Start Your Day with a Simple Mindfulness Exercise

I definitely needed a simple mindfulness exercise to start my day?

My day always started the same way.

Nothing happens until I’ve made my morning coffee.

Once the coffee was made, my day could start.

Twenty minutes later, I’d finally get to drink my now cold coffee.

My morning coffee became a habit, instead of an enjoyable experience.

 

A simple mindfulness exercise to change that

What I have for you here, is a simple mindfulness exercise to start your day. And best of all, it gives you a few minutes for yourself, before the madness of the day really begins.

Mornings are generally a busy time for everyone. Especially if you have kids!

I so often hear people get caught up in the pressures and immediacy of everyday life, that they just don’t have time to be mindful. Our ‘always on’ lives are filled with things like, social media distractions, 24 hour TV, etc. There never seems to be any time nowadays to relax and ‘just be’.

So, here’s a little trick to get some sanity back into your life. Start your day with a drink.

And before I get reported for advocating alcohol first thing in the morning, Remember of course, I mean your morning cup of coffee, or tea!

 

How to do it

Here’s some things to think about.

• Set up the intention to be mindful when you sit down with your drink, . See the next few minutes as a special activity just for you. Once your mind is in the right place, you’re all set.
• Now, before you even take a sip, turn on your other senses. Notice the aroma. The changes in temperature on your fingers. How some areas of your fingers are warmer, or cooler than other parts of the same finger.
• Next, feel the other sensations in your hands. The weight of the cup and how the pressure from the handle feels on your fingers, etc.
• Now you’re ready for your first sip. But don’t just sip and then swallow. Take a few moments to experience the feelings and sensations as the hot liquid moves around your mouth.
• Then, swallow and again notice the feelings of warmth as it moves down.

Taking the time to mindfully drink your first cuppa, makes a huge difference to your mindset. You’ve begun your day intentionally, with a simple mindfulness exercise.

You’ve taken the time to engage in a wonderful experience. How many times have you make your coffee and sat down? Then got distracted by emails, reading the newspaper (do people actually get those anymore?!?), Facebook, Instagram, etc. (yeah, me too!).

By the time you go to drink your coffee, it’s cold and you don’t have a great experience.

Every morning, just concentrate your attention on this one thing. Once you’ve finished and turn to your next task, your attention is ready to engage fully.

In this video, Todd Schmenk describes the technique.

Why not give this simple mindfulness exercise a go?

You’re no doubt going to be having a drink in the morning anyway, so you might as well use it as a trigger for some me time.

Try it tomorrow, it can make a big difference.