Yoga is generally a group of practices that include physical, mental, and spiritual activities. Yoga benefits your well-being by welcoming more calmness into your everyday life.

It is said that yoga benefits your body, mind, and soul by recognizing a detachment and witnessing a deeper consciousness that is untouched by your mind and the suffering of your life.

Let’s dive deeper into the yoga benefits to the body, mind, and soul.

How yoga benefits the body:

While talking about the yoga benefits, first comes the impacts of yoga on your body. One of the most prominent yoga benefits for the body is it increases your body flexibility.

With time, the yoga practitioner can see the miraculous results in his or her body’s flexibility. Along with this, yoga is very helpful when it comes to reducing chronic pain in your body.

Especially, yoga benefits your body by reducing chronic pains like neck pain, neck spasm, and other neck pain issues. After practicing for a few weeks, you may find the pain intensity is lesser than before.

However, while talking about how yoga benefits the body, we can’t forget how it helps the risk of having heart diseases. Yoga benefits your heart disease because you will have more calmness in your body, mind, and soul.

Additionally, yoga benefits your body by lowering your blood pressure level. As a result, people who practice yoga on a regular basis, have seen their hypertension issues also resolved.

Because yoga gives you the inner calm that is immensely helpful in calming down your senses. Therefore, your hypertension level will reduce, thus lowering the blood pressure level.

How yoga benefits the mind:

The main aspect of yoga benefits the mind is you will find calmness of mind after you finish the day’s yoga practice. This further leads your mind towards having more clarity, by relieving stress and boosting relaxation.

Yoga benefits the mind by gifting you a moment of serenity and you will find the bliss within. Many people see yoga as a tool for boosting their moods and finding inner happiness.

Also, yoga benefits your soul by decluttering negative thoughts and stopping the overthinking process.

Another aspect of yoga benefits the mind is yoga is extremely helpful when it comes to increasing your concentration power. Yoga benefits your mind by sharpening your concentration and centering your mind to attention.

As a result, yoga benefits your mind by leading you towards mindful living and helps you to cultivate the first step of mindfulness.

How yoga benefits the soul:

After the initial moments of beginning your yoga practice, it starts to calm your senses. Therefore, while practicing yoga, slowly, you journey to the deeper surface of your inner self.

If we discuss how yoga benefits the soul, one of the main aspects com as yoga helps to find inner calmness.

Along with this, yoga helps to align your thoughts, accept your emotions and build a mindful connection to the inner self.

Amidst that blissful state, you can realize your inner peace, and reach the state of being fully aware of this present moment. However, yoga benefits the soul with the awareness of your senses and being at peace.

Meanwhile, you start realizing your strengths more than you do in your everyday life. And this is the first step towards your journey of recognizing your hidden potential and knowing yourself in a better way.

As a result, you will focus on your higher purpose in life, with a more positive perspective on your being.

Yoga benefits for mental health:

According to the experts, when your body experiences stress, it can reveal to you in diverse ways. Sometimes it may appear in some physical forms, however, it can affect your mental health too.

If you are going through stressful hours at work, you can try to practice yoga. No one can deny how yoga benefits mental health. Therefore, when you will start practicing yoga, you will clearly see how yoga benefits mental health.

Yoga helps in developing coping mechanisms, and that in turn helps you to manage your stress level. Along with this, the most miraculous yoga benefits to mental health is it uplifts your spirit higher.

As a result, it uplifts your mood and reduces the level of anxiety. Also, yoga benefits mental health issues like depression and some others with its calming effect on the mind.

What we conclude:

Yoga benefits your body, mind, and soul in a wonderful way. While you are doing the everyday tasks, although you are awake, yet, there is a lack of consciousness in your being.

Therefore, if you can practice yoga on a regular basis, it will give you fruitful results as you can start living with more consciousness. There will be a balance between your body, mind, and soul.

Along with this, there will be an increased focus on your being, and you will have more calmness in your senses. But you need to remember that yoga needs to be a continuous process.

If you can keep the habit of practicing yoga regularly, you can reap the benefits of yoga in a more profound way in your daily life.

© Swarnali Nath (Rethink Mindful) 

Image Courtesy: Canva

The new year eve is a great time to have some new resolutions, to aspire for new dreams, and to set goals for new habits. The dawn of the first day of new year is a beautiful time to let go of the past and to welcome the new beginning to our lives. 

So, how about planning for a mindful beginning of the new year? Here are some beautiful ways to start the new year with mindful living. Let’s have a look.

Breathe:

Wake up in the morning, and look around. Feel the air, hear the sounds.

Sit in a silent corner of your house, gently close your eyes, and begin to slow down your breathing. Take some slow and deep breaths, inhale the calmness of mind and exhale all your worries. Let the inner calm spread in your mind, body and soul. Let them heal.

Journaling:

Writing down your thoughts on the journal helps you to revisit the lessons and learnings of the past year and you can reflect your realizations on the paper. 

Take five to fifteen minutes to put your thoughts on the pages of your journal. You can write your thoughts randomly as your mind goes reminding, or you can prepare a questionnaire set to ask yourself, reminiscing the bygone year.

Try these questions:

What were the best things that happened with you in the last year?

Among them all, what mattered most to you?

In that thing, what really mattered to you?

How do you wish to carry that one thing forward to this new year?

How are you finding this serene morning now?

How do you relate to yourself to this present moment?

Is there anything special you can feel at this hour?

What relationships were most meaningful for you in the last year?

Write the names of the people you were grateful to in the last year.

Write the things you were proud of in the last year.

Write the things that brought a smile on your face and you felt happy for those things or those moments.

Now, take a quiet look at the pages and observe them mindfully.

Setting realistic goals:

Plan a way to execute, one task at a time.

After you read about the things that you have already written in your journal, take one minute break from writing. Have a deep breath, close your eyes, and keep your mind calm. Be still.

After one minute, close your eyes and look around. Think about your dreams and aspirations for this new year.

Then, start writing about them in your journal.

Yes, it’s true that life goes at its own pace and makes its own plans. But there is nothing wrong with aspiring for your life goals and having a plan for your life. It helps you to keep a track of the upcoming tasks and you become more organized. It also helps you with time management.

So, you can write about the things that you want to do in the next three months. I am planning to do a series on my blog and also on my podcast. I have started working on it. I have some more aspirations and dreams this year and I have written them all in my journal.

Let’s wait and watch the reel of life, passing moments and making memories.

Being Grateful:

Gratitude is a beautiful way to welcome the new year. Counting your blessings help you to begin a new journey more peacefully. 

The first thing when you are showing gratitude to something or someone is acknowledging that there is still goodness in the world, there are still good people around us. 

Another reason is being grateful gives us the revelation that all the little and big things need an act of appreciation. Gratitude helps you to be happy without any regrets and gradually reduces negative thoughts and negative emotions.

So, start the new year with a note of gratitude. Let the kind year shower more happy moments to you.

Writing something positive:

A positive word can impact wonderfully in everyone’s life. Positive words carry the message you want to send to the world and they work as affirmations to the note that “There is still room for hope, love, and smile in the world.”

Here are some positive lines I love to share with you:

Thank You

I love myself in the way I am

I am beautiful in my own way

Life is beautiful

Be the reason behind someone smiles today

Spread smile, spread hope, spread love.

You are magic.

Here is what I wrote in my journal:

Believe in your own path.

A positive change in your life:

In the ecstasy of the new year, today, make a promise to yourself. Promise yourself a positive change in your life. Remember, promises are meant to be kept, always. 

So, think about yourself, what you really wish to change in your life or what you want to put to a regular habit from this year.

A positive change guides you towards a positive mindset and this way, you walk towards the positive growth of your lifestyle.

You can try these:

• Writing a daily journal.
• Writing gratitude journal and being more grateful.
• Communicating and interacting more with people.
• Helping people to reach their goals.
• Healing through empathy and kindness.
• Spreading more happiness in the world.

I have promised myself that I will try to respond to people with more peace from now. And yes, I have made one more promise to myself, that I will make peace with my own choice and beliefs. I will write daily quotes to express my emotions, and I will try to bring more smiles in the world.

All I need this year is plenty of peaceful moments in my life.

More peace, more love, more smile.

Taking one step closer to self-love:

At the beginning of the new year, set some priorities for yourself. Let self-love and self-compassion be the first thing you should focus on this year. Pick up a good habit and make it a regular thing.

Try these:

• Taking one step closer to a healthy lifestyle.
• Meditate daily for at least half an hour.
• Gardening.
• Spending quality time with dear ones.
• Having some time for yourself and spending time doing the activity you love to do.
• Healing with nature.
• Cycling or walking.
• Expressing your thoughts through creativity.

I have taken one step closer to self-love with a habit of sleeping peacefully. In the last year, I spent many nights sleepless, being anxious about my future and worrying about my family. 

But this year, I have decided to sleep without any stress or anxiety and thinking about future things or mourning about the past. 

I have started ending my day with this note:

“Today was an awesome day. I have given my best to utilize it. I have lived to the fullest. The works that are pending could be done tomorrow. I will have enough time to finish my tasks. Tomorrow is a new day, a new beginning. Let’s hope to heal and be healed.”

The new year is a beautiful time to have some positive transition towards a positive shift in life, inner self and the world. Today, take one step closer to mindful living. 

Feel this moment, and bring peace in life. Be mindful. Be happy. Keep spreading hope, love, and smile.

Wish you all a very happy new year.

© Swarnali Nath (Rethink Mindful) 

Image Courtesy: Canva

Finding calm amidst the chaos of life is hard, but once you find it, you find the peace within. You start to celebrate whatever you have in life. Right here, right now. 

When you’re going through a phase where you face only negative things and you wonder about the purpose, the meaning of your life, try to dive deep inside the sea of emptiness. It will echo the answer you have been searching for long. 

I found peace in absolute noise. I found calm in absolute chaos. I found harmony in an absolute mess.

One night, before falling asleep, I was feeling restless inside. I was feeling anxious about something in my life and it made my mind filled with negative thoughts. 

There were happening many things around me that made me feel helpless. At one point in life, I thought there was no way out. I felt choked and covered with darkness. 

I closed my eyes and tried to breathe. And within a moment, a pleasant thought flashed in my mind.

I realized that peace is a choice.

Within that trance, I had a beautiful revelation about life. That peace is present in every breath of us, peace is present in every step of us. 

Peace is present in every moment, peace is present everywhere. 

Peace can be found anywhere, in any state of mind. Only you have to choose wisely. Choose peace over noise, choose calm over chaos, choose harmony over the mess.

Here are the ways I found calm amidst the chaos.

Chanting your own mantra of peace:

Pause. Breathe. Heal.

This is the mantra I follow to embrace the peace within. While walking on the road of life, amidst the hustle and bustle of the world, often you forget to pause for a while and take a deep breath. You hear others. 

But when you take a momentary pause and breathe a little deeper, you find the calmness within. 

Whenever I feel restless amidst the chaos around, I take a pause from the hustle and bustle of life and chant these three words. 

Within some moments, I start exhaling my thoughts and inhaling peace. This leads me to realize that all the things that are buried in the chaos of life, you find them in your peace.

Being aware of your inner self:

When you choose peace over chaos and being calm from within, you become more aware of your inner self. You start to feel the connection with your inner guide and hear your inner voice. 

At that state of mind, you fill an immense kind of joy that fills your heart. At one point, that pure happiness becomes a pool of blissful serenity. 

After some moments, you start to feel that your outer self and your inner self are coming closer, and gradually they are becoming one. Within that oneness, you find the calm.

Taking a pause from life’s rush and run makes you more aware of your inner self.

Present moment awareness:

Say yes to the present. Be mindful at this present moment. This will lead you towards calmness of mind. 

Surrender yourself to the void inside, and try to recreate this present moment with an absolute calmness in the heart. Inhale deeper, and feel the bliss within. 

Say these words to your inner self: “This moment, you are peace. This moment, you are a wave of calmness and serenity. This moment, you are filled with the inner bliss.” 

Thus you will become more aware of the present moment and gradually, you will become calm.

Trust the process:

One of the most beautiful ways to find calm amidst the chaos is trusting the process. Have a little hope in your heart that one day, everything will be fine. Trust the universe, believe in your path. 

Have faith in your inner guide, he will guide you on the right path. 

Things will fall into place certainly. When you surrender yourself to the process and believe in the journey, your stress will be reduced and you will find peace of mind.

Find your zone of bliss:

When you are surrounded by chaos, it’s important to find a zone of serenity in your home. 

If finding a calm zone in your home seems difficult for you, try to seek the zone of peace within your heart. Let your mind travel deeper into the inner bliss. 

Disconnect yourself from the sources where you know you might receive the chaotic vibes and that could lead your inner calm to be interrupted. 

Be still and spend time with your inner self. Let your mind be calm and your soul be healed with the peace within.

Let go and surrender:

Accept the way you are and let go. Relax. Exhale all the negative thoughts. Inhale the calmness of heart. 

It’s obvious to feel anxious or restless because you are surrounded by chaos. But don’t overthink the situation. 

Sit in silence or find a place where you can sit with your inner calmness. 

Surrender yourself to the process and let yourself float with the flow of thoughts. 

Gradually, you will find your thoughts disappearing somewhere and a wave of nothingness filling your mind. The wave is called bliss. It’s the sign that you are embracing the peace within and finding calm amidst the chaos.

Align your thoughts and be still:

When you align your thoughts with the vibrations of the universe, you feel an aura of positivity around you. You start receiving positive vibes from everywhere and that positivity reflects in your own thoughts, thus creating a chain of positivity within your mind. 

This wave of positivity creates absolute peace within your soul. Gradually after some moments of peace, you will become still. 

Within that stillness, your blissful thoughts will reflect the grace of truthfulness. This way, you will find the calmness of mind amidst the chaos around you.

Final Words:

It all starts with the belief that finding calm amidst the chaos is a possible thing. That you can be still in all the chaos around you. That peace is a choice. 

When you choose to be peaceful from within, you will be guided towards the blissful truths of life.

© Swarnali Nath (Rethink Mindful) 

Image Courtesy: Unsplash

For many years, I forgot to look at the mirror of my heart. I saw my reflection in other’s eyes and tried to mould myself in a way the world wished me to have. I forgot to pause, to breathe, to reflect.

Years come, years pass. Like the flowing river, life keeps streaming with its own note of the melody. Whatever be the situation, it keeps flowing and moving ahead and never waits, never stops. It only takes a momentary escape for a while when it meets a piece of object in between the flow. And within that stillness, you can see your reflection in the river.

Transparent, real, and tranquil.

I realized the power of giving:

I found a new purpose to hope for tomorrow:

I realized the need of spreading empathy and kindness:

I realized the power of love:

I started trusting the universe:

I realized the power of now:

“This moment, you are an epitome of love, grace, and bliss. This moment, you are the whisper of silence and a wave of absolute peace. This moment, you are a drop of eternity.“

June has come and we all are preparing to welcome the second half of the year. This time, how about looking at some beautiful quotes on Mindfulness and to live them for a mindful living?

The year of 2020 has been the most unpredictable one for all of us. The world has seen the power of gratitude more than ever. In the walk of life, we do need to be more passionate about the concept of love, empathy and peace. To me, this is the biggest learning of the year 2020. 

It was my beginning of the new journey because I started my studies in Life Coaching, beginning with a Mindfulness course. 

So now I am taking one step closer to mindful living. And tell me what could be the better way than starting the journey with some beautiful quotes on mindfulness?

So, here I am presenting you some of my thoughts on peace of mind:

What you believe you become.

Your mind has the whole route map of your journey. Just have faith on yourself and your ability. Believe that you can and you definitely will. One day, you will be there where you are meant to be.

The moment is leaving you. Collect your treasure now.

This moment has some great power within. This moment holds some treasures for you. Look within, you will certainly have a glimpse of them.

Silence has its own note of melody, happiness and bliss.

Silence is full of melody. It’s singing the song of the soul. Sit in solitude and be calm. You will be gifted with the key to happiness.

Letting go of the past helps you to welcome the present moment with all its glory.

What are you holding on in the past? There is nothing left there. Trust your journey, and move on. Whatever is there, that is waiting for you in the way ahead.

Taking a pause from life’s run and rush makes you more aware about the life itself.

Be mindful at this present moment. This will lead you towards the calmness of mind and you will become more aware of yourself. Who could say, you will find some hidden gems here?

© Swarnali Nath (Rethink Mindful) 

Image Courtesy: Canva

Having a dedicated space for meditation and spending some time with the calmness of mind is very essential these days. 

If you can decorate the space with indoor plants, they will add more beauty and freshness to the space. Let’s know how to create your quiet corner with indoor plants.

Nowadays, being anxious and stressed has become an inevitable part of our life. Whether you are an employee who works at an office, or you are a freelancer and work as per your own choice because you are your own boss, you can’t deny the fact that at times we all feel stressed or anxious.

Even if you are a homemaker or a stay-at-home mom who is working day and night for the sake of her family and trying to figure out what’s going on her mind, at times you can feel directionless and want to spend some time alone.

Therefore, it will be better if you can choose a silent corner of your house and spend some quiet time there. Along with this, you can spend time meditation. 

This will be beneficial for your mental health as well as you will receive peace of mind.

But, if you don’t have a room dedicated to meditation, it might seem difficult to find a quiet corner in your house. However, you can always create your own space of calm. 

All you need is a bit of preparedness before turning your lonely space into your small meditation corner.

For this purpose, if you can buy some indoor plants that help to meditate better, you will have an added benefit. These plants will give you fresh air, and soothing green shades around, and decorate your space more beautiful.

Let’s know how you can create your own meditation space with indoor plants.

Choose a quiet space:

At first, you need to choose a quiet corner in your house. It could be a balcony or a room where you can find some hours to be quiet and reflect.

Also, you can make a corner of your study room your meditation space. All you have to find out the space where you can spend some time without any disturbance, and focus on the introspection or just have some quality time conversing with your inner self.

Points to remember while choosing your quiet corner:

While preparing your space of calm, remember that if you can find a space that has a window nearby or a blank wall, it will be better. 

Also, find a space that is away from any distractions and noise of the business of the city.

Along with this, you can decorate the space with a calming piece of art or a quote of mindfulness. You can keep a statue of Buddha or Ganesha near the space you will meditate. It has a calming effect.

Additionally, choose to make the space color with light shades of color like light green, pale blue, grey, etc. Because vibrant colors could be a cause for distractions while meditating. You can also light up the space using fairy lights or candles.

Why decorate the space with indoor plants:

While creating your meditation space, it will be very helpful for you if you can decorate the space with nice indoor plants. Because indoor plants have many benefits that follow:

• Plants help to purify the air of your room
• They add beauty to the space
• Plants act as a tool for becoming mindful
• Some plants can help you in aromatherapy
• Plants will make the space cool and green

How to choose indoor plants for meditation:

While buying the indoor plants for your meditation space, make sure you can buy the ones that help you to meditate better. For this purpose, you can buy indoor plants like Lucky Bamboo, Jade Plant, Peace Lily, Snake Plant, Basil, etc.

Along with this, you can also buy some plants for having aromatherapy while meditating. For this purpose, you can buy Jasmine or some herbs or scented geraniums for your quiet space.

Things to do before you start meditation:

When you enter your meditation space and start preparing for meditation, you can do some things that will help you stay mindful while meditating.

You can open the window, switch off or turn on the silent mode of your mobile phone, light up the space, burn some scented candles, play some relaxing music, and start breathing.

In this way, you can prepare your mind for meditation before you actually start meditating. 

Along with this, now you have lots of plants in your meditation space. So you can try to sense their smell or feel the pure and fresh air in the space.

Slowly, your mind will stop wandering and you will start reflecting your thoughts in a quieter way.

What we conclude:

Meditation is a much-needed activity these days. Because we live in such a world where there is no single day we spend without being in chaos. 

Whether the chaos is outside or inside, we have become familiar with the chaos because life has become busy with the daily hustle to live.

Therefore, it is a great idea to find some quiet time to reflect on your inner self and contemplate the thoughts of your everyday life. 

If you have plants around you, the space will become a small patch of green where your mind will find peace.

So what plants are you going to buy for your meditation space? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

© Swarnali Nath (Rethink Mindful) 

Image Credit: Pexels