6 Things to Remember When Continuing Your Mindfulness, Meditation, and Yoga Practice

Mindfulness, meditation, and yoga have benefits that reach far beyond the mat. 

Kind awareness, positive self-regard, and connecting the breath are just a few skills that develop during mindfulness, meditation, and yoga practice.

These skills can improve your relationships, decision making, and health.

As you continue your meditation practice try to remember these 6 tidbits of advice:

1. The real mindfulness practice is how you live your life. 

• Are you showing up in the present moment? 
• Where’s your mind at? Do you have kind attention? 
• Are you being curious and open?
• How’s your breathing?
  
  

2.  Life includes both joy and pain, happiness and sadness. 

We have a tendency to want to move towards pleasure and away from pain. 

Implementing a mindfulness meditation practice into your routine does not mean that you are always going to be happy. 

Life is going to keep coming at you. 

All you can control is how you react to your life situations. 

Practice acceptance of all things the way they are by seeing them with open curiosity instead of pushing them away. 

3. This is a simple but not easy practice.  

It's going to challenge you and require a lot of practice. 

There is no finish line. 

This is a never ending practice.

4. Remember you are not your thoughts, emotions or opinions. 

Try to not self-identify with  bogus thoughts, emotions, or opinions that pop up. 

Try to see them as clouds moving across the sky. 

Nothing is permanent. 

You are not your thoughts, emotions, or opinions. 

Remember John Kabaat-Zinn’s quote “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf”.

5. Find a like-minded community to help support and motivate your practice

Building up community is essential when integrating positive change into our lives. 

Find people you can talk about mindfulness, meditation, and yoga with. It could be a buddy at work, a partner, or a group of people at your local yoga center.

6. Most importantly, make the practice work for you. 

Let go of how you think meditation should look. 

The important thing is that you consistently show up.

Make the practice work for you.

Try new things. Keep what resonates. 

There is no one way to practice.

We are all unique and individual and our practice will mirror that.