It feels like every five seconds something is vying for my attention. Even if I have "nothing to do" I can still break out my phone and find hours worth of content to read, fights to join on the internet, and influencer examples of how my life "should" look.

The result of all this is, even though I'm mostly self-quarantined, it still feels like I have no time for mindfulness.

Today I want to explore a little about why that is, and how to practice mindfulness in easy ways.

The opposite of mindful is mindless.

Think of the mindless things you do every day.

For me, it's grabbing food from a drive-through window and eating it in the car, scrolling through Instagram and Facebook posts at a mile a minute, and diving deep into Youtube or Netflix holes and just watching content for hours.

How do I know they're mindless?

Because I do them without thinking.

I very seldom sit down and think "I want to go on Facebook and connect with my friends right now". Instead, I just look up from my phone at some point and realize that I've been scrolling for about 20 minutes and I don't even remember opening the app.

Sometimes I'll fix myself a plate of food and the next thing I know I've been on my couch for three hours watching a new Netflix show. Sometimes, if I don't even really like the show, I will continue to sit there watching it AND open my phone and scroll through Facebook or Instagram.

These activities start like reactions, like habits, and not intentionally.

Partly, this is because these apps are specifically designed to be habit-forming. They make more money the more we use them. So they're designed to be addictive.

But mindless behavior also happens as a result of me not wanting to deal with unpleasant emotions, like boredom, loneliness, or stress. Not in a helpful way that helps me actually deal with these emotions, of course, but in an anesthetic way that can take me out of my own mind for a while.

When I'm in any way uncomfortable, I seek distractions. And distractions are the opposite of mindfulness.

Finding mindfulness.

Step 1. Minimize distractions.

Put your phone away somewhere. Don't keep it with you. You are much less likely to find yourself mindlessly scrolling or mindlessly playing a game or diving into a research rabbit hole if your phone is even a short walk away in another room. You can also uninstall problematic apps, like Instagram or Youtube, from your phone if you find yourself using them without intending to. You can always reinstall them later once you've found new strategies to help manage your stress and emotions.

Step 2. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is hard, especially when you're not used to it. It can feel boring or uncomfortable to be in the present moment because we're used to being constantly distracted by entertainment or our own thoughts.

Start small and practice often, just like any new skill you're learning. Don't shoot for a 20-minute meditation session right off the bat.

Instead, try doing a few tasks mindfully.

Turn off your podcasts, your music, your audiobooks, and go for a walk with just the ambient noise around you.

Wash your dishes mindfully, or play with your dogs mindfully.

Choose one or two things and decide that, for the duration of that activity, you will choose to stay present and not add any extra stimulation.

Step 3. Find Mindful Friends

It's more enjoyable to stay present when people you enjoy are there with you. While I don't recommend trying to push your significant other, friends, or family into a mindfulness practice (better to lead by example and avoid any fights!) I do recommend putting yourself in situations where you can be mindfully present with others. Maybe this is a book club or yoga class, where everyone is present in the moment and has their phones away. It might be a church group or a hiking club. Even virtual gatherings can be mindful if you manage them right.

Do you have your own go-to strategies for staying mindful when the world seems to be pulling you off track? I’d love to hear about them.

And, as always, if you need a little extra support getting your mindfulness practice going, click here to set up a free 30-minute intro call with me today!

As women, we are no strangers to obsessing about our diets.

We understand that what we put into our mouths becomes what we see in the mirror, and so often we try to restrict our intake. At our best, we eat clean, healthy, organic foods to give us the nutrients we need, to make sure we are only putting The Best into our bodies.

But we don't often bring the same awareness to our consumption of content.

What if we did?

Because, you see, in exactly the same way that the food you put in your mouth becomes your body, the content you read and watch and listen to BECOMES YOUR BRAIN.

So today I'm putting you on a content diet!

Don't worry, you don't need to delete all your favorite apps or become a social media hermit. In the same way I hope you'll never stop eating, the goal here isn't to go cold turkey. The goal is to create a diet of content that nourishes you, and makes you feel awesome on a regular basis.

in exactly the same way that the food you put in your mouth becomes your body, the content you read and watch and listen to BECOMES YOUR BRAIN. — in exactly the same way that the food you put in your mouth becomes your body, the content you read and watch and listen to *BECOMES YOUR BRAIN*.

Step 1: Track what you consume, and how it makes you feel

I want you to open your preferred social media network (Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, whatever you're on most) and scroll through your feed for a good 20 minutes. Don't like or comment on anything. Instead, look at each individual post and ask yourself "how does this post make me feel?".

Try to come up with a one-word answer for each post you see.

Ex. A post of your good friend's wedding picture might make you feel "Nostalgic" "Warm" or maybe even "Jealous" or "Bitter". Don't judge the feelings just notice them.

Pay special attention to the posts from companies, or from people you don't know in real life, like influencers or celebrities.

At the end of the 20 minutes, put down your phone and notice how you feel overall. Practice this step once a day for about 3 days.

Step 2: Add more nutritious content

Now that you're pretty aware of how each post is making you feel, seek out more good feelings by following people and hashtags that make you feel great! If you feel super calm after looking at people's vacation photos, search for "travel" or "adventure", and follow accounts that inspire you. If you love looking at dogs, find some dogstagrams to follow!

The other part of adding nutritious content is making sure it always shows up in your feed by intentionally interacting with it. Comment to let someone know you loved their post or story and it made you feel ______. For one, they'll be happy about the feedback and connection. And for another thing, the social media algorithms will now show you their content more often.

You can also add your own nutritious content for other people to see! Make a point of creating the same content you love to see and putting it out into the world to nourish others! This is the social media equivalent to bringing some vegan brownies to your office potluck: no one has to know it's healthy, they'll just enjoy it!

Step 3: Cut out unhealthy consumption

Now that you've added some delicious new content to your feed, it's time to start cutting out the things that you know are bad for you. Each time you open your app, make a point of unfollowing or blocking at least one source of content that makes you feel gross, less-than, or anxious.

If you're doing this on Facebook, you can either unfriend or just choose to stop seeing their content. On Instagram, you can unfollow, or "mute" them so that their content doesn't show in your feed.

Unfollow hashtags that consistently give you FOMO or other bad feelings like comparison, judgment, or envy. If you notice that a certain platform gives you many more bad feelings than good ones, you may want to consider cutting it out entirely (this is why I'm not on twitter!).

I had you start this cleanse on social media because it's the one I find myself on most often. You can also apply it broadly to podcasts, music, streaming videos, books, and magazines. And remember, this doesn't mean you can't ever consume content that doesn't feel great. Sometimes it's important to stay informed, or experience uncomfortable points of view. But just like cleaning all the junk food out of your kitchen doesn't mean you'll never eat a doughnut again, cleaning your content kitchen just allows you to spend more time in a positive, productive headspace. From there, when you do engage with something more difficult, you'll start to experience it in a more calm and centered way.

Ready to take more control over what’s going on in your brain and body? Click Here to set up your free activation call with me!