Dedicate specific time daily (5-10 minutes initially) to practice mindfulness, treating it like ‘going to the gym’ for your mind. Continue until you notice personal benefits, which will intrinsically motivate further practice, making it easier to sustain mindfulness in difficult moments and improving focus and control.
Get comfortable, maintain a dignified posture, take a deep breath, then focus attention on a physical anchor like your breath. If your mind wanders, gently note it, accept it, and return your focus to the anchor, developing attention and acceptance to move on to the next moment.
When experiencing discomfort, urges, or cravings, sit with the sensation and simply notice it without fighting or wishing it away. This practice helps you tolerate the discomfort, observe its natural arc (rise, peak, fall), and reduces its intensity, allowing you to make better decisions.
Bring mindfulness into everyday moments, such as washing dishes, by noticing physical sensations and accepting thoughts without judgment. This makes it easier to sustain mindfulness over time and apply it to many moments, especially difficult or stressful ones.
Approach the present moment with an open, curious, and accepting attitude, acknowledging everything as it is without fighting or wishing for it to be different. This acceptance opens you up to making better decisions and leads to less stress.
To deepen your practice, focus on a current stressor or upsetting feeling, noticing the experience of stress and allowing it to be present. As you do this, your sensation of stress about the experience can start to come down.