Mindfulness Tools and Tips for Successful Entrepreneurs

We are bombarded with stimuli - emails, muzak, traffic noise, billboards, people wanting our attention, time, input.  This stimuli increases our stress levels and can leave us feeling tired, discouraged, lonely, invisible and physically sick. Having strategic ways of taking care of ourselves when we are pulled in a zillion directions will minimize the overwhelm and support us in making clear, conscious decisions about our busineses and lives.  These are some favorite strategies of mine and my clients.  Try them on and let me know how they work for you.  And share some of yours, too.

1. Turn off your car radio! 
Driving without the radio and cell phone will help you notice how quiet a car ride can be.  With no distractions but those on the road and in your thoughts it may be the only place you have all to your self all day.  Why not enjoy the peace!?

2. Make your car a cell phone free zone
See above.  Plus, it's safer for you and your fellow drivers!

3. Take quiet time before a meal.
Take a minute to sit with your meal prior to eating it. Think of the people, plants, animals, sunshine, etc., it took to get that meal on your plate. Then, eat at least the first 5 bites mindfully, chewing each bite as you savor the taste and experience of nurturing your body. 

4. Enjoy a mindful shower
Nurture your body.  Enjoy the process and sensuality of washing yourself, the scent and feel of the soap and flow of the water.  Be grateful for how amazing your body is. Especially those parts that may not look or behave like you might want them to.

5. Notice the natural world
Nature surrounds us even in urban areas. Take 5 minutes to go or look outside.  Watch a cloud, notice the color of the sky, a leaf, a drop of dew, a bird.  Feel the sun on your skin.  Soak in the life all around you. Know that you are an intimate part of it.

6. Take a breath break
We can be as nourished by healthy deep breaths as we can be by a good meal.  Take regular breath breaks- 5 deep conscious breaths - inhaling and exhaling gently, slowly, as deeply as possible.  Breathe into your full torso, right to your pubic bone and exhale.  Smile.

7. Feel your feet and hands
We live mostly from the neck up ignoring the rich source of information literally at your fingertips. Start living in your whole body.  Feel your feet on the floor and your hands on your lap for one minute several times a day.  BE in your body!

8. Do one thing different daily
Stuck in a rut?  Change something in your routine- take a different route to or from work, go to a new grocery store, brush your teeth with your opposite hand, leave dishes in the sink - or clean them!  Mix it up!  Change happens today - one step at a time.

9. Express your inner artist
Give yourself permission to play creatively - draw, paint, sketch, sculpt.  Do it for the experience not to try to create a masterpiece.  You are the masterpiece!  Get creative!

10.  Move your body
Swim, walk, do yoga, cycle. Do it mindfully.  Give yourself choices and let your body choose for you. Mix up your routine to get a feel for what you enjoy and what satisfies you. Leave the iPod at home once a week so you can really be with your self as you move.