(If you are reading this on my website, you have NOT missed #2 – that one had been published here last year under the name of Punto!)
My third and last (for now) tip is … mindfulness.
Maybe you are a fan already.
Maybe you think it’s too esoteric for you…
Newsflash: you don’t have to buy a special cushion to sit on and you don’t need to wear anything special. You can do it anytime, anywhere.
I have been meditating for many years, not always very consistently, but … for the past 4 months, I’ve done it once a day. And I found it very helpful for several reasons.
- After the many hours of screen time (already mentioned in the ‘1st lesson’), it helped me to ‘open my mind’ after having been ‘focused’ for too long. It felt like a true break.
- Also, the fact of simply ‘being’, instead of ‘doing’ something, felt like a breath of fresh air.
- Having a ‘formal practice’ of mindfulness enabled me to finetune my ‘awareness’.
- It helped me to notice stressful thoughts more quickly, so I had the option to analyze them and even let go of them so they wouldn’t keep on bothering me.
- I noticed my anxiety at the beginning of the confinement.
- I noticed my sore throat in May…
- I noticed a lot of things, actually and I can honestly say I got to know myself better… certain reactions, patterns, values…
Noticing allows you not to react, but to respond.
Or as Viktor Frankl said:
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
Mindfulness helps me to notice that space. Without it, I don’t see it and therefore I have no freedom.
- When I do it at night, it helps me to unwind. When I do it in the morning, I somehow start my day better.
Don’t get me wrong, it didn’t make me totally zen and I’m definitely not mindful 24/7.
But… I’m still grateful for it and therefore it deserves a spot here.
Do you want to know more about mindfulness?
Since Covid started, I’m offering ‘The Truth about Mindfulness’ for free. If you are interested, go and have a look here. Feel free to share.
As of today, you can also apply for my free beta-course: ‘Boost your resilience! From overwhelm to more balance’. Check out this link to see if this would be something for you and if not, maybe you do know somebody who’d love to participate. Thank you for sharing!
