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Everyone can use a smidge of mindfulness in their lives. In our busy day-to-day lives, we sometimes forget to take care of our well-being and neglect giving ourselves some much-needed self-love.  Okay, I more than sometimes forget to take care of me.

But honestly, with work, family, relationships, and ALL THE THINGS, who wouldn’t? I know, I feel like life is so demanding sometimes and I just don’t have time (or make the time) to pause, take a breath, and reflect.

I find that after a long day of working, taking the kids to where they need to go, making sure the kids are fed, etc… that I just don’t make the intentional time to be mindful and “reset.”

Making mindful decisions is possible when you make a conscious effort to do so. Your habits and choices should be made with the intention to lead you towards a happier life with a sense of purpose.

But it’s easier said than done. Being mindful in your daily life is not always easy to accomplish and will come with time. Mindfulness habits should be developed slowly to merge into your daily routine.

In this guide, we will dive into what exactly mindfulness habits are and suggest seven mindfulness habits that you can develop and practice today! So, without further ado, let’s get right into it!

What are Mindfulness Habits?

Mindfulness habits are practices that you incorporate into your everyday life to lower your stress. It also helps to protect you from any anxiety and depression, and improve your overall mood, which results in a healthier brain.

These habits are intentional and will, in effect, create a healthier and happier version of yourself. Daily practice will bring you the much-needed inner peace that you crave for yourself in your busy life. And the best part about it? There is absolutely no medication involved, and it has no side effects!

Of course, there is NOTHING wrong with having to medicate for extra help. This will help supplement that and can help to potentially ease off anxiety meds.

If you want to work toward a healthier and happier life, these habits will steer you toward your goals in no time! Let’s dive in.

7 Mindfulness Habits To Develop and Start Practicing

Remember that habits take time to develop. You have to be consistent to make them a part of your everyday life. Take a moment to take a breath and realize that right now, in this moment, you can start shifting the way you think to become more self-aware.

You will be able to understand your purpose in life, learn to be patient with yourself, and love all you have to give in this world. Your growth and self-understanding will come with how you speak to yourself over time and the mindful decisions you make every day!

So, let’s dive right in, shall we?

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Mindfulness Habit #1 – Meditate Every Morning

Meditation goes hand in hand with mindfulness. When you meditate, your body is taking the time to connect with your mind. For maximum efficiency, choose a time and place where your surroundings are completely still, sit upright on a mat, close your eyes, and learn to control your breathing.

At first, it may be difficult to tune out distractions and learn how to breathe properly. But with daily practice, you will soon start feeling a mind-body connection that brings you inner peace and healing! Meditation is a great way to relax and relieve any tensions or stress in your life.

When you think of meditating, you’re probably envisioning long periods of silence and trying to accomplish the mind-body connection. But don’t be intimidated – you can start slow, which means taking a few minutes (even as little as five minutes) to clear your thoughts and calm yourself. You will shock yourself at how deep of an impact it has in helping you realign yourself with the present moment.

Meditation is known to have numerous benefits. It redirects your thoughts to a more tranquil state of mind, it calms any nerves or anxiety, and it will improve your quality of life over time. This mindfulness habit will teach you patience, gratitude, and calmness. Try this practice daily to see how your life starts changing before your eyes!

Mindful Habit #2 – Practice How to Be Grateful

Noticing the blessings and good in your life is an important activity to live a richer and fuller life. This mindfulness habit reminds you that you should find happiness in the small things instead of stressing about the things you don’t have quite yet.

Gratitude comes from acknowledging all that you have accomplished so far, all the blessings you’ve received in your life, and all the good you’re surrounded with. Taking time to reflect on this goodness every day will give you positive energy and reaffirm that you already have good things in your life and that more good is headed your way.

At first, it may be hard to find things to be grateful for. But think about the basics – you are alive, you have a roof over your head, and you have food in the fridge. That is already something huge! There is always something to be thankful for, no matter what your situation is. Understand and encapsulate that in every thought you think, as well as every movement you make, and just see how much abundance you will start receiving.

Remember that there will always be people who may be richer, better-looking, and have more friends and confidence than you. But comparing and being envious of others will do you no good. Instead, acknowledging that everyone is blessed with different things and being grateful for your talents, physical attributes, and mindset will bring you much closer to the life you dream of!

Mindful Habit #3 – Eat Slowly and Mindfully

You hear it all the time – “eat mindfully.” But what does that entail exactly? Eating mindfully just means having no distractions around you – so no TV running, no phones, no books, and no talking.

Instead, try being present and paying full attention to the food you are consuming. This will help you truly appreciate your meal. In your busy life, it may seem ridiculous to slow down and eat your food with absolutely no distractions. But this mindful habit will make you eat with purpose and enjoy your meal to the maximum potential.

Food gives you life. It’s sad that in our busy lives it’s easier to hit a drive-thru and eat a quick meal in the car than to sit at our dining table and appreciate what we eat. As hard as it may be, try to put aside all forms of distraction and practice this mindful habit to pave the way for a happier and healthier you!

Taking the time to chew and appreciate each bite you take is amazing for your digestion as well! This mindful habit is most efficient when you cut down on fast food restaurants and instead choose whole foods that you can prepare yourself. It will bring you closer to appreciating the wonder that gives you sustenance.

Mindful Habit #4 – Take a Walk Outside

Allow yourself to become one with nature. In our busy lives, it’s hard to appreciate the world and nature around us. We are too busy thinking of deadlines, appointments, and tasks to do that we forget that we are all a small part of this world. External pressures make us believe that everything happening in our lives is the be-all-end-all. But if you take your time to think about it, we are just a small particle in the vast universe.

Take the time to appreciate nature. Take a walk outside to feel the wind against your skin. Touch the leaves and flowers and wonder about the way they grow and live on this earth. Use this time to reflect on the world and nature. Understand your place in the world and truly experience what it means to be one with nature. This will calm you down, get rid of any pesky and unwanted thoughts, and will help you realize that your life on earth is worth living!

This mindfulness habit is a beautiful way to re-align yourself with the present. It allows your mind to just let go and notice all the phenomenal sounds, scents, and movements around you. Notice how you feel and what your senses go through during your walk. This is a great habit to help you appreciate where you fall in this world.

Mindful Habit #5 – Allow Yourself to Feel

Be aware of how you feel in the moment. Pay attention to all the emotions you experience at any given moment. A huge part of being mindful is to acknowledge your emotions and how you feel in the present moment. When you avoid processing your feelings, you hinder yourself from being the best version of yourself possible.

It may be tempting to just embrace the good feelings – joy, excitement, and happiness. But being mindful means acknowledging that negative emotions make up who you are just as much as positive emotions. Accept all the sadness, anger, envy, and disappointment you feel. Acknowledging all these distasteful emotions will help you understand yourself better and help you healthily react to these feelings.

This mindful habit can be developed by sitting and reflecting in moments of both high and low. Consider what emotion you are feeling, why you are feeling this way, and if there is a lesson to be learned. Figure out if there are any triggers and dig deep as to why you feel provoked. Understand that no human is perfect, and that we all go through a range of emotions. It’s how we make sense of them and learn from them that makes us overall better people!

Emotions differ for each person and tend to scare even the “strongest” people. But allowing yourself to be present and adopting the mindful practice of feeling every emotion as it comes will lead you toward a more fulfilling life!

Mindful Habit #6 – Be Kind to Yourself

Your inner voice is a huge way you can start changing how you look at yourself. Being kind to yourself costs you nothing and can be the biggest confidence booster! No compliment or acknowledgement from a stranger or loved one is more powerful than the compliments and love you give yourself!

You can develop this mindful habit by catching yourself when you think something negative about yourself and changing it to a positive thought. Remind yourself of everything you’ve overcome and all your talents and skills. Turn any pessimistic thoughts of yourself into affirmations.

Take some time to notice your inner voice and how you speak to yourself regularly. Is your inner voice applauding your successes and motivating you during your struggles and mistakes? Or is your mind's voice criticizing you for tiny shortcomings and challenges? This habit will help you understand that you are only human, and that you should be able to be patient with yourself, be your biggest cheerleader, and learn to forgive yourself.

The kinder you are to yourself, the kinder you will be to others. Showing empathy and learning how to be kind to yourself is fundamental in the growth of your confidence. This will help you realign with the present, become best friends with yourself, and appreciate the efforts you do.

Mindful Habit #7 – Take a Social Media Detox

It’s no secret that social media causes feelings of anxiety, depression, and overall disappointment in our own lives. Social media was a tool meant to increase connection to others, but it tends to result in feeling completely disconnected from ourselves! Constantly being exposed to the successes, accomplishments, and good fortune of others may make us undervalue our achievements.

Downplaying all that we are and have brought to this world is the worst thing you can do to yourself. This will instill hopelessness, doubt in yourself, and will trigger all your insecurities. Social media makes us hungry for external validation and the approval of others. But we completely forget that the best validation is the one that comes from none other than ourselves!

Whether you’re easily swayed by what you see on social media or not, it’s a healthy practice to take a social media detox from time to time. This will help you feel more confident in yourself, stabilize everything you offer to the world, and have more gratitude, which are all signs of emotional maturity, growth, and mindfulness.

This mindful habit will allow you to take a break from your phone, reconnect with yourself, enjoy real-life human relationships, and partake in activities that make you feel whole! Try spending less time on social media or taking a break from it completely every few months; you will feel a tangible difference that leads toward a happier life!

How Mindfulness Habits Will Change Yourself

Practicing mindful habits are all proven through research to change the physiology of your body and brain, which will then strengthen and heal every part of yourself.

Here are some added benefits to practicing mindfulness every day:

Lowers your stress

Habits such as meditating are proven to calm your mind and body. Daily meditation paired with other mindfulness habits will improve your brain’s ability to manage and cope with stress in your life.

Isn’t a few minutes of silence and reflection in the morning and night worth a lifetime of no stress?

Reduces anxiety

Research has shown that mindfulness practice can reduce anxiety and depression among adolescents and adults and continues to reduce it so long as it is practiced regularly. It will contain the part of the brain that controls worrying and help by focusing on other areas.

Helps grow your confidence

Mindfulness habits done regularly are a great confidence booster. Speaking kindly to yourself, applauding your small victories, embracing growth, and acknowledging the amazing person that you are will inevitably kick-start your journey to being a more confident you! Practicing mindfulness habits will result in your radiating confidence, wherever you go.

Keeps your emotions in check

These habits will help you process your emotions in a cleaner, healthier, and more systematic way than before. Deeply emotional situations can throw us off our game and may cause damage to the way we speak, feel, and heal. But mindfulness habits will help you during high-stress, high-emotional moments by keeping the emotional part of your brain in check. Not just will you feel all the intense emotions, you will know how to calmly process them and what your next steps should be without getting triggered!

Slows down the process of aging

Practicing mindfulness can slow down the progression of dementia and other age-related cognitive disorders. It keeps your memory power healthy and thriving for years. Just as little as two hours of mindfulness habits a week can slow down the deterioration of the part of your brain that is responsible for emotions, learning and memory!

Expands self-awareness

It’s no secret that practicing mindfulness daily will expand your awareness of yourself and the world. You will be able to let go of any ego and understand that you are only human. You will start accepting who you are and start to see any blind spots you may have of yourself.

Blind spots in how you think, feel, and react are not easy to spot in oneself. But mindfulness will help you become more self-aware and will allow you to grow into the best version of yourself!

Improves Focus

Mindfulness habits will increase your ability to concentrate and ignore any noise or distractions. Making more mindful choices and engaging in mindful practices will improve your focus, determination, and mindset over time. This is a great technique to help children, teens, and young adults in their academics!

Daily Mindfulness Habits
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Tips to Keep in Mind on Your Mindfulness Journey

Try incorporating one habit at a time
Mindfulness takes time to develop, and no one achieves it overnight. So, be easy on yourself and develop these habits one at a time.

Look at mindfulness as an investment
You’re busy – we know! But taking a few minutes of your day to get your mind and body in tune is an investment in yourself! In no time, you’ll be geared up to live your best life!

Mistakes and failures are lessons to be learned
Even the most mindful, spiritually aware people in your life make mistakes. Never look at your mistakes and failures as setbacks. There are numerous lessons to be learned from each mistake you make, which will prep you for the next time. Don’t lose hope. Adopt an “If I fall, I’ll get back up stronger” mentality.

You can become the most amazing version of yourself
You are halfway there if you are considering practicing mindfulness in your life! Dedicating time for yourself will help you heal and grow into a stronger you.

Be open to change and growth
The worst mindset to have is to be closed off and believe you are perfect. When you realize that no one is perfect and there is always room for growth – no matter who you are – you will open yourself up to grow spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. Always be open to new experiences to grow as a person and never let your ego get in the way!

Final Thoughts On Mindfulness

When was the last time you paused and reflected on your life and emotions? Don’t worry if it’s been a long time (or never). In our very busy lives, it’s hard for everyone to find ways to reflect and calm down.

But what if there was a way to reduce your stress, calm any anxieties, help you understand your purpose in life, and lead an overall healthier life? And what if it was completely free and comes with no side effects? Yes, it’s possible through the art of mindfulness!

Mindfulness habits are developed over time and incorporated into your everyday life so that you can achieve the inner peace you dream of! While it may be difficult to stay consistent, try practicing one habit from this list at a time to sync it with your everyday routine.

They say doing something for 21 days will make it a habit. So, challenge yourself and try integrating these amazing mindfulness habits into your life to see the changes happen before your eyes! The way you view the world and yourself will start to drastically change. The mindful decisions you make will result in a more confident, happier, and healthier you! Transform yourself starting today by developing and practicing these mindfulness habits!

In this article, we discuss what mindfulness is, examples of seven mindfulness habits that you can develop starting today, and the benefits of mindful habits. Hopefully, this has inspired you to start practicing some or all of these habits as soon as possible! Have fun, be present, and revel in the beauty that you are surrounded by!

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