Hey everyone! I know I’m a little late on this recap for May’s Mindfulness Challenge (ok like a month late haha) buuuut I felt like for consistency sake I still had to share. I do wanna apologize for slacking a little… it can be hard to stay inspired and motivated 100% of the time! May’s challenge wasn’t one of my favorites so far, but I still learned some valuable lessons and you may have too if you took part in it.
The focus was to try and remain mindful and present in the mundane moments of our every day routine. We spend so much time just going through the motions of life – think about how much time you spend driving, eating, brushing your teeth, showering, cleaning, etc. It adds up to be quite a bit of time! It is so incredibly easy to let our mind race when we’re doing these things. For this Mindfulness Challenge I wanted to see what happened when instead we took advantage of this time in a different way by choosing to slow down and re-ground our thoughts.
Lessons learned from remaining mindful in the mundane moments
First off, you’ll cultivate a feeling of gratefulness.
I don’t know if it was just me, but when I was working on calming my thoughts and staying present while going through my routine, I found myself feeling thankful for things that I can tend to take for granted. For example – in the shower, as weird as it sounds, I actually felt happy and thankful for the warm, clean water that I have the ability to shower in. It’s easy to become lost in thought in moments like that, and neglect the fact that we really are so fortunate to have access to something as simple as a shower.
Why does this even matter? Well, it’s proven that grateful people are happier people. Cultivating appreciation for the small things will improve your state of mind whether you realize it or not!
Life slows down and becomes less daunting.
There’s a quote from Michael Pollan that says “When chopping onions, just chop onions.” – so good! Why? Well, we can so easily stress ourselves out by spending every single moment thinking about what we need to get done, comparing ourselves, trying to plan our next move in our career, over-analyzing relationships or other people… the list goes on. The magic happens when we slow down and just focus on one thing at at time. Practicing mindfulness in every moment actually gives our brain time to breathe and re-boot. Then, we can take care of what’s in front of us in a calm, thoughtful manner.
You’ll naturally become more observant.
This is one I really noticed while driving. When I intentionally focused simply on the drive and everything I was passing by, I saw things I’d actually never seen before. Even on the routes I drive every day! A new coffee shop I want to try, a pretty tree in my neighbors yard, etc. When we’re too concerned with whatever it is we’re thinking about, we can so easily resort to just going through life in a zombie-like haze. That’s no way to live, my friends!
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June Mindfulness Challenge
Even though June’s already over as I sit here typing this and playing catch-up, I have to throw in a little plug for June’s Mindfulness Challenge. This challenge was BY FAR the one that seemed to resonate with you guys the most so far (based on the feedback I got on Instagram)! June was all about mindfully appreciating each day, instead of living for the weekend. For so many of us who work and go to school Monday-Friday, it can be tempting to constantly count down the days ’til Friday. What’s the point of that?! There’s beauty in every day and we’re wasting away a good chunk of our lives if we sit there longing for our days off. June was a challenge to give Monday just as much value as Saturday, and appreciate it just the same. Recap on that challenge coming soon. 🙂
Thanks for reading! Hopefully you feel encouraged and inspired to slow down throughout your everyday routine and see what happens.
XO Sorelle