For my News Year’s resolution, I decided to skip out on the crowded gyms and instead practice mindfulness. It’s a not-so-new-age concept that has hit the mainstream hard. Anderson Cooper did a 60 Minutes piece on it and in one episode the new Muppets TV series poked fun at mindfulness retreats.

But what is mindfulness? According to molecular biologist Jon Kabat-Zinn, “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.”

He saw “mindfulness” as a chance to take meditation out of its religious origins and make it approachable to the public.

Originating out of the Buddhist concept of Sati, which roughly translates to “memory of the present,” mindfulness became the Americanized version of Sati in the 70s where Eastern-influences and self-improvement was part of the pop-culture.

For students ranging from grade school to graduate school, mindfulness training gives you tools to keep calm, sustain attention and be able to focus.

Now, while mindfulness is a meditation technique that incorporates a meditative level of focus to daily activities, there are other ways to live a mindful life.

Here are a few ways to incorporate mindfulness into your daily life.

Your morning routine:

Starting the day with a morning of mindfulness increases the likelihood of experiencing other mindful moments throughout your day. I like to start my mornings with a short yoga/meditation session to the Calm Meditation playlist on Pandora. Afterward, I leave the music on to help me keep that meditative attitude toward remedial tasks such as brushing my teeth or making breakfast.

Waiting in line or walking to class:

Next time you’re waiting in line for some Chick-fil-A, try centering your attention on your breath, pay attention to how you’re standing, and on which foot you’re putting most of your weight. Same goes for walking. Be curious about your movement and how hard or soft you’re breathing. It’s almost like meditation on-the-go.

Before you go to sleep:

One thing I like to do before bed that calms me down and creates a more peaceful sleep is a body scan. Lay on your back with your hands on either side of your body or placed on your belly (which ever you prefer), find your breath, then center your focus on your toes and slowly move up your body to your feet, ankles, calves, and so on. Eventually you’ll start to feel a tingly sensation radiate throughout your body. Soak in that sensation as you return to your breath and drift off to sleep.

Mindfulness for me is skipping that next episode of Master of None on Netflix and reading a book; unplugging from Facebook and grabbing coffee with a friend; cooking dinner rather than microwaving those fish sticks that have been in the freezer for 5 months. It’s living life in a present state of consciousness and getting the most you can out of it. For all my mindful mediators out there, whether new or old, Namaste.

Emily Markanich is a journalism senior.

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