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If the closest you get to a state of Zen is five minutes peace while you're in the shower then mindfulness is for you.
New mums deal with a lot. Lack of sleep, frantic multitasking and sometimes even self-doubt but mindfulness is one way to help you find calm in the eye of the storm.
Mindfulness is more than just a buzzword you hear thrown around on TV, it's actually rooted in ancient Buddhist meditation techniques.
It’s about living in the ‘now’ and learning how to override intrusive, negative ideas or anxiety that creep into our consciousness. You literally just allow yourself to pay attention to the present in order to notice thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations, moment by moment.
Focus on your breathing for a sec. We take 20,000 breaths a day – as you’re reading this, notice how air is being drawn in through your nose, whether you are breathing through your chest or deeper down in your tummy (abdominal breathing makes you relax). Do it for 10 full breaths.
Concentrate on following your breath all the way through. For example, if you start to breathe in and suddenly remember you left the immersion on, that’s an interruption. Just relax and cultivate sustained awareness of your breath. Following it all the way in, then all the way out makes it naturally deeper, slower and harmonious.
Become aware of how your body feels; your ribs expanding and all the mechanics working together to fill you with oxygen. When you find yourself getting agitated, bring all your attention to the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet for 10 breaths- this will ground and centre you.
Releasing tension is much easier once you become aware of yourself. If you’re sitting at a red light, impatient to move – sit back and relax; take that time to practice that mindful breathing and release all the pent up tension.
Find a phrase that you find really calming – like “be still” or “everything is alright”. Breath is through your nose, and say the phrase on the out breath (aloud or in your head; doesn’t matter) until you feel stable and focused.
Mindfulness can be applied to anything you’re doing, and you can practice it anywhere. It doesn’t change the circumstances of what you are doing but it changes the way you respond to them. It lets you replace thoughts of frustration with thoughts of love, which is really useful for new mums who are overwhelmed.
