21 Healthy Habits & Mindful Routines to Relieve Everyday Stress [Practical & Tangible Advice]

Half of 2019 is over… and I just realized I haven’t written about healthy habits and mindfulness in quite some time.

Do you still remember your New Years’ resolutions?

I bet the energy a lot of people had in the first week of January and the motivation they felt is now long forgotten and they went back to their daily grind only a couple of weeks later.

Stressed. Anxious. Unhappy.

I don’t wanna blame nor shame anyone with this post, since I’m sitting in the same boat. Time is running by so fast and I can’t believe it’s almost July 2019 already.

So many goals, so many dreams I wanted to be reality by now (and they’re not). But I’m taking baby steps. Each day a few.

And as long as I’m taking a few each day, I’ll reach my goals someday, I’m certain of that.

To keep me sane, I use different techniques and follow certain routines, let’s call these “Mindful & Healthy Habits”.

These help SO MUCH to keep me healthier and happier in the long-term and to create a balanced life.

Do you recognize yourself to some extent in the way I feel?

Do you believe implementing a little mindfulness in your daily routine could help you as well?

Here are a couple of ideas to build small but powerful mindful & healthy habits that suit your lifestyle and will help you to create a balanced life, too (I linked to blog posts if I’ve written about the topic before):

21 Practical Mindful Routines & Healthy Habits

Quick fixes & mindful hacks (for anywhere)

• Close your eyes and take 5 deep breaths (anytime during the day you feel stressed, count the breaths).
• Use your senses consciously. How does something smell, taste, feel?
• Don’t multitask, focus on ONE task at a time.
• Slow down and interrupt your day on purpose.
  
• Take a break every now and then to recharge and recenter yourself (this could be already something as little as e.g. standing up from your desk and going to the pantry or cafeteria).
  
• Take a break from your smartphone (e.g. turn the notifications off).
  

10-30 minutes mindful routines (for quiet places)

• Meditate (start with 3 minutes and work your way up to 10 minutes or more). Here’s a compilation with beginner videos on YouTube.
• Connect with nature, take walks or do your runs through a park or forest.
  
• Stimulate your mind and read 20 pages every day. I started that habit recently and try reading now each morning when I get up (it’s a habit building technique I found on James Clear’s blog).
  
• Listen to your favorite piece of music – and do nothing else but listening.
• Have some ‘Me-Time’ every now and then (e.g. pampering, reading, workout, whatever makes you happy).
  
• Start a gratitude journal and list 3-5 things you’re grateful for every day (I do this in the morning).
  

Healthy Habits to assess feelings & emotions

• Reframe negative thoughts e.g. stop asking yourself “What if…?” questions about situations that already passed.
  
• Try not to worry about future events either, most likely your worries will never happen (tell yourself: If something happens, isn’t it enough to worry about it then and there, instead of twice?).
• Don’t let your emotions get in your way. Try assessing situations rationally.
  
  I know, this sounds much easier said than done. When you’re upset or stressed, take multiple deep breaths, before reacting.
  
  Breathing really helps. If needed, take a time-out and step outside.
• Try to get through a day without judging anyone (especially yourself) or anything (e.g. any of your emotions).
  
• Let go of negative thoughts and toxic feelings, anything (or anyone) that doesn’t serve you well.
  

Mindful Routines & Habits for the whole day

• Rest well, get enough sleep.
  
• Eat well (not in front of your computer screen and healthy & fresh food).
• Drink enough water (or tea) about 3 liters a day (tip: it’s easier to drink that amount if it’s still instead of sparkling water).
• Try yoga or at least stretch in the morning and evening. Here’s a YouTube playlist with my favorite yoga videos.
  
  Some videos are short (less than 10 minutes), some are 20-30 minutes and some are up to 1 hour.
  
  All are manageable, even if you’re a complete beginner, but I always encourage to first visit a beginner yoga class so an instructor can help you to ease into poses (and to correct you to avoid wrong posture and injuries).
• If that’s not your thing, use your body and do some other physical exercises every day (even taking the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator is already an improvement. Unless you live on a really high floor, then maybe not).

Weekly Nuggets of Wisdom

Here’s this week’s list full of inspiring content – I hope you enjoy it!

…reading:

Mindfulness – 1 Thing that will help you be less stressed by me. I’ve written this very long and insightful introduction to mindfulness a while ago.

Then, I revamped it recently, and updated and edited it where needed. It’s the right piece for you, if you’ve always wondered about the (vague) term mindfulness and are into scientific research.

…listening:

‘Quintana’ by Slow Meadow, a beautiful piano and strings piece.

Try these magical tunes, if you’re looking for something chilled, a yoga routine piece or just want to daydream.

…watching:

How to tame your wandering mind by Amishi Jha. Such a great TEDx Talk explaining everything you need to know about our attention span (and how to increase it).

It’s about 20 minutes long that fly by because Amishi Jha presents her complex topic in an easy-going and light-hearted way.

…doing:

Switch off for 5 minutes.

Sit down. Shut the door if needed.

Or take a walk.

Breathe.

Watch the clouds passing by.

Do nothing.

Just be with yourself.

Enjoy the present moment.

Connect with your senses.

Listen to any noise.

Smell the air.

Feel the chair beneath you (or the breeze outside).

Just be.

Now tell me, what’s your go-to mindful habit? Let me know in the comments below!