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Mindfulness Habits: Simple Steps to Reduce Stress & Anxiety

Mindfulness Habits: Simple Steps to Reduce Stress & Anxiety

by | Feb 28, 2019 | Blog, Transformative Coaching

Mindfulness habits - Mindfulness quote

Mindfulness Habits: Simple Steps to Reduce Stress & Anxiety

What Are Mindfulness Habits?

Mindfulness is the practice of being fully present—directing your attention to what you’re doing and your surroundings rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. Mindfulness habits are simple, daily practices that help cultivate awareness, reduce stress, and enhance overall well-being.

If you’re looking for a deeper transformation, mindfulness plays a key role in transformative coaching—a powerful approach that helps you break through limiting beliefs and create lasting change in your life.

As Jon Kabat-Zinn defines it, mindfulness involves:
✅ Paying attention on purpose
✅ Staying rooted in the present moment
✅ Observing without judgment

Breaking Down Mindfulness Habits

🔹 On Purpose – Practicing mindfulness means intentionally directing your focus. When we live more consciously, we stay awake and engaged in the moment.

🔹 In the Present Moment – Letting go of tension caused by wishing things were different helps us accept and embrace what is happening right now.

🔹 Non-Judgmentally – Practicing mindfulness doesn’t mean stopping thoughts—it means observing them without judgment and allowing experiences to unfold naturally.

Mindfulness habits - cartoon

Why Are Mindfulness Habits Important?

You might be wondering: What does living in the present even mean?

Have you ever driven somewhere, arrived, and realized you don’t remember the journey? Or walked into a room but forgot why you went there?

These are signs of mindlessness—being stuck on autopilot rather than truly engaging with your experiences. Mindfulness habits break this cycle, bringing you back to awareness so you can fully experience life.

Mindfulness in Daily Life

One of the best ways to integrate mindfulness habits is by engaging in daily activities with full awareness.

For example, in yoga practice, rather than focusing on how a pose should look, I encourage students to focus on how it feels. This shift allows them to experience the present moment rather than getting caught up in expectations.

Mindfulness habits - Worrier Pose or Warrior Pose

The same applies to daily life—when you live in the past, you carry guilt and regret. When you live in the future, you carry stress and anxiety.

By practicing mindfulness habits, you shift from being a spectator of life to being an active participant.

6 Quick & Easy Mindfulness Habits

If you’re new to mindfulness, here are six simple mindfulness habits you can start today—each takes one minute or less!

1. Count Your Breaths

  • Inhale, count 1, exhale 2.
  • Continue counting up to 10, then repeat three times.
  • This helps reset your mind and bring awareness to your breath.

2. Yawn & Stretch Every Hour

  • Fake a yawn to trigger a real one.
  • Stretch your arms slowly for 10 seconds, noticing any tension.
  • Take another 20 seconds to check in with your body.

3. Mindful Touch Exercise

  • Close your eyes and stroke your fingers gently with the opposite hand.
  • Focus on sensation and texture as you repeat on both hands.

4. Do a Quick Body Scan

  • Start at the top of your head and move your awareness down to your toes.
  • Relax each body part as you bring attention to it.

5. Mindful Eating

  • Choose a raisin or piece of chocolate.
  • Observe it with all five senses before eating slowly.
  • Appreciate its texture, taste, and aroma with each bite.

6. One-Minute Breathing Exercise

  • Place a hand on your stomach and focus on the rise and fall of your breath.
  • If your mind wanders, gently bring your attention back to your breathing.

The Power of Mindfulness Habits

Just like weightlifting builds muscle, mindfulness strengthens your ability to stay present. The more consistently you practice, the more time you’ll spend living in the moment rather than lost in distractions.

Mindfulness is also a foundational part of transformative coaching—helping individuals release limiting thoughts and embrace a mindset of growth and self-awareness.

So, wouldn’t NOW be the perfect time to start your mindfulness practice?

💡 Ready to transform your mindset?
Schedule your FREE 15-minute Virtual Coffee today to explore how mindfulness habits can improve your life.

ARE YOU LIVING IN THE PRESENT?

ARE YOU LIVING IN THE PRESENT?

by | Mar 10, 2017 | Blog

Living in the present

WHAT DOES LIVING IN THE PRESENT MEAN?

What does living in the present even mean? Present moment attention focuses entirely on what is in front of you and what you are doing right now; this is how your life plays out. Too much of the time, we occupy our minds with past experiences or daydream about future ones, which cause us to lose sight of what is before us—our lives.

So many of us have lived our lives in our heads rather than through experiences. One of the points I stress in my yoga classes is to let go of thinking about how a pose should look and begin to experience how the pose feels. Noticing what a yoga pose feels like allows you to go within for the experience instead of looking outward, allowing you to be present.river in woods

The easiest way to discover how to live now is to visit your favorite park, river, woods, or another place in nature. Admire everything you see. Touch whatever is before you, feeling its texture: a gnarled tree, the smoothness of a blade of grass. Smell whatever scents there are: the air, the fragrance of flowers wafting, the earth.

Using your five senses brings you to the perfect present. Examine how you feel when you bring your awareness to the forefront and savor the beauty of God’s creations. Things you may have missed, such as the laughter of children playing, the birds chirping noisily, the warmth of the sun, or the brightness of a star, now penetrate your physical being, making you feel alive.

When you are more present, your body relaxes, causing you to release stress. Stress occurs in your body when you don’t have relief between continuous physical, mental, or emotional challenges and can lead to harmful symptoms or diseases. When you live in the moment, all thoughts of stressors are gone because everything is taken care of; you have no issues, worries, or problems.

Living in the present allows you to connect with people more fully by listening, letting go of past judgments, and improving your focus. They can sense when you are distracted by your surroundings and when you able to tune out interruptions, making them feel that you are listening.

The more present you are, the more energy and creativity you have. Meditation is an excellent way to provide you with a deeper level of intuition and creativity; it opens up the channels within you and comes from the space between your thoughts, rather than thoughts themselves. By calming your mind through meditation practice, you allow this space to be discovered.th 20

If you are overwhelmed, stressed out, and don’t know what to do, breathe. Watch your breath as it enters your body, and watch it leaving. If you find yourself creating fantasies that haven’t happened yet, breathe. If you find yourself in a state of mourning, grief, or resentment, breathe.

Meditation is a practice, not a goal, and being more present in your life results from that practice. Set aside five minutes a day to start, then gradually increase a minute each day or two. Decide to notice new things in your life, especially using your senses. Remember, life is all about the journey (the present moment) and not the destination (the future).

For further information about how you can learn to live in the moment, schedule your free 15-minute Assessment today!