Heading into 2023, one of the most common goals we've heard from our customers is stressing less. We asked meditation teacher and wellness artist, Dora Kamau, how we can begin to welcome mindfulness into our lives. Dora is a mindfulness and meditation teacher at Headspace with a background in Psychiatric Nursing and Psychology.

Mindfulness is the ability to pay attention in the moment without judgment. It often is used interchangeably with meditation, but the two are different. Meditation is the training of the mind in awareness and compassion. We meditate or train the mind in order to cultivate and build upon the skill of mindfulness. I often hear people say that they don’t have enough time to meditate in their day, but we all have the opportunity to be mindful. Here’s a few ways to incorporate mindfulness in to your everyday lives:

  1. Self-care check-in. Throughout the day, take a moment to pause, connect to your senses, take a few deep breaths and notice any thoughts or emotions that are present.
  2. Slowing down. Mindfulness helps us to find a pace and rhythm that feels right for us. We don’t need to move slowly in order to reap the benefits of mindfulness but moving through your day with more intentionality can help you to be more aware. This can help interrupt that autopilot loop that we can get caught up in during the day.
  3. Limiting your distractions. See if you can reduce or limit distractions while you’re completing a task and give your full undivided attention to what you are doing in the present moment.
  4. Turn everyday cues into a moment to practice mindfulness. There’s many things we do in our day that we may do habitually. We enter into meetings, send emails, respond to texts, etc. These moments can be an opportunity to take a deep breath or two, notice what’s arising in your mind and body, and then take action.
  5. Meditate. Ultimately, the way to be more mindful is to practice meditation. The Headspace app has mindfulness techniques and exercises to support you in building that muscle of mindfulness. Check out our ‘Letting Go of Stress’ course or our ‘Breathwork’ collection to invite more spaciousness and calm into your day.