The Mindful Kind PDF
Preview The Mindful Kind
CONTENTS Introduction PART ONE Learning and Personal Growth Chapter 1: Exploring outside your comfort zone Chapter 2: The whole-hearted approach to mindfulness Chapter 3: Journaling techniques and inspiring prompts PART TWO Relationships Chapter 4: Powerful communication skills Chapter 5: Dealing with challenge and conflict Chapter 6: Fostering deeper love and support PART THREE Self-Care Chapter 7: Making space for self-care Chapter 8: Simple self-care practices for everyday life Chapter 9: Mindful self-care PART FOUR Health and Wellbeing Chapter 10: Simple tips for a better sleep Chapter 11: Mindful eating and conscious choices Chapter 12: Moving your body PART FIVE Work, Stress and Assertiveness Chapter 13: Mindful commuting and a positive start to the working day Chapter 14: Enhancing productivity and mental clarity Chapter 15: The assertive employee Chapter 16: Mindfulness techniques for stress PART SIX Hobbies, Fun and Creativity Chapter 17: The pursuit of fun Chapter 18: Why is creativity important? Chapter 19: Hobbies and creative ideas PART SEVEN Mindful Social Media Chapter 20: Mindful social media Chapter 21: Creating meaningful connections through social media One last word References and further reading Acknowledgements Appendix: Breathing techniques and meditations About the Author Copyright Introduction How often do you experience the present moment with a sense of openness and curiosity? When you picked up this book, did you notice the colours on the cover and the weight of it in your hands? Did you hear the sound of the paper as you flicked to this page? Can you see the shapes of the letters, the blank areas, the perfectly rounded full stops? Welcome to the world of mindfulness. It’s not a complicated world, nor a difficult one. Mindfulness is experiencing the present moment, without labels or judgement. It can be as simple as feeling a breath move in and out of your body or noticing the solid ground underneath your feet. Yet how often do you find yourself ‘out’ of the present moment? Thinking about an upcoming work deadline while you’re lying in bed at night? Writing a mental shopping list of the groceries you need to buy while you’re doing a ‘relaxing’ yoga class? Eating dinner on a Sunday night and feeling a growing sense of dread as you imagine yourself going to work the following morning and opening up your email inbox? Mindfulness itself may not be complicated or difficult, but it can still be challenging to practise. Many of us have been conditioned to worry about the future and ruminate over the past, so we regularly miss the present moment because our minds are tied up elsewhere. It can actually take a deliberate choice and effort to engage in mindfulness, but the more we do, the easier it can become. As a teenager, I struggled regularly with stress, anxiety and low self-esteem. I felt unable to stop myself from thinking about things I regretted, or things I was worried about. I judged myself for being too shy, too short, too pimply, too boring, too stupid. Deep down, I knew I was making myself miserable and I also knew I was the only person who could change it. In a bid to understand myself better, I decided to study psychology at university. The more I learned, the more passionate I felt about using my knowledge and skills to create a better life for myself and to work towards helping others do the same. In my second year of study, I started volunteering on a helpline, and during the training I was taught a mindfulness technique. I felt a sudden moment of clarity; being mindful genuinely helped my erratic mind to slow down. I experienced a break from my stress and noticed a sense of calm and ease as I became more present in the moment. Since that day, I’ve tried to implement mindfulness into my life in various ways. I started to practise mindful breathing when I couldn’t sleep at night and used my senses deliberately during everyday activities, like cooking and showering. I encouraged myself to observe and explore different emotions, rather than chase happiness and avoid pain. I began to see the meaning in simple activities, like walking my dog or watering a plant, because they were opportunities to cultivate mindfulness when I would normally be lost in my thoughts. Gradually, being more mindful changed my life in various, little ways that ultimately created big changes. I noticed benefits in my relationships, physical health and wellbeing, work and social media use. I had a greater sense of enjoyment of creative activities and hobbies. I felt more resilient and better equipped to manage my stress and anxiety. The nonjudgement I practised during mindfulness started translating into kinder self-talk, more open-mindedness towards others and less shame around my mistakes and shortcomings. When I started talking about mindfulness on my podcast, The Mindful Kind, I received a multitude of messages from people who were noticing similar changes in themselves. I heard from a man in the US who began experiencing peaceful moments of reflection after many years of self-loathing and insecurity. A young woman sent me a comment via Instagram to explain how some slow mindful moments helped her experience a sense of calm acceptance after her partner was deployed in the armed services. I’ve heard from people experiencing grief, loneliness, physical pain and anxiety, who felt supported by their mindfulness practices. I wrote this book because I wanted to share simple and meaningful ways for you to practise mindfulness that can easily be integrated into your everyday life. You’ll discover mindfulness and meditation techniques to help relieve stress and anxiety, and practices to build your sense of overall wellbeing. When I was studying, one of the strategies I learned was called the Wheel of Life. It was designed to help you discover which areas of your life need your attention. Basically, you draw a circle and divide it into sections (like a pizza), and you label each section with an important area of your life. For example, one section might be labelled ‘self-care’, another section might be ‘work’, another section might be ‘hobbies and creativity’, and so on. You then rate each section out of 10, based on how satisfied you are with it. For example, if you enjoy a number of fulfilling relationships, you might rate that section an 8 out of 10. If you feel as though you never have time for hobbies or creativity any more, you might rate that section a 2 out of 10. I created this book with the hope that mindfulness can help you improve each important area of your life. I hope that Part Two about relationships will help you communicate better (and more mindfully!) and deliberately foster more love and support. I hope that Part Four about health and wellbeing will help you practise mindfulness to experience better sleep, more meaningful exercise and mindful eating. I hope that by the end of this book, the rating for each little slice of your own Wheel of Life will be higher. I recommend that you read through this book chapter by chapter, as each one builds on the last. However, if you find yourself experiencing a particularly stressful or overwhelming time, you can turn to the Appendix to find a collection of breathing techniques, mindfulness practices and meditations. There’s just one more thing to remember as you read this book. No mindfulness journey is exactly the same and I’d love you to try all these techniques with an open mind. Notice which ones resonate with you, work on those which challenge you, and allow your mindfulness or meditation practice to grow and evolve. I hope you enjoy being part of The Mindful Kind. With love, Rach PART ONE Learning and Personal Growth
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