While the benefits of Mindful Living experience are many and easy to achieve, there are several pre-requisites in order to achieve this whole experience.

Forgive the Past

Being fresh from the inside and outside is equally important. Being fresh from inside means that you should let go of any bitter or hurtful thoughts, experiences and incidents you may have from your past that could be a distraction in your practice. It is important to forgive and forget. Embracing the present moment and expecting a fruitful experience is the desired attitude for a mindful living session.

Lingering on bad memories does not allow the creation and imagination of a new future. It blocks the passage of creativity into your life. You need to create space for new beginnings and new experiences; and for that, the past needs to be forgotten and forgiven as well.

Let go of expectations

It is desirable to be positive although it can harmful to have lots of expectations. Mindful living teaches us to have a big heart and accept what comes our way. Expectations for miracles or only positive outcomes might make us weak to accept the unfortunate. Mindful Living helps us to embrace with open hearts and accept what is being offered.

Focus on your breathing
breathing is the link between the body and thoughts. With thoughts continuously coming in, it is our breaths that allows us to create the right balance. Focusing on our breathing helps us stay alert and pay attention to our bodies. It is our breathing that allows us to bring back our thoughts to the mindful living experience. 

Engage the senses
The use of senses is an important tool for the mindful living experience. Along with paying attention to our body parts and keeping our breathing in focus, mindful living gives the option of using our ears or eyes. This exercise of involving the senses can be practiced independently or in combination with the practice of paying attention to our body parts.
Listening and observation help us to become more tolerant, patient and alert.

Release any judgment
This means to avoid any pre-conceived notions about anything or anybody. Mindful living teaches us that one should not judge people or their behaviors before understanding a situation thoroughly. The quality of showing empathy and understanding a problem from different sides can really make a huge difference in our behaviors and outcomes.

Practice gratitude
Irrespective of the outcome, we should practice gratitude for everything that has happened around us and to us. Every experience is a lesson with either being happy & joyful or it could be unpleasant. By being grateful we move ahead to make better and long term relationships. We not only make others happy but also might be able to bring about a positive change in their lives.

Reflect before responding
It requires us to live in a headspace of being proactive and not reactive. It teaches us the lesson of pausing, being alert and focusing. With every pause and focus, it gives us a chance to reflect on the situation and use empathy to evaluate a situation before we respond to the outcome. As it is said, an arrow cannot be retrieved once it is released from the bow.

Mindful Living helps us practice the saying ‘look before you leap’ in every moment and every situation of our lives. It helps us stay connected to our inner self and spread happiness and joy around.