• Have you ever attended a mindfulness event?

• Perhaps, you went with a friend and found your mind whirling with busyness and distractions?

• Have you pondered the concept but didn’t know where to start?

• Maybe your girlfriend, boyfriend or partner in life has invited you to attend with them but due to expectations of yourself you declined the opportunity? 

Intention Implements Mindfulness

What the heck is Mindfulness?

Words often used synonymously with mindfulness are yoga, qigong, and meditation. Each of these modalities have a place within each of them that facilitates the act of mindfulness, however they are each their own craft of stillness and movement.

I have been dabbling with Mindfulness since my early 20’s first with a Hatha yoga practice working where I learned that my mind is a “chattering monkey”. I also learned the visualization tool of “putting my distractions on a cloud”, then on my exhale “to blow that cloud along with the distraction away”. As my college career came to a close, I found so did my yoga classes, ceramic classes. A ll facets that facilitated creating a space of mindfulness for myself.

As my career took off, I found myself floating the waves of burn out and periods of fulfillment. Balancing the world of parenthood, career, and homeownership. The uninhibited spaces that once provided the space for mindfulness no longer existed in my world. In its place I found busyness, the stress of being the best to my ability and meeting the needs of client’s and my family.  Time being my most valuable asset, I decided to start implementing mindfulness in my everyday life.  

Challenging the How, When & Where of Mindfulness 

• Why can’t I bring mindfulness into the car line at school pick-up?!

• What happens if I meet my mind & body where it is at, in all its busy and tightness?

• Do different breathing techniques  work because it feels like freakin nonsense…

• How come mindfulness only is advertised in group settings...?

• Why aren’t there signs in town to remind me to breath when I am running errands

• Nothing says we can’t take mindfulness with each of us as we navigate the day.

Mindfulness on Your Terms, what we practice becomes more attuned, refined & natural to our physical bodies. As a specialist in Anxiety, Trauma and Loss I recently started hosting a Stand-Up Paddleboard workshop called Breath, Body & Wellness. The goal of this workshop was to help break the barriers individuals experience in building connection with themselves. Strengthening our internal awareness and dropping into the present moment attending to each of the five senses one at a time.

Breath Work Works but Why? 

Deep Breathing, also referred to as Diaphragmatic Breathing stimulates what is called the Parasympathetic Nervous System and provides increased amounts of oxygen to the brain which, creates for us the feelings of calm, peaceful, present & relaxed. The power of deep breathing is that we all walk every day with our breath but what and how we use our breath can make all the difference for us. We each have the power to control how we feel through this deep breath work. To self-regulate when encountering distress, anxiety or caught in a trauma response.

This sounds fabulous but I don’t remember to do it in the moment….

Make a note on your phone and take a picture of it ~Deep Breath~ next to it list the Five senses. Sight, Hearing Taste, Touch, & Smell.  Your mind will wander ~ Simply notice it and intentionally go back to the sense you picked out to attend to 

Lets Practice Together:

Whatever it is you find yourself doing drop into slow deep breaths….

Next, pick one of the five senses and bring all your awareness to that one sense.

Sight: Attend to what your eyes see, texture, color variances, noticing all its facets & details. This skill can improve our executive function, attention, and self-control & memory as you practice it.

Hearing Science is catching up with the psychological benefits of sound, attend to what you hear around you, what is loud and upfront? What is quieter and hums in the background? Do you feel tactile vibrations?

Taste: Mindfulness tasting impacts our perception of taste. Do you tend to eat fast or slow? How many times to you chew before swallowing? What do you taste as you move the food over your tongue? The more attention we five to the taste of food the healthier we tend to eat.

Touch: Intentionally feel the texture and density of what is around you. It is cool warm or hot to the touch? It is hard, soft, or fluffy? What are you drawn to that is comforting and soothing?

Smell: This is the least consciously used of all our senses yet at the same time probably the most exploited.  Soaps, food, restaurant, laundry detergent, etc all lure us …

Inhale deeply three times, keep your eyes open, image your consciousness dissolving outward to the scent as if you are touching it/ holding it. Inhaling and visualizing the smell as it inters your nose. What do you notice?

I hope you have enjoyed this and found yourself a deep breath, attending to your body as you were curious about your wellness. IF I have peaked your curiosity about mindfulness or you would like to participate in the SUP:Breath Body & Wellness Floats please contact Heidi Brouelette