It only takes a few moments to turn around your day.
If you’re feeling a little (or a lot) overwhelmed and stressed by your job, school, or just the world around you, it’s understandable. By some expert standards, the last couple of years have been among the most stressful in history.
Worrying is easy to do, and it can easily overtake your sense of peace.
The antidote? Mental health experts have a lot of suggestions, but many fit under the umbrella of mindfulness.
For some, the idea of being mindful — focusing on the present, being intentional and slowing down — is a relatively recent self-care trend, but it’s actually a practice that thinkers and leaders of all kinds have endorsed for a long, long time.
Their mindfulness quotes on the value of getting calm and turning inward make it evident that shifting your mindset can make a big difference.
Mindfulness quotes for inspiration
When you need a little reminder about the power of being mindful, it can be helpful to study the words of others. Oftentimes they can remind us that just a few minutes of quiet and reflection is all we need to carry on.
- “Slow down, you’ll get there faster.” — Katherine King
- “Forever is composed of nows.” – Emily Dickinson
- “Remember that stress doesn’t come from what’s going on in your life. It comes from your thoughts about what’s going on in your life.” – Andrew J. Bernstein
- “Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy.” – Groucho Marx
- “Be happy in the moment, that's enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.” — Mother Teresa
- “Never mistake motion for action.” — Ernest Hemingway
- “Every day, you have the power to choose our better history — by opening your hearts and minds, by speaking up for what you know is right.” — Michelle Obama
- “There are times when we stop, we sit still. We listen and breezes from a whole other world begin to whisper.” — James Carroll
- “In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
- “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” — William James
- “Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.” — Oprah Winfrey
- “Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” — John Lubbock
- “The way to live in the present is to remember that ‘this too shall pass.’ When you experience joy, remembering that ‘this too shall pass’ helps you savor the here and now. When you experience pain and sorrow, remembering that ‘this too shall pass’ reminds you that grief, like joy, is only temporary.” — Joey Green
- “Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” — Hermann Hesse
Ways to stay mindful throughout the day
Say an affirmation. A little reminder to do your best can be just the boost you need throughout the day. Whether your affirmation focuses on opening yourself up to opportunity or being choosy about the projects you take on (both can be very beneficial!), affirmations are a great way to encourage yourself and act mindfully.
Take a breath. Just breathing can be one of the best ways to invite mindfulness into our day. There are many methods that can help you relieve stress and focus on the present moment. About 20-30 minutes of “belly breathing” can significantly reduce anxiety, according to the American Institute of Stress. So set a timer and find an exercise that works for you. Pump some oxygen into your body and fell the mindfulness take hold.
Journal. How often do you feel like you’re just going through the motions? It happens to the best of us. A useful way to think through your routine — whether it’s mindless or not — is to write about it. Journaling — just a few lines about your day or capturing the gratitude you feel — forces us to slow down and think about our actions and what we might want to change.
Practice boundaries. Sometimes it’s easier to say “yes” to something we really don’t want to do, and we end up repeating a cycle that can eventually lead to burnout thinking that it will just be easier to go with the flow instead of being intentional. Instead of automatically saying “yes” when you’re asked to do something — like a task that isn’t necessarily in your job description or an event you don’t really feel like attending — say that you’ll check your availability first and get back to the person. It will give you a little bit of time to assess whether you want to take on the extra task or event, thus bringing a bit of mindfulness into your day.
Log off. It’s true that most of our lives are lived online these days, but there are some real benefits to logging off for a bit. It doesn’t have to be a full-blown digital detox, but setting your phone aside while you’re winding down or deleting social apps from your phone during the week can help you focus on reality. So much of what we see online is fabricated and can put us on the fast track to doubting ourselves and journey. If you want to practice being mindful, try prioritizing real life over social media posts and incessant notifications. It’ll make a noticeable difference!
What are some of your favorite ways to incorporate mindfulness into your week?
