How 10 minutes of mindfulness can help you

Have you ever laid awake at night and remembered embarrassing moments you wish you could do over? If only you’d hesitated for just a split second and thought about what came out of your mouth, maybe you wouldn’t have mouthed off about your boss with her standing right behind you. Maybe you’d have remembered your mother’s birthday. Maybe you wouldn’t have let the gender slip on your baby before the gender reveal.

If you dread these moments in life, there’s good news. 10 minutes of mindfulness practice a day can help you get the one up on your brain, helping you learn how to delay what comes out of your mouth and think for a minute before handling these situations.

Join a mindfulness program

A mindfulness program can help guide your thought process so you can get a one second lead on your thought process. There are plenty of free or paid apps on your phone that can help you, as well as articles and programs online.

This is the biggest and best thing for yourself, and can physically alter your brain to be more mindful.

Practice mindfulness on a specific task

The act of being mindful means to be completely aware. If you’ve ever driven home from work and can’t remember anything about the drive, it’s a good example of how our body and mind can go on auto-pilot for things we do repeatedly.

Choose a task during the day that you plan to perform while being completely aware. If you choose that drive home, that means paying attention to the feel of the gas pedal, the lights as they turn, and where people are around you. If it’s working on a project, you’ll think carefully about every step in the process.

You don’t have to practice mindfulness in everything you do, but by choosing to slow down and pay sharp attention during one part of your day, it will help you more generally through the rest of your routine.

What can happen if you do

Studies show that practicing mindfulness can benefit your brain in a variety of ways. You may have better working memory compared to your peers, respond to stress better, and even see positive changes in your career.

We know that practicing mindfulness can physically restructure the brain in a positive way, and that’s well worth a few seconds of practice.