Mindfulness Meditation Techniques for 2016

Mindfulness is best described as paying deliberate attention to what you are experiencing right now. Doing so with an open mind, and allowing your senses to come alive.

By observing and experiencing what is happening right now, we can get a better understanding of our feelings and our surroundings.

By practicing mindful meditation techniques the intention is to get a grip with what we are experiencing. Being more present and aware of what we are feeling as a result.

When you are able to be more mindful you open yourself up to a lot more fulfilling experiences. We can capture more of the experience and feel more fulfilled.

It’s hard to summarize in a few sentences that can help you understand exactly what mindfulness meditation techniques can do for you. The best results come from practicing the techniques in this article.

These exercises are incredibly easy and quick to get started with. That’s the beauty of practicing being mindful.

While being incredibly effective and powerful. Being more mindful can literally change the way you experience life. Always in a more positive way, and always with a more rewarding experience.

Here are some mindfulness meditation techniques for 2016 to help you make this year the year you become aware of the present. You can get started with all of these today and just a few minutes of your time.

Mindfulness Meditation Techniques for 2016

60 Seconds of Concentrated Mindfulness

This is a great exercise for anyone to start with and it’s incredibly relaxing for your mind. Everyone can take 60 minutes out of their day to practice being mindful.

Why not try this right now. Spend 60 seconds, no less, focusing on your breathing. Block out all other sounds and thoughts, and just concentrate on your breathing.

The first few times you do this it will feel very strange. It will be hard to not let your mind wander off. But after practice you will be able to put yourself in the moment.

You can increase the duration over time as it becomes easier to do. You will find yourself experiencing the moment and having a heightened state of awareness.

Make Conscious Observations

Have you ever taken the time to study an object? You are probably thinking yes. But the reality is not many of us have. Unless we practice mindfulness of course.

Take an object that’s near to you. A cup, phone, anything like that will do. Now study the object intently. Allow yourself to be fully involved looking at the object.

You will feel more present in the moment almost immediately. Some of you may know this as a form of meditation. It’s a similar process.

Continuous observations are a way to help you become more aware of your own senses and how to feel in the moment. You will know when you start to feel this. It’s a profound and interesting sensation.

Scan Your Own Body for Sensations

By just sitting somewhere quiet and scanning your own body to see what you’re feeling you can find out a lot about yourself.

Anyone who does this for the first time we find feelings and senses they didn’t realize they had. If you start to focus on a certain feeling, let this happen and explore it.

If you feel any particular discomforts work to soften these. Focus on the feelings without thinking about ways to deal with it practically.

You want to just let yourself ‘feel’ the moment. Try and change how you’re feeling by using other senses.

Practice Being Mindful with Distractions

Distractions aren’t always a bad thing. You can use them to help you establish an even stronger mindful awareness.

So practice concentrated mindfulness as directed in the first exercise. If your phone rings, or you hear a loud noise outside, practice redirecting your mindfulness back to yourself.

This is designed to break that autopilot mode we all go into during the day. Helping you be more aware of what the distractions are, and working to choose when you allow them to distract you.

If you find yourself not noticing the distractions you are going too far into meditation. Living in the now means you are still aware of everything going on around you.

Mindful Listening

This exercise helps you learn how to use your ears to appreciate what’s around you. We become accustomed to the sounds we hear daily, and stop thinking about them.

You can try this by picking a piece of music you know well and have listened to hundreds of times.

Use headphones and sit somewhere quiet where you won’t be disturbed. Allow yourself to get lost in the music without listening out for any particular parts you know well.

The idea is to let yourself go with the music, to really ‘feel’ it. You will get much more from the music than ever before. Embrace what you are feeling and capture the emotions.

Appreciate the Things You Take for Granted

We all take things for granted. Small or large, things we do, see and experience daily become routine. Being mindful means to be aware of these things. What better way to do this than appreciating them.

So it can be food, someone you know, your car, anything at all. Take some time to think about what you have chosen and appreciate the why’s, how’s, and where’s behind it.

You will find a much deeper meaning and existence behind what you’re thinking about than you could have imagined. It’s an eye-opening exercise, and never fails to make people say, ‘wow’.

What Is the Difference between Being Mindful and Concentrating?

Concentrating means to focus all of your attention on a particular activity or object. Anyone can do this at anytime.

Being mindful on the other hand involves being aware of the moment. Not focusing on any particular activity or object. You are being aware of what’s happening and what you are experiencing.

You can concentrate without being mindful. You may have seen people concentrating before without actually being ‘present’.

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In this busy world with all the modern distractions it’s hard not to feel stressed and confused.

Our thoughts are all over the place, and being mindful will come as a real shock to a lot of you who chose to practice what you have read here.

Anyone who thinks they don’t have the five minutes required to practice some of these exercises are wrong.

Not only can we all find time. We need to find time. Once you start being more mindful you will not go back to being on ‘autopilot’ as you were before.

Your eyes and sense will be more alive than ever. It’s a liberating and powerful feeling. I hope you enjoy your new found mindfulness with this mindful meditation techniques for 2016.