5 Mindful Exercises To Find Your Inner Calm

The thoughts manifest as the word;

The words manifest as the deed;

The deeds develop into habit;

And habit hardens into character.

— (Buddhist Saying)

How often do you live at the moment and meet each second as it presents itself?

If you are like most people today, who try to do multiple things at once, but fail to notice what you are actually doing or feeling, then probably you are missing out on being mindful, i.e, your mind is not aware of what you are experiencing at the moment, and you are getting disconnected with yourself.

A frenetic mind can disrupt the most enjoyable moments of lives. It may seem pessimistic and scary sometimes, how quickly our thoughts can become real, if we allow them to. But it can also be seen as a positive thing, showing how profoundly you can change when you learn to manage your thoughts with kindness and mindfulness.

Need a more convincing way? Try these short exercises.

Exercise 1 — Mind Watching

Sit quietly for a few moments and notice what thoughts are passing through your mind. At first you may feel totally blank or have awkward thoughts like “What am I thinking?” Then you may find your mind quickly and automatically turning to something that is worrying you (I must complete the work within deadline/ I have to pick up my kid at right time, etc.). You may then find this leads to another chain of thought about how stressful your life is and how there is never enough time to get everything done. Then, sometime later, you come to realize that your mind has completely drifted away from what you started thinking and you have no idea what you’ve been thinking about! And you feel more aware of where you exactly are now, what you are and how you are exactly feeling now.

Exercise 2 — Sensory Awareness Inventory (S.A.I.)

Thoughts by nature are connected to our emotions and are related to physical sensations. The more aware we are of what we feel, hear, touch, taste, smell, and see, the more we can feel our presence in the “now”, and be aware of our existence.

Maintain a sensory journal which you will fill up everyday right before you go to sleep at night. List 5 sensory experiences that you’ve had everyday, and for each sensory modality. Mention only those things that you have truly experienced. For example, if you have experienced the aroma of your morning coffee today, write it down. If you haven’t noticed how many times the doorbell rang in the morning, do not write it, and try to listen to it the next day. Remember the more things you can experience with your senses everyday, the more mindful will you eventually become. A blank inventory is given here. You can use this or make your own.

Exercise 3 — Air Basking

Sit outside once in a while and enjoy the breeze or the sun. Find a comfortable spot to settle down into calmness and adopt whatever posture you want — sitting, lying, or standing. Let your mind wander for a while and slowly start focusing on your bodily sensations. Feel your stomach swelling with each inhale and falling with exhale. Feel the back of your ribs expanding and contracting with each breath, and settle into the rhythm of your breath for sometime.

Next, slowly start feeling the breeze touching your body and caressing your skin. How do you feel? Allow your body to be more receptive and open to the senses around and enjoy the breeze bouncing off your body.

Exercise 4 — Gratitude Journal

Take a paper and pen and note down three things that you are grateful for. It may be something as small as not missing your daily local, or something big like having your family healthy and happy. Expressing gratitude everyday is a great way to remind yourself of how many reasons you have to keep smiling. Maintain a gratitude journal, that could be in your phone, computer, or a personal notebook where you can thank all the good things and the good people in your life. Studies have shown that people who practice writing down and expressing their feelings of gratitude are 25% happier than others. If you are not sure how to make your gratitude diary, here’s a template for you. You can use this or make your own.

My Weekly Gratitude Journal

If you cannot think of 5 things, list down 3. It is totally up to you how you plan to write them down. Do not force yourself to do it, write only when you want to. Doing it once a week, rather than everyday, is a good idea, as it might be difficult to find something good each day. Maintain the journal for at least a month and see how your perception of the world around you changes.

Exercise 5 — Social Snack

We interact with people around us everyday — people who are close to us, people who work for us, or people we work for. We exchange ideas, opinions, needs, and express ourselves through the interpersonal interactions. Social connections are way more powerful than we think it to be. Talking to people and listening to them makes us aware of ourselves and opens our perspective to see the world. Improve your social skills by these 3 simple ways.

1. Form social connections during times when you would otherwise not. For example, while commuting to work everyday, consider passing a smile or start a simple small talk with the person sitting by you, rather than sitting with your eyes stuck on your mobile screen, or reading a book.
2. Get to know more people, but not through social networks. Make real friends and maintain old friendships by hanging out, calling friends at tea, or simply giving a call. Exchange good vibes, whether or not the friendship turns out to be lifelong.
3. Smile more. In your free time, let your mind wander about in the good memories and see how it brings a smile on your face. Studies have shown that when the body makes an action of happiness, we can actually feel happy. Simply by clenching the face muscles and smiling, you can actually feel good from inside, and experience real happiness.

Always remember that peace comes from within us. If we are not connected to ourselves and aware of our own thoughts and actions, we cannot live in the moment. Mindfulness is the art of living that helps us to reconnect with ourselves and become the anchor of our own lives. As the famous proverb goes, “Wherever you are, be there totally.”

Thank you for reading.