Introduction:

It all started with a flicker of sunlight coming through the tiny gap between the window and curtain. The curtain moved with the fan’s air, creating a dance of the sunlight peeking in through the gap. Now it’s there, now it’s not, and then once in a while, a sparkle would hit the eye. This is pure joy. The dance, the sparkle, the colors, and the movement of light. And in that simple moment, a smile returned to my face. By taking a moment to notice it, I saw the most magical parts of being alive, and suddenly the tough feelings of the day faded away. I took a deep breath, feeling freshly renewed, and went ahead with more vigor in the day. Why? Because in a matter of 5 minutes, I had found something to smile about.

Understanding Mindfulness: Simple Practices for Daily Joy

Mindfulness seems like this trendy word that has captured the interwebs in the last few years. Some love the idea; to others, it is as mysterious as the Amelia Earhart case, and they don’t even know where to begin. Who has the time to figure out how to live life when you’re so caught up living it? But they think it is hard, unattainable, and difficult to practice. This is why I’m here, talking about how you can find joy in just 5 minutes a day with these simple practices.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness simply means ‘living in the moment,’ which we all know we do less of because we’re pondering a future conversation with our bestie or a past conversation with our ex (no judgments here ;)). By living in the moment, we become more aware of where we are, what we’re doing, and what is happening right now. From this place, we make a more conscious choice of moving through the day than running on autopilot and missing out on the beautiful magic hidden all around us each day. And I truly mean each day, even the hardest of them.

And if you’re wondering, yes, it is a type of practicing meditation - so kind of a win-win for you on all those self-care goals. You don’t need any skills for this; all you need is what you have right now! Because that is all that matters.

Practicing more mindfulness brings you joy. And we all need that, right?!

3 Quick and Easy Mindfulness Techniques to Feel Happier

1. Stare into Space or Out the Window (A Simple Joy)

It is as simple as you read it and as I described it at the beginning when I took time to notice something so mundane and simple as the sunlight peeking through the curtain. Just take two-four timed minutes on your Alexa or fitness watch in the middle of your workday. You can even set a reminder for this. Just stare out the window or in your room and look at what you see, actually look. Without judgment or any agenda.

The idea here is to break the pattern for our mind and simply notice what’s around us. Notice how the light is hitting the room, the sounds of the room or outside, or the hum of your computer’s fan. Are there any birds flying outside the window? What’s the color of the wall or the tree? How does the color change in the sunlight? Focus on what you see and what you hear right now. In this moment, nothing else matters than what is here.

Ask yourself what joy is hiding here in this moment that you’re missing right now - and actively look for it. This stepping back and taking notice gives you breathing room from all that the day brings and the worries with it. You will come back to the day with more vigor, maybe even a magical joyful moment. You can do this once or twice or as many times as you need. And it only takes 2 minutes.

2. Breathe it Out (Mindful Breathing Practice)

This might seem like an eye-rolling cliché activity, but trust me, it works. There are many breathing techniques out there that the interwebs will give you loads of information on, but here we will just dive into the art of noticing the breath. For a timed-minute, close your eyes and notice how the breath is moving in and out, working so hard to give you life - and we never even notice it in the humdrum of the day.

You can change the pace of your breath if you like - make your inhales and exhales slower, deeper, and longer. Or you can simply see this little air movement that brings you life. It’s not really rocket science, but for some reason, for our overworked and overwhelmed brains, it works like that in the moment.

How does this give you joy? Well, because now your brain would have slowed down the thoughts, and after practicing this regularly for a while, you will start noticing more moments by being present in them - which kinda links it back to step one. Remember, this one is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. The effects are only seen after a while of practicing this. Our Yoga and Chill desk art that sits on your desk is a cool reminder and art to have in front of you - whether at your WFH desk or in the office.

3. Gratitude Journaling (Start and End Your Day with Positivity)

Ooooh, this is another favorite of mine! Very simple and so effective. You just need 5 minutes for this. To help you get started, I designed this perfect (and cute!) gratitude notepad with very simple prompts. Some people get scared by the words journaling and gratitude journaling because they think they have to write a novel each day somehow. But actually, that’s not what this is.

It is a set of simple 5 questions - three for starting your morning with and two for ending your day with. You start with filling a word/words of the day (just write whatever you want to feel that day, what vibe is it that you’re going for?). Then we move on to answering the prompt: What do you need today? It’s a simple but powerful question for sending more love to yourself. What do you need? Is it rest, ease, focus, movement, dancing, love, or peace? It can range from an affirmation, an activity to an intention. When you write it down, it imprints in your brain for the day and stays at the back of it throughout the day.

Next, we come to things you’re grateful for this morning. Family, love, that first sip of coffee, that lipstick color you put on, and so much more! Have fun with it. There are no rules and no one else will see this. This is just for you. Once this is done in the morning, you can set off for the day. If you work from home, you can keep the notepad on the side as a cute little reminder every time you see it during those tense work calls.

Then you can come back to it at night, and you have 2 simple prompts to end your day with - your happy memories from today and a quote you liked today. The happy memories don’t have to be big moments only, and when you take time to look for the good things in a day, even if they were really hard days, you’ll find that there was at least one good thing about that day. Even if it was as small as drinking wine after a long day of work. With this practice, we learn that even on hard days, not all moments are bad.

Lastly, you come to the quote, and this is just a fun one that I put in - it could be the lyrics of a song, a line from a reel you saw today while scrolling Instagram, an affirmation you read, a line from a TV show/movie you saw today, or even something fun you thought of. It doesn’t have to be deep or serious, but the practice of putting it on paper gives you some perspective. You can always come back to old pages of the notepad when you feel lost and look through these quotes to see what inspired you or caught your eye that day. I promise it will bring a smile to your face.

Conclusion

So here are three simple ways to get joy back in your overwhelmed days. We’ve got so many more tips over on our Instagram pages where I share weekly fun prompts. If you want more of these, follow me on @bas.aise.hi (https://www.instagram.com/bas.aise.hi/)!

Till then, wishing you days filled with rainbows and sparkles!