Photo Courtesy of atlantablackstar.com
Mindfulness is about balance, awareness, and intentionality. Mindful living involves incorporating sensibility to intentionally live a fulfilling and balanced life. With that in mind, there’s no wonder that mindful living has the potential to enhance your marriage. Here are 4 ways that you can institute mindfulness into your life, and thus, your marriage.
1. Establish Dinner Time
We all know how chaotic daily life can be. Establishing a dinner time and sitting down to share a meal with your spouse is a way of decompressing. It provides an opportunity to relax, spend quality time discussing the day, and time to just enjoy one another’s company. More importantly, it ensures that quality time spent focused solely on your spouse happens on a daily basis. Also, it’s a small tradition that you and your family will look forward to at the end of each day.
2. Exercise
When stressing the importance of staying physically active, I often am countered with “I’m just too tired to exercise.” Every time I hear this, I want to exclaim, “That’s the point!” Our bodies are literally made to move. Newton’s Law, right? A body in motion tends to stay in motion. Fitting in exercise will help to keep you youthful, revitalized, and able to live a fuller life. Exercise also improves quality of life, thus helping you to enjoy your life even more. With regular exercise, you feel better, instead of lethargic, tired, and down. As a busy, full-time mom and wife, I’m often asked how I can even muster the energy to exercise. I am always pleased to say that, they’ve got it all wrong, exercise is the reason that I have the energy to perform those roles. Take care of your body, and you’ll be able to live a more fulfilled life with your spouse.
Photo Courtesy of blackamericaweb.com
3. Life Hacks
There’s a lot to be said about incorporating mindful tactics in order to create a better life for you and your spouse. Always feeling rushed or short on time? Get your clothes ready the night before work, instead of in the morning. Spend time preparing lunch or dinner for the week on a Sunday afternoon. Keep a to-do list. Simple methods like this save precious time for busy folks like you that can’t afford to waste it. A wise person once said it best, “Work smarter, not harder.” Trust me, you’ll reap a slew of benefits by simply planning ahead.
Photo Courtesy of blackgirlhealth.com
4. Tidy Up
Studies have proven that clutter causes stress. Ever been in a predicament where you feel stressed, and have absolutely no idea why? Just take a quick look around the room. If your space is cluttered, that could be the reason. Clutter, confusion, mess, strife. Take a few minutes to clean up your surroundings. Isn’t it a welcome, peaceful feeling to have neatness and order? Clean up your space and embrace the feeling of your stress levels going down.
What do you do to create balance in your life? Share your tips for mindful living in the comments!
Angela Souza is a native Clevelander. She is wife to Omari, and mommy to Noah and Ezra. You can catch more of her work at Love Notes by Jazzymae Photography, a blog where she writes about the ins and outs of all things marriage. She also frequently contributes to For Harriet. Angela is a regular contributor for BlackBride.com.
Follow her on Instagram: @its_angiesouza and Twitter: @therealangelans
