How To Be Mindful While Running

When you’re in conversation, set your mind to being present, receptive, and ready to listen with compassion. 

Bring yourself into the moment with a few deep breaths and ask yourself: What is this person communicating beyond the words they use? 

The goal is to notice tension and to allow it to be released.
Practitioners start at one end of their body, usually their feet, and work through the whole. They might tense and then relax muscles or they might visualize a wave moving over their body to release tension.

It encourages practitioners to notice their surroundings without judgement, instead of dwelling on the past or future.

Mindfulness can be done almost anywhere, even in a grocery store, for example.

1. Plan your trip keeping a list with you.
2. Take deep breaths as you are about to enter the supermarket/store.
3. As you shop, notice the smells, sounds, colors and shapes, while being aware of your basket and your walk and not letting your mind wander in thoughts.
4. Select your groceries with care, understanding their ingredients, and see if you are buying animal products that can be avoided.
5. Pay gratitude to the fact that you have an abundance of food and so many choices.

... so they don't overwhelm you and affect your judgment. 

In order to change the way you feel about a situation, you must first change the way you think about it. 

Increased fear of rejection: “I’m applying for my dream job. I’ll be devastated if they don’t hire me.”
Decreased fear of rejection: “I’m applying for three exciting positions. If one doesn’t pan out, there are two more I’m well qualified for.”

How we handle stressful situations can make the difference between being assertive versus reactive, and poised versus frazzled. When under pressure, the most important thing to keep in mind is to keep our cool. 

• If you feel nervous and anxious, put cold water on your face and get some fresh air. 
• If you feel fearful, depressed, or discouraged, try intense aerobic exercises. Energize yourself. 

• Mentally remind yourself of your present action: Use self-talk to direct your focus back to the present moment.
• Focus on your senses: Direct your attention back into your body and out of your head.
• Do things differently: Make things more challenging. As a result, you are forced to act consciously instead of acting on autopilot.

It is much easier for us to make decisions that feel good right now (“quick-fixes”) than it is to have the discipline to make decisions that may suck now but feel really great later.

Self-care can be really hard because it’s a long-term play. But your well-being is worth the trouble. 

• Self-indulgence is the “excessive or unrestrained gratification of one’s own appetites, desires, or whims. Self-indulgent behaviors alter our mood or provide us with a means of temporary escape.
• Self-care yields you long-term benefits without causing harm. And in a way, it’s a selfless act as it will make you a more engaged and impassioned person. 

1. Find some quiet time to read when there is ample time to indulge and pick something engaging but not too challenging.
2. Try to read from a physical book but if you have to read from a smartphone or tablet, disable notifications and turn on the soothing reading mode.
3. As you progress in the book, notice the color, ink and the smell of the pages, your slowing down or getting sleepy is a good sign, it means your brain is responding to this new, refreshing cycle of activity.
4. Notice the language, the rhythm of the sentences, the vibrant details that build a visual image inside your mind.
5. Do not be frustrated if you wander, it is part of reading to get lost in something beautiful.
6. Gently glide back in the book and enjoy whatever you get out of it.

1. Figure out your purpose.
2. Choose a technique that maximizes your focus on what is most relevant for your purpose. 
3. Decide whether to optimize for review or retrieval practice.  
4. If you do need to go back into the text again and again, create clues in your notes that can help you find what you’re looking for faster.

Ask yourself why are you reading:

• What am I trying to remember? 
• How am I going to use this information? (e.g. on a test, cited in an essay, etc.)
• What do I plan to do with the notes later? Will you be studying off of them extensively? Or maybe you’re just taking notes to stay focused, and it’s highly unlikely you’ll look through them after?

Oysters form pearls as a way to protect themselves from foreign substances, such as sand.

Listen to your inner voice. Not only is it there to protect you, but it can guide you toward people, information and ideas that can transform your life.

To become your own hero, go above and beyond surface level information. 

Reading the right book or article can provide you with valuable guidance that you probably won’t find anywhere else.

For youngsters to be comfortable with challenges, failure, and uncertainty, a three-step approach is put forth, which has the elements of separation, liminality, and reincorporation. 

This approach, comprising of three stages (preparation, threshold and reflection), enables one to rise, and transcend to a different level, having learned new skills.

A challenging ordeal, filled with frustration, setbacks, and even failure is an important step in the rite of passage.

Failure is just an opportunity to learn and grow, and this is practically imbibed in the youngsters in the tasks undertaken while ensuring that the focus on the positive aspects.

Some points to ensure:

• Record and bring forth the lessons from the project activity by making the students aware of the many details they can miss due to their focus on their performance.

• Keep the 'wonder' part alive and do not let go of ethics and morals in this exercise.