What are the benefits of mindfulness?

[Intro] Hello and welcome to Empowered to Thrive. I'm your host Corinne Powell. I'm so glad you're here.

No matter what type of day you're having, you're always welcome. I like having you around. This space is especially designed for the person who goes about life focused on everyone else while neglecting their own needs.

The person who says yes when inwardly they want to say no. The person who is frustrated at all they do because they don't receive much in return. If that's you, I'm going to put out some great ideas on how you can change those patterns and get unstuck.

Life isn't meant to be tolerated. It should be enjoyed. So let's get to it.

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Corinne Powell: Hello there. So glad to have you here with me. I want to give you some practical tools today on how you can go about becoming more mindful than you may already be. I'm not going to go too long just to touch on how we can practically start living in a way that enhances our life. Because that's what I think of when I think of mindfulness. It's something that enhances our life. It makes our life more brilliant. We become more deeply grateful and it benefits our relationships, certainly benefits our relationship with self and definitely with others. 

The other day I was taking a walk and noticed a praying mantis and I just started to take in the different features of it. The intricacies of the color and the way it was designed. I watched it for probably a minute and considered recording but really just wanted to be present in that moment. I have to record a lot video footage for social media content. And sometimes it's nice to just not record and to just, be in that moment and remember it in other ways. 

And...it was such a beautiful thing to be able to take in this small creature because I felt that sometimes in the past, the busyness, the distractions, the pace of my life, simply not even being aware of how mindfulness could benefit me allowed me to bypass that sort of creature. 

Now, some of you may not be as into nature as I am. I've always loved the sunset and the sunrise and the way the sky can look so beautiful. I've always felt a connection to the flowers, the rocks, the trees. So I get it if some of you are like, what are you talking about? That's not me. There's other ways you can practice mindfulness outside of nature by starting to be deliberate about your breath work and breathing throughout your days to just pause to exhale some of the stress and inhale a sense of relief, a sense of peace. Reminding yourself that all the chaos that's happening around you does not have to affect you internally. We have that power, which is pretty incredible. 

Sometimes practicing mindfulness is just noticing what is the furthest sound I hear right now off in the distance. And what is the closest sound I hear? That might be something within your body. Sometimes it's noticing the texture of something. Gosh, rubbing my fingertips together. My hands are very dry. Need some lotion. Sometimes it's noticing our feeling state or the sensations of our body. My legs are achy. My back feels sore. And then as a byproduct, I start to roll my shoulders because it's a natural response to feeling the tension and the stress in my back. I move my body to release it. But if I don't pause and even ask these questions and take time to notice, I am not supporting myself as I could otherwise.

Mindfulness, as you can tell, shows up in many different ways for you to determine which ways you wanna create practices in. For me, I want to create a practice in numerous ways. I want to notice things out in nature. I want to be aware of what's going on in my physical body, in my emotional part. I want to be connected to the people around me. So how can I actually pay deeper attention, not to get in my head about it all, but to actually be present in the moment? To be present in what my body is experiencing, to be aware of what's going on in my surroundings?

This takes a deliberate practice. And in that, it enhances my life. It makes it much more brilliant. It deepens my connections with others and with myself because I notice more about myself now. I'm learning more that way. And I notice more about others so I can take interest in them and it becomes a way of being more deeply grateful for the beauty that surrounds me, for the power that I carry within and for the brilliance of the life I live. Do you want to shift the perspective you have on life and on those that you interact with? Practice mindfully living and it will start to enhance and change these elements of your life.

So to recap, practically speaking, you can pause and deliberately inhale and exhale throughout your days. This is something we can do if we go to the bathroom. It doesn't have to be weird and obvious. You can do it when you're driving. You can do it if you're sitting at your desk, if you're pausing for a meal break. While you eat - take notice of the texture and the taste. Slow the process down. When you're interacting with people, notice what's going on around you in the room. Actually make eye contact with people. How uncomfortable that can be. How we can be taught that if you do that, something very scary or very bad could happen to you. What about how it could also enhance our relationships and deepen our connections?

There's something very sincere about being able to show up and make eye contact with somebody, say hello, or give them a kind nod and a smile. Take notice of the flowers, the scents, the sounds, the feels of the wind when you're outdoors. Move your eyes from off your phone, from off the screen, onto what's in front of you and what's around you.

Take the earbuds out and start to notice the sounds that are around you. I understand this can be very overstimulating sometimes for people. So you know yourself best and start small and go gradually. When I talk about bringing in a new practice, I always mean start with one thing. If you're like, wanna just mindfully eat my food. I wanna notice what I'm eating, I wanna taste it. I want to slow down the process when I eat. Start there. 

If you want to become more mindful about how you're doing, notice your physical sensations throughout the day and pause and breathe. Perhaps you want to deepen your connections and you want to start to notice more about other people. Whatever area it is for you, focus on that one area and slow down the process. Take more time to notice and become more mindful in that one area. Once you've done that for a while, several weeks, and you're getting really practiced at that, you're like, this is a part of my routine. I do it without thinking. Then you can bring in another area where you wanna grow in becoming mindful.

So between now and next week, pause, reflect, and enjoy.

[Outro] We've come to the end of another episode. I'm so glad you stuck around. As you consider what you've heard, what's the one thing that especially resonated with you? What's one way you can start to implement change into your life? Too much too soon isn't sustainable.

Start small and go slow. Consistency is key. If you appreciate what you're hearing on Empower to Thrive, would you kindly leave me a review and rate my podcast? It helps a lot.

I hope you'll share the episode with a friend and come back next week. And don't forget, I'm so glad you're alive.