Welcome to Day 2 of the Inspired Joy Challenge! If you missed Day 1, CLICK HERE to access it.
2. Get Present & Mindful
The first day you practiced awareness of your thought patterns. Today we are going to get more in touch with your feelings and senses through mindfulness.
When you are more in touch with your feelings and senses, it’s easier to create more JOY, make decisions, gain clarity, and FEEL GOOD. Your feelings and emotions are your personal barometer as to how much joy you are creating or where you might be sabotaging your good feelings.
The mindfulness practice is defined as “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensation…”
How much more can you practice being present in each and every activity through your day? Awareness is the key to changing a habit. When we become aware of our distractions we can begin to see we need to practice being present to life and mindful in every moment of the day.
You an begin this technique by noticing the beauty of everything you come into contact with – from the beauty of nature to each and every interaction you have.
Be gentle on yourself if your mind starts wondering or you get distracted…then smile or giggle at yourself, and pull your attention back to the present moment and focus.
PRACTICES FOR DAY 2:
1. Engage the Senses in each moment of the day:
Practice awareness and presence. Experiment by having a deep appreciation for something you have or do everyday. As an example you start by relishing a meal. Feel the textures, taste the flavors, enjoy the aromas. Don’t rush; don’t pick up the phone, or turn on the TV.
Remind yourself to be conscious of other experiences throughout the day. How do your clothes feel on your body? Can you smell the flowers as you walk? How does the shower feel on your skin? How does the sun feel on your face?
Playing with children can also bring you back to the present automatically because children live in the present moment as they play! Or you can simply delight and be in the moment, watching them play and enjoying themselves. Ask any doting Grandparent and they know what I’m talking about!
2. Ask Yourself Questions to Redirect Attention & Create Joy:
Begin the practice by asking yourself in each moment, “Does this feel good?” “Am I enjoying this moment? What can I do to get back to feeling joy in this moment?”
When you do find that you are feeling good, throw your whole self into it. Go ahead, jump up and down, clap your hands. Research shows that if you act out a certain emotion, you can fire up that feeling. Dancing or singing can serve this purpose as well, close the curtains, crank the music and dance or sing yourself into wholeness!
Let go of wondering how something will unfold ask yourself, “What excites me today?” Then go do that!
3. Breath work will Quiet the Mind and get into the present moment.
Often times we are out of our body and heart and are only making decisions from our mind. One exercise to quickly help you get back into your body and into the present moment is to become aware of your breathing.
3a. Breath Relaxation Technique: (3 Breath Relaxation Technique)
Start by putting your hand on your stomach and inhale through your nose filling from your tummy and up through the lungs with deep, slow inhales 4-5 count, then exhale out the mouth with a 4-5 count. Make sure the in and out breath are the same count.
When you breathe in, think about everything that happened through the day and as you exhale have the breath come slowly out the mouth releasing everything you did through the day. As you exhale slowly, you are letting everything go to feel more relaxed. Make a noise while you do this for additional brownie points! Do this twice out the mouth and then a couple more times out the nose.
If you want to get a bit more advanced, after you have done a couple rounds like the above, next practice holding the breath at the top of the inhale for a few moments before you breath out, this resets and recalibrates the energy within your body.
Please join the rest of the challengers in the Facebook Group and share the following:
1. Post a couple of things you were able to be fully present doing during your day.
2. Was there anything didn’t love doing, but were able to find something you enjoyed about it? Post in the group.
3. Did you ask yourself any empowering questions to redirect your energy into doing something that feels good?
Bonus Credit: Post if you were able to use the 3-Breath Relaxation Technique to get back to the present moment. How did you feel after?
Awesome Job! Talk with you tomorrow!
XOXO,
P.S. Are you loving this challenge so far? I’d love for you to share it with your friends that could benefit. Here’s the link to sign up – they still have plenty of time to catch up! staceyellen.com/joy-challenge
P.P.S Be gentle with yourself – these practices can often take consistent practice and I will share soon how you can get ongoing support. Stay tuned!