I am an avid fan of mindfulness. I have been practising its basic principles and it has made a big change in my day-to-day as well as big-picture life. These are:

• Awareness
• Non judgement
• Acceptance
• Being present in the now

I wish I could get myself to meditate more, to be able to reap the benefits on a deeper level. The benefits of mindfulness and meditation have been scientifically proven and cannot be stressed enough.

Meanwhile, to keep me on track with mindfulness meditation and go back to basics, I took an e-course about the Basics of Mindfulness (by Elisha Goldstein PhD). I really enjoy his blogs on PsychCentral, especially since I am so fascinated by Mindfulness, Behavioural Psychology and Psychotherapy.

Here’s what the Mindful Check-In consists of:

1. BODY: Notice how it’s positioned, if there’s tension anywhere.

2. EMOTIONS: Are you angry, frustrated, calm, happy, sad, stressed?

3. THOUGHTS: Are you worrying, stewing, or rehashing? Are you stuck in the past or future?

4. LOCATION: Where are you? If you’re inside, break away from the screen and look at what’s around you; if you’re outside, open your eyes to things you don’t normally see.

Another is the very important STOP practice:

S – Stop

T – Take a few deep breaths

O – Observe your body, emotions and thoughts

P – Proceed by asking the question, “What’s most important to pay attention to right now?”