7 Stimulating Ways You Can Make Mindfulness Fun
How would you feel about practicing mindfulness and enjoying yourself simultaneously?
If you are interested in mindfulness, you might have preconceived notions or may find the prospect of beginning to learn how to experience it daunting. If so, then this article is for you.
We'll talk about some everyday activities that you may not have even known involve mindfulness. The ideas we'll present here demonstrate just some, not all, of how mindfulness can be exciting. You'll leave with a much better sense of the nature of mindfulness as well.
A Refresher on Mindfulness
As we've discussed in some of other community articles, being mindful is about living in, and being aware of, the present moment.
The key to mindfulness is to avoid the trap of having expectations about it. Mindfulness involves awareness, freedom from expectation and judgment, and a complete acceptance of what is happening in the present.
In the article "Making Mindfulness Fun," author Stephanie Hill explains it this way:
When we do experience a sense of calm or relaxation, that's great, but this is not the primary goal of mindfulness. If we go into mindfulness with the expectation it "should" make us feel a certain way, we will be too busy analysing or judging whether that is happening to actually be present in what is occurring moment-by-moment. And this is often what people mean when they say mindfulness "didn't work".
Think about how this applies to having fun. When you are in the midst of really enjoying yourself, you are living in the moment. You aren't worried about debt, a nasty conversation, a troubled past, or a broken heart. Having fun puts you in the present moment by default, and you are focused on experiencing the fullness of what you're doing and how incredible it makes you and others feel.
Can you see the connection between mindfulness and having fun? They essentially involve the same things: existing entirely within the present moment and focusing on what is happening at that moment without worry or preconception.
So now let's explore some ideas for how we can do both.
7 Ways to Make Mindfulness Fun
1. The Chocolate Exercise
This is a great one for doing with kids, as long as you both have some impulse control! (Hard to do with chocolate, I know.) I've done this one with my oldest son with some other foods, and it can be fun with any food you enjoy.
This exercise is about being fully aware of what we eat and how it makes us feel physically and emotionally. Whatever food you decide to use, the sensations can be the same, but for this example, we'll use good old chocolate.
Take a piece of chocolate and hold it between your fingers.
Notice the shape and color. Is it starting to melt on your fingertips? How does the chocolate feel on your fingers? What does it stir up in you?
If the chocolate is wrapped, does it crinkle? Is it shiny and colorful? How does the sound and appearance of the wrapper make you feel? Unwrap the chocolate now. How are you feeling?
Smell the chocolate. How are your senses responding? Does your memory take you somewhere?
Put the chocolate in your mouth but don't eat it. Think about the sensation of the chocolate melting. How does it make you feel?
As the chocolate melts, where do you taste it on your tongue? Breathe in as you taste the chocolate. How does inhaling enhance the experience?
Swallow the chocolate. Feel the sensations fully. What are your feelings?
How was this different from your general chocolate-eating experiences? More intense? More frustrating? More pleasurable?
Were you more aware of your emotions during the exercise?
Would this change your future experience of eating chocolate? Why?
2. Mindfulness Dancing
Have you ever heard the phrase "dance like nobody's watching"? That phrase embodies this exercise perfectly. I did this once with the entire Pearl Jam album Ten, and afterward, I felt joyful, confident, and energized even though I had been dancing non-stop for nearly an hour!
Dancing is fun, but also consider why it's fun. The music we love moves us in ways we wouldn't normally consider moving without it. It brings us to what drives us to express ourselves physically.
“Having fun puts you in the present moment by default, experiencing the fullness of what you’re doing and how incredible it makes you and others feel.”
Put on your favorite piece of music. Exist with it fully in the moment, let it wash over you, and let it move you how it wants to. What feelings or memories does it bring up in you?
As you continue dancing, release all self-consciousness and just move how you feel you need to. This is your moment to be with the music and let it speak to your soul and feed into how you want or need to move your body. If intense emotions arise, let them. Laugh, cry, shout, it doesn't matter—dance like nobody's watching.
After there's no more music, rest with the sensations in your body. How are you feeling, physically and emotionally? What has changed in your awareness of the moment? Is anything different now than it was before you started the music?
3. Mindful Waiting
If you've ever had to wait for someone, you know it can be an exercise in patience. The trick here is to concentrate on having a purpose for your waiting. Ask yourself, "What can I do, notice, or even accomplish by myself in this moment as I wait?"
This is from the article "12 Fun Mindfulness Exercises":
"Waiting for someone or something is actually a great opportunity to sit in stillness and monitor all around you. Maybe you are waiting for a zoom call to start; use this opportunity to look around and explore as though it was your first time being in the room. Maybe you are waiting in a coffee shop; use this opportunity to listen to the sounds of the people and the cups clinking. In every moment of waiting lies an opportunity to notice your surroundings with all your senses."
Filling up the time with awareness practice while we wait is an effective way to take ourselves "out of our heads". It is there that we can separate from the frustration and disappointment that inevitably come with waiting.
4. Mindful Walking
In the book How to Walk, Thich Nhat Hanh writes this about walking mindfully:
"When you walk, arrive with every step. That is walking meditation. There's nothing else to it."
I love to do this one where I live, as there are many hiking trails, but I also did it many times in the morning before work when I lived in the city. It constantly astounded me how much beauty of the mornings had gone unnoticed by me, along with the pleasantness of strangers I encountered as they began their own days anew.
To do this:
Just start walking with no specific destination in mind.
Move leisurely without rushing and notice each foot touch the ground.
Pay attention to your breath and the rhythm of your steps.
There is no need to synchronize them, just be aware of them. Take this further advice from How to Walk by Thich Nhat Hanh:
"We frequently walk with the sole purpose of getting from one place to another. But where are we in between? With every step, we can feel the miracle of walking on solid ground. We can arrive in the present moment with every step.
"When we first learned to walk, we walked just to enjoy walking. We walked and discovered each moment as we encountered it. We can learn to walk that way again."
5. Gratitude List
There is much to be said about the benefits of mindfully focusing on what you appreciate in your life. For one thing, it reveals to you just how enriched you are by what you have in your experience—people, things, places, opportunities, and more. For another, it reminds you of what you might usually take for granted.
Mostly, bringing awareness to the extraordinary circumstances in our lives makes us feel great.
Making a list of what you're grateful for is easy to do, and there are a number of approaches to take. I recommend doing it first thing in the morning to set you up with a positive outlook for the day ahead.
“Mindfulness itself involves awareness with freedom from expectation and judgment and a complete acceptance of what is transpiring in the present.”
You can use a numerical approach (write down three things you're grateful for) or you can focus on a specific category (people, places, things, events, etc.). However you choose to do it, enhance the experiences by focusing on the feelings that arise when you write down your list. Ask yourself:
What makes me so grateful for this?
How has it contributed positively to my life?
How does it change how I look at everything else?
Want a real challenge? How about trying to find gratitude for incidents that haven't felt so good? What lessons from these things are you thankful for? How have they inspired you to rise above the situation? How are you better for having had the experience? If you can do that, then you're really learning the power of gratitude.
6. Morning Flow
As we know from Mindful Walking, exercise and mindfulness go hand in hand. There's nothing better than committing to a moment where you do something to improve your mind and body, an morning flows are a great way to begin the day doing just that.
A flow is a series of movements that transition naturally from one exercise to the next, hence the name "flow". The yoga crowd has popularized flows, but they can be anything and tailored for anyone regardless of time, interest, and fitness level.
For example, below is a roughly ten-minute flow to use in the morning to give you a boost if needed.
Easy Morning Flow
Begin in Child Pose. Hold for 30–40 seconds.
Move your body forward and into a press-up position, also called a High Plank. Hold for 30–40 seconds.
Bring yourself back to your hands and knees, and proceed with some Cat-Cow repetitions. Do 10 or 12.
Move back to your hands and knees, and perform some tip-toe raises, pushing your body up on your hands and toes just a few inches, enough to engage your abdominals. Do 10 or 12 reps.
Move back to your hands and knees, and perform a lunge stretch with an arm raise. Hold it for 30–40 seconds on each side.
Come back down to hands and knees, and bring your body into the Downward Dog pose. Hold it for 30–40 seconds.
Walk your feet up to your hands, and sink into a deep squat. Hold it for 30–40 seconds. For an extra stretch, push your knees apart with your elbows to gently open up your hips.
Slowly raise into a standing position, and perform a series of forward and backward hip bends. Do 10 or 12 reps.
Balance by standing on each foot with your other leg raised in front of you (straight or bent knee), or perform Tree Pose on each side for 30–40 seconds.
Shake your body out, silently feel thanks for the new day in your heart, and off you go.
If you're ambitious and want to customize a flow, use exercises that you can do easily and that energize rather than exhaust you. Once you get them down into a sensible order, practice focusing fully on each movement and how it feels to execute it.
If something doesn't feel right, you can adjust the movement by decreasing time or reps, or switching it up for something different altogether. Experiment, fine-tune it, and most importantly, have fun.
7. Decluttering
Despite being a busy father of two young kids, I am still as diligent as possible with managing clutter. For example, my desk has three items on it—a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse, and nothing else. With a clean, spacious workspace, I think clearly and feel much less mental claustrophobia. This is fundamental to me as most of my job involves deep creative work.
As a mindfulness exercise, decluttering can be refreshing when fully focusing on it. There's nothing quite like the feeling of creating space in which a room itself can breathe, which is what Feng Shui is partially about.
Here are some tips for making decluttering enjoyable:
Pick a room that you want to declutter, and resolve to give the emptying and ordering of that space your undivided attention for a certain amount of time. Focus on the task fully.
Visualize how you want the space to look ultimately. Get a clear picture in your head if you can.
When you select and item for decluttering, ask yourself questions such as:
When was the last time I looked at/wore/used/interacted with this item?
Do I remember that I even owned this? Do I recall buying or receiving it?
Does it bring me any kind of joy or pleasure?
In what situation would I need or want this?
If it were gone, how would I feel later on?
If I got rid of it, would I buy it ever again?
Consider if there is a cost involved with possessing the item. If the cost is more than the worth of the item itself, you likely don't need it.
Really ask yourself why you have kept something for so long. Does it have emotional attachments? Would you feel guilty getting rid of it? Work through those things to ensure you make the right decision.
Think about what use others might get from what you want to discard, and arrange to give them away.
Enjoy Being Mindful
Being mindful takes effort and focus, but this doesn't need to have negative connotations. I hope you are inspired to try one or more of these approaches to making mindfulness fun. They are suitable introductions to everyday mindfulness if you're curious to explore it for the first time. Dive in and explore, and enjoy the journey.
