Let me paint you a scenario:
You take your time with doing things and find joy in your daily tasks, no matter how boring, no matter how mundane. You’re grateful and you live with intention, grace, and purpose.
In a society that normalizes a rushed, hurried life, that sounds nearly impossible.
These days, there’s always something to stress about — or that’s what we’re made and conditioned to believe.
Hustling hard is strongly encouraged, even taught, and taking time off to rest is looked down upon and mocked.
But what if I said you can live that life right now? One where you can enjoy the present moment without making any drastic lifestyle changes?
Yes, you don’t have to quit your job, move to the middle of the forest, or do anything extreme to live a life of harmony and alignment.
In this blog post, I’ll be going over the importance of mindful living and how to implement it into your life today!
What is Mindful Living?
Mindful living is simply just being aware of how you’re feeling and what’s going on around you in any given moment.
It’s living in the present moment, no matter what you’re doing. You can be eating the same breakfast you always eat, doing the dishes, commuting to work, whatever it might be.
There are so many benefits to mindful living. When I started to get more into mindful living, I found that I was more calm, compassionate, patient, at peace, and a lot calmer. There are so many other benefits that come along with this lifestyle.
To help you on your journey, here are 15 easy ways you can live a more intentional and mindful life today.
1. Keep a Tidy space & Declutter
Organizing and cleaning your space is a great mindfulness practice.
Part of an intentional lifestyle is being mindful of what you keep in your space and what you choose to discard.
Decluttering can be a hard task. I know, because it was so hard for me to get rid of clothes in my closet that I’ve never seen or worn.
That’s why it’s best to start with disposing of things you know you absolutely do not need.
For example, the pile of trash in your room that you were too lazy to take out. Or perhaps old shopping catalogs that just accumulated in your living room.
After that initial decluttering and cleaning, you’ll find yourself feeling so much lighter.
Being intentional with how your belongings are organized makes your space that much more enjoyable to be in.
After decluttering and organizing, you’ll enjoy being in your space a lot more. You will also have fewer distractions, making your transition into a mindful lifestyle a lot easier.
2. Practice Meditatation
Meditation is a part of my daily ritual and I found that it has helped me cultivate a more intentional and mindful life.
Meditating or even just finding some peace and quiet in my day has helped me calm my mind and ground me to the present moment.
It is easy to get caught up in tasks and to-do lists, but meditation reminds me of the things that really matter, which is how I feel now.
3. Spend time in nature
Going outside and breathing in fresh, clean air honestly does so much for you.
When you’re cooped up inside all day, you’re left feeling lethargic and uninspired.
There are many therapeutic and healing properties by just being in nature. Even if you’re outside just for a few minutes, you’ll end up feeling refreshed, nourished, and appreciative about life. Everytime I go on a walk, I feel so grateful to be alive.
4. Practice Gratitude
In a rushed and hustling environment, we often wish for more — more money, more time, more success, etc.
In doing so, it’s easy to forget to appreciate what we have now.
By practicing gratitude, it helps you see that you’re abundant in many ways. A daily gratitude practice helps cultivate a positive mindset. And with a positive mindset, you can achieve and manifest so much more.
Gratitude will leave you feeling so much more abundant and fulfilled.
5. Garden
Gardening requires great patience. It’s a slow process that involves a lot of labor, nourishment, and care.
However, despite all the work, it is so rewarding seeing the fruits of your own labor and love.
Gardening helps me appreciate nature and the process of caring, cultivating, and loving something.
Plus, the reward is pretty delicious — I mean, who can say no to home-grown tomatoes and fresh herbs?
6. Practice yoga or any type of mindful movement
Yoga is a great way to help cultivate mindfulness and awareness in the body.
There are other movements that help cultivate mindfulness, but I recommend yoga because there are so many resources available for free!
All you need is a yoga mat, comfortable clothes, and internet access.
If you never did yoga before, do not fret. There are many free instructional yoga videos on youtube. I started with Yoga with Adriene and still do her videos on a daily basis!
7. Take in the environment around you and truly feel what you’re feeling
Cultivate mindfulness by being aware of what’s going on around you and inside you.
Notice your surroundings — the sounds, sensations, and smells, etc.
Just as importantly, observe how you feel. Do you feel good? Tired? Stressed? Whatever it is, be mindful and observant.
By noticing what’s around you and how you feel in the present moment, you’ll enhance your experiences in life by so much more. It’ll help you stay grounded in the present moment instead of being in the future or in the past.
8. Letting go of things that don’t serve you
Did you ever get angry and have it ruin the rest of your day?
I know this feeling all too well friends. However, even if someone did wrong you, why let it ruin your day even more?
To live a life of intention, a big part of it is having a choice. A choice of what to keep and what to let go. A choice in living in a way that best serves you physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
Ask yourself if holding onto something that makes you upset serves you. You’ll be able to act accordingly then.
9. Enjoy the process — do things slowly
It’s common to try to rush through things just for the sake of getting them done.
Rushing things and trying to zoom through your tasks will leave you feeling stressed. I’m guilty of this — rushing through the dishes or trying speed through my meal.
What if we slowed down and find enjoyment in the process?
Practice eating more slowly, appreciating each bite. You can cultivate mindfulness in any task. A perfect place to start is with household chores that are often seen as mundane and boring.
Wash the dishes with mindfulness, fold your laundry with intentionality, and proceed with each task with joy and a lightness in your heart.
10. Do one thing at a time — don’t multitask
Besides multi-tasking not working and actually making you less productive, it takes the enjoyment out of life.
When we multitask, we’re less conscious of what’s going on. We’re distracted and tricked into believing we’re getting more done when in actuality, we’re just stressing ourselves out even more.
Focus on one thing at a time — the rewards for doing so is greater, both in productivity and in personal enjoyment!
11. Create rituals and routines
Cultivating daily rituals help us honor the present moment and find peaceful rhythms in our everyday life.
If you’re interested in learning how to cultivate a daily ritual just for you, give my blog post, How to Create Intentional Daily Rituals, a read!
12. Prioritize your wellness
Health is wealth. When we live in a rushed society, for some reason, our wellness gets pushed to the backburner.
Our physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing is undeniably one of the most important assets in our life. That’s why it’s important to cultivate healthy, intentional practices to keep us healthy.
To help make wellness a key area in your life, check out our wellness printable planner pages in the shop. It’ll give you the tools to live a healthier and holistic life.
13. Create intentional goals that align with your purpose
Goals are a big part of our life and help us give us a sense of purpose and meaning.
That’s why it’s especially important to create intentional goals that align with our values and with who we want to be in this lifetime.
When creating a goal, ask yourself why you’re doing it. It will help you towards your journey, especially when things get hard.
14. Cultivate a daily journaling practice
I was never really able to keep a consistent journaling practice, but ever since I started keeping a digital journal in my digital planner, I’ve been journaling every night.
You can journal about anything — you can start a gratitude journal, a manifestation journal, a mental health journal, etc. The possibilities are endless.
Carving out this time for myself to reflect has given me so much mental clarity and direction. It’s a space for you to freely express yourself without any limitations.
15. Plan for your day
If you’re new to intentional and mindful living, it’s likely that you’re operating on auto-pilot for a good portion of your day.
To help counteract that, you can be more intentional in your everyday life by creating a daily plan, keeping in mind tasks you need to get done, and even hobbies you want to fit in for your own personal enjoyment!
I recently released the Clarity Planner, which I personally use to help intentionally plan my day and to cultivate a life of mindfulness and purpose. There is space to create a daily intention, practice daily gratitude, journal, and to prioritize tasks that are meaningful to you.
No matter what your circumstances are now, you can always start living more intentionally and mindfully.
What has helped you with your mindful living journey? I’d love to hear about your experiences! 🙂
