A Cup of Mindfulness
It all started when…
When you say the word mindfulness to some people their eyes gloss over. What does it even mean? Well, simply put, it is a practice that will help you focus your attention and make the most out of the time you have.
Sometimes meditation can seem like just one more thing to add to an already overwhelming to-do list and sitting still for a long period of time can feel…uncomfortable. Mindfulness doesn’t need to be complicated or take up much of your time. In fact, these relatively small practices can yield powerful results—just ask the professional athletes, CEOs and academics who use mindfulness to their competitive advantage.
Research has shown that the best way to incorporate a new habit into your life is to fit it around your existing behaviour. It's time to get started, and we know this book will help guide you.
A Cup of Mindfulness: For the Busy & Restless
Through leading-edge science and a bit of humour, Lisa Belanger describes how to practice mindfulness to relieve stress and recharge and refocus in minutes by making simple changes to the way you are doing things every day, such as drinking coffee, taking a shower or driving to work.
The Science Behind Mindfulness Meditation
Box Breathing
Additional Resources & Further Reading:
Box breathing technique:
Download Box Breathing PDF
Further Reading: https://ritualize.com/box-breathing-military-secret/
Article for the skeptics about mindfulness & it’s scientific validity: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/the_state_of_mindfulness_science
Articles for mindfulness and business, from the Harvard Business Review:
https://hbr.org/2013/12/the-focused-leader
https://hbr.org/2018/03/to-control-your-life-control-what-you-pay-attention-to
https://hbr.org/2013/11/to-strengthen-your-attention-span-stop-overtaxing-it
https://hbr.org/2011/02/take-back-your-attention.htmlhttps://hbr.org/2017/09/heres-what-mindfulness-is-and-isnt-good-for
Currently, the Oxford Mindfulness Centre is offering free weekly mindfulness sessions right now to help people during COVID. http://oxfordmindfulness.org/
Essential skills for a successful career: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/mindfulness.htm
Beware of Attention Leaks (The Science of Gaining Focus): https://medium.com/thrive-global/beware-of-attention-leaks-387728d7b58
Focus: The Ultimate Guide on How to Improve Focus and Concentration: https://jamesclear.com/focus
Tricks to stay focused at work: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20170925-the-surprising-tricks-to-help-you-focus-at-work
Good for the intellectually curious: How the brain enables us to rapidly focus attention: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181227102057.htm
3 Mini Mindfulness Exercises You Can Do Without Meditating:https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/health-fitness/mental-health/mindfulness-without-meditating
Jon Kabat-Zinn, creator of the research-backed stress-reduction program Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), explains how mindfulness lights up parts of our brains that aren’t normally activated when we’re mindlessly running on autopilot. https://www.mindful.org/meditation/mindfulness-getting-started/
Paid meditation apps: BuddhifyCalmHeadspace
Short/accessible resource for practicing mindfulness with children/families: http://www.nscr.bc.ca/childcare/resource-pdf/NovDec14/mindfulness.pdf