Cultivating More Mindfulness

Another session I attended at the
Montessori conference was related to cultivating mindfulness in our daily
lives. I was reminded of these important concepts:

Our breath is a powerful source of relaxation and reconnection.
When we are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, frustrated, or angry, we can call
upon our deep breathing (all the way to the belly!) to immediately calm
ourselves. I love that this simple yet powerful techniques is within our
control and can be carried with us from place to place—situation to
situation—with ease.

There is space between stimulus and response and our power lies within
that space. We cannot control what happens to us in life, but we can
control what we do in response to what happens to us. And within our power to
choose our response lies our freedom.

Setting an intention for the day can keep us focused on growing. At
the start of the day, we can set intentions for our “way of being.” We an check
in regularly and ask ourselves if our actions are in alignment with our
intention. If not, then we can get back on track. We can set all kinds of
intentions, such as “Be grounded,” “Be patient,” “Breath.”