Back with the mindfulness exercise of the day – muscle relaxation. We usually associate mindfulness with relaxation. The idea of serenely experiencing the present, just as it is, without judging or evaluating the moment is soothing and relaxing.

Today, we will take this understanding forward and explain a relaxation technique which is about mindfully watching your body and relaxing it. We’ll call it, Mindful Muscle Relaxation. When most of us say relaxation, we mean relaxation of the mind. Even so, mental relaxation and bodily relaxation are not mutually exclusive. But more on that in a couple of days. For now, in this technique we will exclusively focus on relaxing the body, mindfully. Often our muscles have tensed up even without our knowledge. Pain in the head, back, shoulders is becoming increasingly common. This tension is the body’s way of coping with the continuous onslaught of stress. The body seems to prep up to deal with stress but rarely gets a moment of deliberate intentional letting go. Here is where mindful muscle relaxation can greatly help.

You’ve been reading exercises on mindfulness since 3 days now. Hope you’ve tried some of the tips and techniques we suggested. If you have, you have surely felt some sense of peace while trying what we suggested. Today’s tip is based on mindfulness with children. Can children be trained to be mindful? Would they understand the concept and put it to practice? Yes, they can. If we introduce the concept of mindfulness to children in their way, using elements of their world, they will pick it up, gradually. In fact you’d be surprised to know how mindful children can be!!

Mindful eating is a mindfulness exercise that sounds too simple to be true. Just think about it, “How can eating be mindful? And how can mindful eating help me in any way?” Let’s try to figure out ways in which food can be helpful in being more than just nutritious.

Hi! Time for the next mindfulness technique – breathing meditation, or breath meditation.

This is an exercise that perhaps most of you may be familiar with. Typically it is called meditation through awareness of the breath. It’s the initial and simplest form of meditation.

The Mental Health week 2012 is here and just as last year (We highlighted 7 most effective Mental health tips during mental health week 2011), this year again we have a post a day lined up for you for all the seven days.

The theme we have decided to focus upon this time is mindfulness exercises, to help you understand how to be mindful. So every day, for a week starting from today, you will have one technique, one practice or exercise that you can reflect upon and attempt to enhance the joy of just living-mindfully.