#mindfuness

While there are many types of meditation, it's not always easy to practice. Maybe you don't have the time or, like me, you could never quite get the hang of it due to your ADHD brain.

Regardless, mindfulness is something everyone can benefit from and it doesn't always have to be done by meditating. See: Mindfulness vs Meditation. Without further ado,

Here are some mindfulness activities you can do that aren't meditation:

Self-Indulgent ShowerTake a shower with no distractions. No videos, music, or whatever. Soft ambient music or lofi music with no words or loud noises is ok! Pamper yourself by connecting with your body. Get out the nice soap, the one that you don't use often for fear of running out of it (just me? Oops.) Focus on how the water feels, how the soap smells, and how the water sounds as it taps against the curtain liner.

Take a Walk Go on a walk and focus on the world around you without judging it. What birds, plants, and insects are you seeing? Is your neighbor mowing their lawn? Just observe, don’t judge. If you catch yourself judging then just remind yourself that you’re simply there to observe on this walk.

Mindful Tasting Drink your favorite beverage and focus on it. Take in its flavor, smell, temperature, and mouth feel (sounds gross but trust me it's a term!). If other thoughts come to mind that’s ok! Just try to gently push yourself back to focusing on the drink. take a sip every time your mind wanders to remind yourself of the task at hand. This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes and you don’t have to do this the entire time you’re enjoying your beverage. Active Listening A lot of us with ADHD tend to think a lot about what we’re going to say next in a conversation. Instead, just focus on what the person in front of you is saying. Really listen and absorb the information they’re sharing.

When I first started practicing mindfulness, it was practice in the sense of a “learning experiment” rather than a “regular habit”. I relied heavily on YouTube videos that appeared in my google searches, and made selections of what to try based on the shortest duration of the video rather than credibility of the source. The easier the better, was my hope as I had a go. Adherence to any sort of…