Barrie Davenport

I suffered from it for years.

At times it was debilitating.

Sometimes it made me physically ill.

I’m sure there are times when you deal with it too.

Stress and anxiety. The feeling of overwhelm. A racing heart. Unexplained dread. Looping thoughts. Panicky feelings. Exhaustion.

Life IS stressful. All of the normal, everyday stimuli, demands, and deadlines alone create plenty of anxiety.

Piled on top of that, I created even more stress by demanding too much from myself and then feeling stressed about my anxiety. I just kept layering it on, blind to how I was manufacturing much of my own suffering.

Not until I got serious about a mindfulness practice was I able to find a sustainable exit ramp from anxiety. I still have stress, and there are still times I feel anxious.

If your days do not seem to turn out the way you like, then affirmations for mindfulness could correct the course of your life.

Daily affirmations help you halt negative thoughts and focus your mind on positive messages.

You use them to change what you believe about yourself and how you engage with the world.

Day by day, affirmations create a new soundtrack for your life that dials down your brain’s chatter that’s distracting you from being present in the moment.

If you live in the same busy world as the rest of us, you often spend your days multitasking and doing a million things while never actually getting anything accomplished.

During your rush to accomplish all those necessary tasks, you probably find yourself losing your connection with the present moment, missing out on fully experiencing what you’re doing and how you’re feeling.

Mindfulness is the practice of intentionally focusing on the present moment and accepting it for what it is without judgment.

The ability to shift your focus away from your controlling thoughts and toward awareness of the present in a non-reactive way is the key to mindfulness.

You don’t think about your experiences as being positive or negative; instead, you observe and experience them objectively.

Mindfulness meditation is like any other new habit — it takes practice. It can take years of meditating to reach any level of real mastery. But even as a beginner, you will enjoy many benefits from a meditation practice.

Fortunately, there are some great digital tools that can help shorten the learning curve and improve your success with meditation.

We’ve done the research and put together a list of resources that can help you live in the present moment.

Have you ever had those days when your brain feels like it wants to explode from overuse?

You can’t focus to save your life as there are so many thoughts, worries, and extraneous bits of information swirling around in your noggin.

These are the times when you need to clear your mind and find a quiet corner of inner peace.

But how can you do that with the demands of modern life?

In addition to work and day-to-day responsibilities, we’re bombarded with distractions from our ever-present digital devices that keep us in a state of constant hypervigilance.

What do star soccer player Carli Lloyd, actor Jim Carey, Media Mogul Oprah Winfrey, gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn and award-winning TV and movie star Will Smith have in common?

Well, the commonality between these successful people has many names. Some people call it “the power of positive thinking.”

Other people like to say these people have an incredible sense of focus, or they pray to get the results they expect.

However you want to describe the abilities, these people are able to reach new heights, achieve incredible things, and bask in celebrity status.

But even though these and thousands of other people seem superhuman in their achievements, they are still like all of us in many ways.

Yesterday my head spun off, whirling away in a maelstrom of mental exhaustion and overwhelm.

It had had enough of my internal angst, so it disengaged and rolled into the corner in protest.

It’s now patiently waiting for me to place it back on my shoulders and treat it more kindly.

Give it some breathing room.

Stop tormenting it.

Of course, my head is still attached, but it certainly felt like it was spinning off.

It felt like all of the coils and springs had popped out like a cartoon character who has finally reached the end of its tether.

After a stressful weekend driving through a snowstorm, dealing with some family drama, and replaying my worries and frustrations over and over in my mind, my mental state was scattered and frazzled, to say the least.

Do you ever feel this way?

Every day you read about something that’s supposed to change your life.

A new diet.

A revolutionary exercise program.

A killer productivity tool.

As soon as you adopt this latest new thing, another one comes along that undermines the one you’re focused on.

You’re doing it wrong.

It’s outdated.

The research was faulty.

And you’re left frustrated and wondering what information you can trust.

Fortunately, there’s one positive habit that has stood the test of time — not just for a few years but for millenniums.

We all know that it’s important, and it seems so simple.

Just be present.

Be here, right now, with whatever you are doing or experiencing.

But it’s not so easy, is it?

We live much of our lives in our heads, pondering the past or worrying about the future.

Staying grounded in the present moments feels like keeping a boat anchored during a hurricane.

However, when you can calm the storms of your restless mind, the present moment welcomes you like an old friend just waiting for you to arrive.

Everything is so manageable and peaceful in the present moment.

If you have trouble calming your mental storms, we’ve curated a list of quotes about enjoying the moment to remind you to return to it as often as possible.

Does it feel like we’re living in the age of anxiety?

It seems our lives are more demanding, stressful, and distracting than ever before.

The constant barrage of information flooding our digital devices, coupled with our ongoing responsibilities and obligations as professionals, parents, and students can wreak havoc on our peace of mind.

Are you feeling it in your own life?

Do you ever wish there was a button you could push to escape the madness and find your center?

One of the best things you can do to improve your mental health and reclaim inner peace is to practice meditation.

You’re committed to building a mindfulness habit, and you already have some idea of when you’ll practice and for how long.

The one issue you keep running into, though, is whether you should use mindfulness questions or prompts to get you started.

Should you be asking questions about mindfulness or mindful questions about yourself?

What are the right questions to ask?

And what do you gain by asking them?