Take Notice: Mindfulness Outdoors

Take Notice- Mindfulness Outdoors 

Take Notice! Putting mindfulness into practice every day can positively affect the brain patterns underlying day-to-day anxiety, stress, depression and irritability. When we are engaging with our stressors it can leave us feeling unpleasant and unsatisfied with ourselves, we might start thinking about our ideals and indulge ourselves in practices that quickly bring us gratification such as escapism, rather than showing gratitude for where we are right now and being ‘okay’ with it. Aspirations and pleasure are not at all bad, however, they can become unhelpful as they can put further pressure on us by negatively perceiving and challenging our current being. Here is what I do actively, to reduce tension, by staying present at the moment.

Walking without Music

Why do you listen to music when you are in transit? I knew I did so because I wanted to flush out the loud noise of my environment; everything was frantic without music and it just felt like it was adding to my stress. But, when you remove your earphones, after some time you begin to accept the noise, acknowledge your surroundings, and focus on what you’re doing. This mindfulness activity allowed me to ground myself in the reality that I am in, giving myself time to accept my emotions, acknowledge what my current thoughts are and narrow down my thinking and decision process.

Taking Pictures of the scenery

Do you ever associate a smell, a taste, or a location with a good memory? Well, photos allow me to do that but have the further benefit of becoming aware of my present.

I never bothered with photos in the past because everything always seemed so frantic in every moment I was in, so I didn’t think about taking a photo unless it was with friends. However, there came an instance when things started to quiet down, it was my birthday and I was outside sitting down with my friend on the edge of a lake. The sun was setting beautifully and my friend and I comfortably appreciated the beauty with awe, I took out my phone to capture the moment.

That picture is now a trigger to a node in my mind that allows me to reminisce on the past but more so replicate how I felt in my present reminding me to value the beauty of the present. It’s a stress reliever during difficult times and I don’t even need a high-class camera for it videos can also remind you to be grateful and value the ups and downs of life and just live in the moment.

Photography can encourage you to pause and take notice of what is going on around you. Here are a few photos that I took on days that I realised were quite important to me:

I am sure that the place where you live has its beauty, but you need to go outside your typical routine to see that.

Walking for the sake of Walking

Walking is the best hobby I have ever taken on (when it’s not raining). I walk to discover and explore new locations in my city but as of recently I have been feeling quite overwhelmed so rather than having a destination, I just walk for the sake of walking, no end goal, no time restraints, just comfortably but safely walking. I tend to self-reflect when I find a place to sit but as I am walking I allow my mind to stay clear; accepting what’s going on around me and seeing everything as part of my journey rather than a distraction during my journey. 

Getting Lost

Maybe I should be more euphemistic, ‘Taking a detour’. Safety is of the utmost importance when doing this, I particularly look out for landmarks to get a rough assumption as to where I am and how far I am from my destination (of course, you can use google maps, but where’s the fun in that). I feel like there are two benefits to having a bit of a wander; one, being that exploring the area you live in and probably discovering new aspects of it that may benefit you. 

Once I took a spontaneous stroll and saw some big lights flashing in an area not too far from me, so I walked there out of curiosity and guess what my introverted, broke, student-self found, an ASDA! More specifically a High street retail park (KFC, McDonald’s, Argos, and Pond stretcher all in one place, secluded from the busy streets of my university). The local stores around my student accommodation had a lot of students going there thus it was often crowded and had long queues. Making it so exhausting and uncomfortable to shop. Honestly, it was a dream come true, picture yourself listening to an alternative/indie playlist, walking through some awkward paths in the dark (don’t do this) and then as the song is reaching its climax, BOOM you discover something beautiful! for me that just happened to be ASDA. 

The second benefit is the increase in my awareness going on a detour automatically makes you cautious as you tread on land that you don’t have much knowledge of. As you can guess being aware also means your being mindful. Subconsciously you start to simplify your thoughts and direct them to the reality of how close am I to my destination, what is on my left? What is on my Right? What is behind me and what is in front of me? And if you take on any of my tips you might see something pleasing to the eye and take a picture of it.

This rounds up the top 4 things I do to stay present and reduce tension.

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