attention to the smell of the toothpaste. As you begin brushing, notice the sensation of the brush on your gums and the taste of the toothpaste. Again, don’t rush — brush slowly, noticing the movement of your hand and every sensation in your mouth. Allow your mind to gently return to the brushing whenever it wanders off. Not only is this a great mindfulness practice, but your dentist will be happy with you for brushing longer!
• Drink your morning tea or coffee mindfully — observe the color and shape of the mug, feel the texture and temperature of the mug in your hands, let the aroma of your beverage linger before you take your first sip. Take one slow sip at a time, don’t rush. Let your attention stay on the taste of the beverage, the feeling of it in your mouth. Take your time, drink it slowly, not doing anything else at the same time. Return your attention back to the cup whenever your mind wanders off.
• Wash your hands mindfully — this is something you probably do many times throughout the day, usually while thinking about something else. Try attending to the sensation of the water on your skin, watch the water droplets breaking up as they fall on your hands. Hear the sound of the water running. Smell the soap. Allow yourself the move your hands slowly, observing each movement.
• Eat your snack mindfully — try this one, and I promise you, you will enjoy your favorite snack even more than usual. Let’s say you are eating a strawberry (of course, you can do the same thing with any food). Start with just observing the color and shape of the strawberry, seeing the seeds, and the leaves, and the stem on the red berry. Inhale the aroma of it — take a nice slow breath in, and exhale slowly. Let the aroma linger. Close your eyes, and notice what the strawberry feels like in your hands — its shape and texture. Finally, take one small bite, noticing the burst of flavor in your mouth. Don’t rush, chew slowly, savoring the taste. Continue taking one small bite at a time, savoring each one.
• Take a mindful walk — instead of walking mindlessly while thinking of something else, bring your attention to the sights and sounds around you — what do you see? what do you hear? what do you smell? Notice the movement of your body as you take one step at a time. See what new and interesting things you discover about a walking route you’ve done many times before.

Eating a strawberry mindfully

Source: Art_Photo/Shutterstock

You can choose to do the same activity mindfully each day, or pick a different one each day — that does not matter. What matters is building your meditation stamina: starting with just a few minutes of practice a day, and gradually building up to 20 mindful minutes a day (with one activity or with several).

As with any new habit, it is important to start small and continue with small steps. Set yourself up for success by starting with 5 minutes of practice, every day for a week. Then move to 10 minutes a day for a week, then to 15, and finally to 20 minutes a day. You can move in even smaller steps if you wish (2 minutes, then 5, then 7, 10, 12, 15, 17, 20). You can keep increasing the time past 20 minutes a day. However, if you stay at 20 minutes a day for a few weeks, you’ll already derive a noticeable benefit. What a great start to a new year.

I hope you enjoy your mindful moments. Stay tuned for new posts on the next steps to take — moving to formal meditation practice, as well as common challenges that people experience during meditation and how to work with them. `