I never really took the time to engage in mindfulness practice before completing a four week online mindfulness course that just finished today, taught through my graduate program at college.

Before this past month, the words "mindfulness," "meditation" and "self-compassion" almost made me cringe. I would dabble in some guided practices here and there, and try to be kind to myself...whatever that actually meant. But I always found that I was too restless to sit still for longer than five minutes at a time and my mind wandered with racing thoughts and feelings. I also found that many of these thoughts and feelings focused around things like anxiety or feeling anxious, being worried, feeling frustrated, stressed, or tense.

It wasn't until this four week course started that I really gave myself permission to fully try and embrace this practice and began to understand that the entire reasoning a person may engage in mindfulness techniques in the first place is to become more aware of their thoughts and the present moment. It is totally okay to notice the thoughts and feelings you may be experiencing in that moment. I have slowly learned throughout this course that the idea behind this practice is that we are focusing our awareness and attention on the present moment while calmly acknowledging and accepting our thoughts and feelings when and if they arise, letting them pass by as if they were leaves floating on a stream.

Four weeks have now passed (wow how time flies!) and I say not only have I learned what it means to be mindful and how this practice can help guide me in times of high stress, anxiety and frustration, but I have also learned that thoughts and feelings come and go throughout the day, all of the time. This is only natural. But sitting and dwelling on them for hours will do us no good. Rather, it is probably better to become aware of them in the present moment and let them pass. If you are experiencing any sort of emotions whether that be negative or positive, I encourage you to try a five to ten minute meditation when you first wake up or before you go to sleep at night!

Some simple beginner ideas include:

1. Belly breathing - Breathing in and out with your belly, rather than your chest. This is helpful when/if you need to feel calm and if you are feeling anxious. It is also helpful before falling asleep at night.

2. Walking meditation - Using the sensations in your feet and legs as an anchor for your awareness in the present moment, find a path at least ten feet long so that you are able to practice walking slowly back and forth. This is useful when you are restless and cannot sit still.

3. Guided imagery - This practice is useful when you are getting caught up in your thoughts and need space from them for a moment. This technique makes it easier to release and separate yourself from your thoughts. This is best used to stay "nonjudgmentally present with all of the other activities going on." Imagery can include a safe space, your favorite vacation spot, a place in nature, a place you love to go with friends or family, etc.

4. Labeling feelings - This practice helps to manage strong feelings that may arise during your meditation practice (i.g. feeling anxious, restless, worried, insecure, frustrated, excited, happy, hopeful) and so on. Sometimes it is easy to get carried away in how we might be feeling which often keeps us from the present moment. Label your feeling, acknowledge it, and picture it passing by like leaves in a stream.

5. Loving kindness - This is especially important and relates to self-compassion. If you often criticize yourself or your relationships with others, often using "false truths," which are sayings you repeat to yourself that have, in effect, become true over time, this practice can be helpful. It helps to cultivate self-compassion so that you can go easy on yourself and those you are around.

Number five is very important.

Throughout this practice I realized it was also difficult for me to use mindfulness before, because it takes courage and strength for me to look in the mirror, really see who I am, and speak what I want or need into existence. If I'm not living up to my own expectations, or expectations that others may have set for me, I start to dwell on my insecurities and imperfections. It is very easy to get caught up in qualities we lack, or feel we lack, all because we are often comparing ourselves to other people even if we don't realize it. This practice has also helped me to realize that it's okay to feel all of these emotions and explore these thoughts. In fact, it's encouraged. From now on, I'm going to practice actually looking in the mirror no matter what I'm feeling, trying to realize that "this is what I'm going through in this moment, and that's okay. Tomorrow is a new day."