I thought I’d share with you new tool I’ve been using.

I recently read an article over on Buddhaimonia about keeping a mindfulness journal.

He talks a lot about keeping a journal and how to maximize your journal as a mindfulness tool.

There was one suggestion that he made that I thought would help me to not only recognize when I’m being mindful, but also help me to actually be more mindful.

My mindfulness journal includes – 3 Mindful Things Each Day.  Each day I try to write down 3 times during the day that I noticed I was being mindful.  This hasn’t just made me note times I’ve been mindful, but it encourages me to be more mindful.  I’ll be doing something and think, “whoa, take your time and really notice what you are doing, you can note this in your journal later.”  It brings to the surface that I need to be more mindful.  It also helps when I feel I haven’t been very mindful when I can think back over my day and realize, wow, I have been mindful today.   I can increase the number of mindful things journal about if I want, but I’m trying to always note at least 3.

I’ll give you a quick example of one.  I was sitting in the car waiting for Stuart to come out of the store and I started to reach for my phone to keep me company, instead I thought; “this is a great mindful opportunity”.  So I started to really notice all the things around me.  I felt the breeze has it caressed my skin.  I saw it was slightly blowing a sign in the window and making it wave a little, I noticed the reflections in the glass and how the colors change in the reflection from what they look in real life.  I noticed a little bug crawling across the windshield, and watched him on his journey.  I felt the suns warmth, and closed my eyes to really feel the atmosphere around me.  I took note of how my body felt pressed against the seat….   I tried hard not to think about what we would be doing next, I wanted to just be there in that moment as it was.

You can see what I mean, I tried my best to be right there in that moment, instead of distracting myself with my phone.  Because I’m writing these moments down, it makes me remember to do such things more often.  Hopefully, being mindful will become more second nature.

I’ve kept a gratitude journal for a long time.  I write down 3 things I’m grateful for each day.  this is a practice I suggest everyone take the time to do.  It really helps us put in perspective that we have something to be grateful for every day, even on days we don’t feel like it.  (some days when I’m having a really hard day I will realize how grateful I am for running water, having food every day, having a safe place to live….  We can always find things to be grateful for, we just need to remember it.

Do you keep a journal?  Is it specific like mine, or do you wir