The Mindfulness Experiment: 3 NEW Habits!

It’s been a little more than a month since I decided to pay closer attention to how I feel throughout the day, or else, since I started the Mindfulness Experiment.

My initial intention was just to observe myself, nothing more. Little did I know that this innocent goal would transform my morning routine and make me start not one, not two, but three new habits! And those habits…fill me with joy and appreciation. I love them!

 Habit #1: The art of pausing and e-mails

Soon after I started the mindfulness experiment I discovered that I felt the urge to check my e-mail often. That urge was sometimes stressful and irresistible. I just had to check e-mail. I was addicted to e-mail, especially in the mornings after waking up.

The remedy? As mentioned in the write-up of my practicing mindfulness experiment at 2 weeks:

“I would pause and wait for 30 seconds or so before I actually tapped the Gmail tab on my tablet.

I wouldn’t count to 30, and I wouldn’t set a timer. I would just sit on the couch with the tablet in my hands and wait. My mind would roam. Or, maybe I would focus on my breathing.

But as I did that the feeling of anxiousness was smoothing out. It was decreasing. And I felt better.”

This simple “pause” helped me reduce the anxiety I felt and gradually make e-mail “less irresistible”. 🙂

Habit #2: Meditation – Visualization

But this simple “pause” did not just help me with e-mail. About two-three weeks in the mindfulness experiment I found myself “pausing” for 20 minutes!

I just loved the quiet time, thinking about what is important to me, or just appreciating the treasures in my life.

My mornings got transformed. I am deeply looking forward to these moments when I get to sit by myself in peace, and “expand my optimism”. Seriously, this is how I would describe what I am doing.

I have found that most of us hold limiting beliefs that prevent us from reaching to our dreams. Some of us do it more than others, but still, we are all guilty of being our own worst enemies.

In the morning, I am training myself that expanding…is ok and safe. I indulge in optimism and positivity and in this state fresh ideas are just pouring to me!

…which led me to the last habit…

Habit #3: Journaling

The ideas and golden nuggets I got from meditation and visualization were so many that I needed to start documenting them. Ideas are so fleeting that it’s either document them or let them go. I chose to document them. I started journaling.

It’s been 3 weeks since I got started and I love looking back in my journal and seeing how many “problems”  I have overcome through this time I am devoting to myself in the morning.

I have overcome irrational fears, I have gotten insights about my business, and about what I truly want in life. Not to mention how good appreciation of the good things in life feels.

I am honestly wondering…Why didn’t I start this visualization-journaling process earlier?

Every morning I feel overjoyed in appreciation of being healthy, living in a house, having food in my fridge, being married, having a family, my friends…

Every morning I get some kind of “A-ha” moment that leads me to say “Eureka”!

At least this is how most mornings are. There are some mornings that don’t fill me with joy, but there has never been a morning when this meditation-visualization-journaling process didn’t make me feel better than before I went into it.

In just 1 month… A simple mindfulness experiment…led me to three new habits that fill me with joy every day!

Being fit is not just about having firm abs. It’s also about leading a fit life, a life that is joyful and fills you with satisfaction. I have found that the three new habits I got help me appreciate my life more, and get me one step closer to what I see as a fit and happy life. I honestly love them!

Will I continue practicing them? Of course! I may change them in the future, but I feel that I am just scratching the surface here.

It’s funny how I got so much happiness and creativity through a simple intention to observe how I feel and running a mindfulness experiment…

Photo Credit: Mindfulness