5 Simple Mindfulness Exercises for Beginners

Mindfulness is not only about meditation. There are many different ways to discover yourself and learn more about your feelings. However, some are harder than others. It’s crucial to find easier techniques if you are a newbie. Learn about mindfulness exercises for beginners, you can start today!

Introduction: What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present and aware of both your inner world (feelings, emotions etc.) and outer world (environment, other people etc.). Though some of us are naturally more mindful, you can treat it as a skill.

Thus, it’s something you can train.

No matter your background, natural talents or current skills: you can learn to maintain moment-by-moment awareness. It is usually associated with meditation, but there are other practices.

Being mindful has many advantages. Thanks to that, you understand your emotions, while also being aware of your surroundings. The longer you practice, the better you know how to react in different situations.

Listed below, you will find simple, yet effective mindfulness exercises for beginners. They are a great way to start for newbies!

Mindful Breathing: The Foundation of Awareness

The most popular mindfulness practice is mindful breathing. Simplifying, it comes down to paying attention to how you inhale and exhale.

Are your breaths deep or shallow?

How long is a break between inhale and exhalation?

Do you practice diaphragmatic breathing?

There are a few ways you can approach that technique. For example: you can just focus on observing. Even just focusing on that will teach you how to be more present in the current moment.

Another way is practicing breath-work. There are many techniques like 3-3-3 or 4-2-6. If you are interested in them, you can learn more about them HERE.

Woman practicing mindful journaling

Journaling: Reflecting and Focusing Through Writing

Journaling is a great exercise for all those who love to write (like me!). You can start practicing in many different ways. 3 popular techniques are:

  1. Stream of consciousness writing – just write whatever comes to your mind. If you can’t think of anything, then wait for the first thought to appear. And write it down. No matter what it is – focus on the flow without filtering or editing.
  2. Gratitude journaling – each day, usually in the evening, write what you are grateful for. Start with 3–5 things. The longer you practice, the easier it will get. It can be big things, like the start of a school for your kid or smaller ones, like tasty coffee.
  3. Sensory journaling – write down what you can see, hear, smell, taste or fear. You can also try to describe something with as many senses as you can. For example: write down everything you feel while eating an apple.

Journaling is a great mindfulness exercise for beginners as well as more experienced practitioners. After some time, you can try more advanced techniques. Experiment with aforementioned approaches and craft your own.

Later on, you can turn your sensory journaling into short stories on everyday life.

Gratitude journaling into thankful, fairy tales.

Consciousness writing into dream-like adventures.

The possibilities here are limitless!

Mindful Listening: Tuning into the Present Moment

That technique is both harder and easier than previous. That’s because it’s more passive, and you don’t have to think about it too much. This can be great, if you are tired and don’t feel like taking action.

But on the other side, that passiveness is dangerous. Why? Because it’s easier to get distracted.

Mindful listening requires you to focus on sounds that surround you. Bird chirping, cats meowing, cars driving, refrigerator humming — you listen to them all. Without judgment or categorizing them into “good” or “bad” ones.

While it sounds (pun intended!) easy, for many of us it’s not. If you have good hearing, listen a lot to music or work as a sound producer, then it might be simple for you. But if not -– then mindful listening requires huge focus.

Personally, I’m not good with that and well, I love writing. But still, I highly recommend trying this mindfulness exercise for all beginners. It improves focus, attention span and your hearing sense.

Who knows? Maybe you have some great hearing superpowers?

Mindful Walking: Connecting with Each Step

We often associate mindfulness with sitting in a silent, closed space. While it is true for many techniques, there are some others that require moving. And mindful walking is one of them. It’s a little bit counterintuitive at first, but that’s why it’s so fascinating.

Walking is something we don’t think about. Whether coming home, shopping after work or even taking a walk — we rarely think about walking itself.

And that’s why mindful walking is great. Because it teaches you how to pay attention not only while alone in a home, but also during everyday actions.

Your first mindful walk might look like this:

  1. Go to your favorite park or forest.
  2. Notice how your body feels, with focus on your legs. Do they feel heavy? Maybe your feet are sore? Or the opposite: you are completely relaxed?
  3. While paying attention to the body, notice your surroundings. Is everything the same as always? Maybe something small changed?
  4. Whenever your mind starts drifting (e.g.: you start thinking about work) focus back first on your body, then on surroundings.
  5. While on the walk, you can either notice everything, or focus on one, most attractive thing for you. Both approaches are fine!

5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Exercise: Engaging All Senses

This mindfulness exercise for beginners is similar to sensory journaling. It is also about bringing awareness to the present moment, by focusing on your senses. You can do it by naming/identifying:

  • 5 things you can see,
  • 4 things you can touch,
  • 3 things you can hear,
  • 2 things you can smell,
  • 1 thing you can taste.

It’s quick and effective practice you can perform almost everywhere and every time. If you want to, you can adjust it to your personal preference or at the moment.

E.g.: after a tasty dinner, name 3 things you can taste and just 1 you can hear.

Incorporating Mindfulness into Daily Life: Practical Tips

The more you practice, the easier mindfulness gets. It’s like with many habits that you have and don’t even think about them. Thus, if you incorporate mindfulness into daily life, you will soon practice it with ease.

I encourage you to start with a daily routine with journaling and/or mindful listening in the evening. Also, try mindful breathing whenever you are stressed. And once a day: mindful walking or 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise.

That might seem a lot, and if it’s too much for you: don’t stress out. Just pick 1-2 of those and begin with them. Later on, as they become easier, add more.

Mindfulness incorporated into everyday life offers numerous benefits, like:

  • Lowered stress,
  • Fewer anxieties,
  • Better understanding of feelings and emotions,
  • Increased attention span,
  • Improved focus.

Remember: treat those mindfulness exercises as tools for a beginner to start. Adhere to the training rule and don’t give up, even if you fail sometimes.

The more you practice, the easier it gets and offers more benefits.

Simple Mindfulness Exercises for Beginners – Summary

Mindfulness is about living in the present moment and paying attention to both your feelings and the environment. It offers numerous benefits, like better focus and lowered stress levels. 5 simple mindfulness exercises I recommend for newbies are:

  • Mindful breathing,
  • Journaling,
  • Mindful listening,
  • Mindful walking,
  • 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise.

You can either start with three of them or just once. Slowly and steadily build your momentum and incorporate mindfulness into your daily life.