What IS Mindfulness?
What IS mindfulness anyway? 🌱
Mindfulness can be kind of elusive to people. We hear the word all the damn time, but WHAT does it actually mean and look like in real life? I’m so glad that you asked! Mindfulness is paying kind and conscious attention to the thoughts and feelings of your mind and body coming and going without judgment. In other words, you are aware of the thoughts that you are having and you’re not beating yourself up for having them or wishing that they would go away or be different. That would be judgy. And we are often way too judgy with our thoughts! 😆
When we practice mindfulness, that means that we allow ourselves to train our brain to simply observe (I swear it’s possible) the thought and what emotions are attached to that thought. Once we shed some light on the thought and the emotion, we then have awareness and can CHOOSE how we want to respond. You can practice mindfulness with your eyes open, while you’re eating, walking, running, or riding your bike. You can practice mindfulness proactively (preferably before you get stressed or anxious) BUT you can also practice it while you're anxious or stressed as a means to calm your nervous system which allows you then to CHOOSE your responses. Pretty cool right? 🧠🌿
“For athletes and high performers, mindfulness is an amazing mental training tool that gives us the strong mental edge needed to achieve peak performance. “
-Ready Set Mindful
OKAY, SO WHAT IS MEDITATION?
There are so many different forms of meditation. It can be overwhelming, I totally get it. Here are a few meditation tips to get you started.
You can have your eyes open or closed
You can meditate for 5 minutes or 5 days
You can do a movement meditation, including yoga or walking
It’s totally okay if you are worried about being able to sit still or “focus”
MINDFULNESS AND MEDITATION MYTHS
Meditation will never work for me. 🙅🏻♀️
Not all meditation is created equal. Ready Set Mindful has a unique approach to meditation that is worth practicing. I teach you mental techniques that are digestible even if you have been previously turned off to other forms of mental training or meditation!You have to clear your mind. 🧠 False! Thoughts are not the enemy. Learning how to harness them so that they can work FOR you is the key. It’s all about being an observer of your thoughts.
Meditation makes you anxious. 🤯 This is also normal. We get anxious about things that we think are hard or things that we don’t know if we are capable of doing. You can do it though! Meditation just takes repetition and then it will become a habit just like brushing your teeth is a habit! Once you practice calming and regulating your nervous system, your anxiety about meditating will lessen. It’s all about repetition.
You’re worried it’s “weird”. Is sitting and thinking weird? Many NFL teams, Olympic athletes and the Special Operations Forces are doing it, and it’s not too weird for them!
You have to lie down or be in an uncomfortable position. The goal here is to BE comfortable, whatever that may look like for you!
You can’t sit still. This is perfectly normal. Mindfulness and meditation is a practice. Fidgeting is part of the process, especially when you’re just starting!
It’s too hard to commit to a daily practice. 🛑 If you look at mental training and meditation as an investment in your day, just as brushing your teeth is an investment in your oral health, you will realize that mindfulness and meditation are ESSENTIAL and worth the investment of your time. Trust me, it’s much more challenging to be constantly stressed, anxious, and overwhelmed. Start with my 5-minute meditation to get you started!
5 MINUTE MEDITATION FOR A FRESH START 🌱
You don’t have time. Think of all the time you waste every day scrolling on Instagram or watching Netflix… 🤔 If you want to spend time optimizing your performance, you will find the time. With our online services, accessing mindfulness benefits has never been easier.
Until next time…Be well & Stay mindful 🌿
Kerri, Athlete+Therapist+Mindset Coach
