The Happier Life Project

Day 29: Cultivating Contentment

Contentment means to be happy with who you are, where you are, and what you have. We live in a world that continuously throws us curveballs and send us messages on why we shouldn’t be content. Mindfulness can help us cultivate a sense of inner well-being and self satisfaction, which allows us to feel content without needing validation from the outside world. Try this mindful exercise to aid you in focussing on what you have, rather than what you don't have.

Day 28: A Practice for Letting Go

The practice of mindfulness includes nine key pillars or attitudes, these are: non judging, gratitude, patience, a beginner's mind, trust, non-striving, acceptance, letting go, and generosity. The attitudes support each other and are deeply interconnected. Throughout the month of mindfulness challenge we have been making our way through these pillars and today we are practicing letting go.
When we talk about letting go, we're talking about releasing all the emotional baggage that weighs us down. Be it past regrets, unresolved issues, fears about the future, these burdens restrict us from living life to its fullest.
So there’s no time like the present to practice letting go of any stress, fears and negative emotions. Host Gabby will guide you through a meditation that uses visualization, breathwork, and relaxation techniques to help you let go.

Day 27: A Meditation for Focus and Productivity

This is a meditation for productivity and focus that will help you calm down, clear your mind and be more productive. Guided by mindfulness practitioner and founder of Mynd Andrew Swiney. 

Day 26: Mindfulness In Your Morning Routine

Start your day off in the best possible way by incorporating mindfulness into your morning routine. In today’s challenge host Gabby shares two short simple mindful exercises for the morning. If your day has already started then remember to do them the next day instead. 

Day 25: Practicing Acceptance

Acceptance means perceiving your experience and simply acknowledging it rather than judging it as good or bad. We all have a tendency to want to “become” something. We’re raised with the belief that we need to achieve something and become something or someone new. We need to make something of ourselves. These expectations might not be verbally stated, but they’re still there. They drive many of us to strive and struggle throughout our lives, always looking to the “next thing” that we’re going to achieve, buy, or become: the thing that will finally make us happy.In this mindfulness meditation, you’ll practice acknowledging where you stand, and accepting your current state for what it is.

Day 24: Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is a stress-management mindfulness technique. The idea behind PMR is that there is a relationship between a person's mind and body. PMR can help relieve the physical symptoms of stress and anxiety, such as tight, aching muscles, by systematically tensing and releasing certain muscle groups in your body.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation is a two-step process. First, you systematically tense particular muscle groups in your body, next, you release the tension and notice how your muscles feel when you relax them. This exercise will help you to lower your overall tension and stress levels, and help you relax when you are feeling anxious.

Day 23: Mindful Eating Pt 2

Mindful eating is a technique to help you slow down, increase your awareness of your food, and promote healthy eating behaviors, while building a healthy relationship with food. In the second part of 2 episodes in the month of mindfulness challenge Gabby shares some ways to turn mindless eating into mindful eating and then guides you through an exercise to put this into practice. You will need a small piece of food such as a raisin, a grape, a shell / string of cooked pasta, an orange slice, a piece of cheese, a square from a chocolate bar etc.The more mindful you become throughout your day, the more mindful you'll become when you eat. And you may find that you're better able to make decisions about the food you consume.

Day 22: Mindful Eating Pt 1

Mindful eating is all about being aware of how we feel when we eat.The benefits of being mindful of the food you eat can encourage better digestion, keep you full with less food, and influence wiser choices about what you eat in the future. It can also help you free yourself from unhealthy habits around food and eating.In todays challenge Gabby shares some simple, practical ways you can set yourself up for success when it comes to mindful eating with the invitation to choose a few to incorporate into your day.

Day 21: Practicing Non-Striving

Non-striving is one of the fundamental principles of mindfulness. It is a conscious decision to allow things in your life or in the world to be as they are, rather than always reacting to try to change things in the moment. With the mindfulness attitude, non-striving, there is no goal other than to be yourself. Non-striving is trying less and being more. So today's challenge is an invitation to sit and just be with yourself for a few minutes. Something we tend to avoid at all costs. Host Gabby will guide you in and out of the meditation. 

Day 20: Self Esteem Check In

The five C's of self-esteem are: Competence, Confidence, Character, Connection, and Caring. Day 20 in the month of mindfulness challenge give you the opportunity to check in and make note where you are and what you can do to improve your own scores for the five C's of self esteem. 
For this challenge you will need a pen and paper (or access to your laptop or notes on your device).