If you have ever heard of recovery, you may be familiar with mindfulness. Mindfulness is essentially staying in the present moment. How do you actually stay present with the hustle and bustle of life? To be fair, learning how to stay in the moment isn’t always easy. However, learning how to stay in the moment will help you have more peace and focus in your life. In fact, mindfulness is beneficial for your recovery.

You have to make plans but you don’t have to fixate on the future. Fixating on the past or future is counterproductive. Worrying about things that you can’t control creates anxiety. Anxiety is an intense worry or fear about an event, a situation, or the future. Part of staying in the moment is being able to recognize when you are worrying over things that you can’t control.

Take every thought captive! In order to be mindful, you need to be able to recognize when you are having negative thoughts or worrying about things outside of your control. When you are having negative thoughts, try to recognize the thoughts. Once you recognize the thoughts, try to figure out what you are worrying about. If you are worried about a big meeting, try to remember how good at your job you have been. Replace the negative thoughts with positive, realistic thoughts.

Mindfulness experts believe one of the ways to be mindful of your thoughts is to imagine having a Teflon mind. Visualize your mind being like a non-stick skillet. When a negative thought comes, imagine the thought sliding out of your mind the way food never sticks to a Teflon pan. Visualizing your thoughts rolling off may seem silly, but visualization is actually a mindfulness technique.

Life can be filled with unpredictable moments. If you are in the future or the past, you can’t be in the moment. You really can’t fully enjoy your life if you are not living in the present. Incorporating mindfulness and learning how to be in the moment is helpful for your recovery. Recovery is about living one day at a time.

At The Kimberly Center, we care about your physical and emotional health. The Kimberly Center can help you navigate recovery, and even learn how to be more mindful. Call us now at 855-4-KCENTER. We are committed to putting you and your recovery first. At the Kimberly Center, our clients are priority.