I’ve talked about many different approaches to understanding mindfulness.  However, maybe these ideas just haven’t resonated with you yet.  That’s perfectly okay, everyone have different preferences.  That’s what makes us unique and human.  But what if I told you that there’s another way to connect mindfulness to your everyday life?

That’s right folks, there is yet another way.  I’m talking about minimalism.  Some of you may be familiar with the term, and others not so much, but thats okay!  Today I will be breaking down what minimalism is and explaining how its practices can relate to mindfulness.  Then I will be referencing another source’s minimalist mindfulness challenge, explaining how it works and the different activities involved.

In the words of Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, minimalism is, “a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favor of focusing on what’s important—so you can find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom.”  Many of these components are similar to mindfulness.  First of all, excess distractions cause us to not focus at the task at hand.  In these circumstances we are not being mindful of our actions.  I’ve mentioned this before in reference to multitasking.  By using minimalism to weed out excess distractions, we can become more mindful.  Mindfulness is also about focus.  Focus is also mentioned in the definition of minimalism.  We could argue that by focusing on what’s important we are being mindful of our values, which is very important to our mental and spiritual well being.  The one thing I’d really like to focus on from this definition is freedom.  Minimalism really capitalizes on freedom.  When you let the unnecessary things go, whether it be possessions or habits, you allow the rest of your life to fall into place.  This can be a freeing feeling, very similar to the freeing feeling you get from meditating or living in the present moment.  I think that once you connect all of these ideas together, that’s when you find the happiness and fulfillment.

From here I’d like to discuss the minimalist mindfulness challenge and how we can seamlessly incorporate minimalism and mindfulness into our everyday lives.

The thirty day challenge was created by Anuschka Rees.  Many of these minimalism challenges directly relate to mindfulness.

One of them is staying offline for a day.  This allows you to eliminate multitasking.  Think about how many times you’re on the computer while doing something else.  Probably a lot right? By staying offline you would be able to be more focused at the task at hand.

One of the challenges is to actually meditate for fifteen minutes.  This just proves that mindfulness and minimalism go hand in hand.  Getting rid of the clutter in your mind can motivate you to get rid of the physical clutter in your life and vice versa.

One of the challenges is about identifying your priorities.  As I’ve mentioned before, when you narrow down what’s important you can more easily eliminate distractions.  This is certainly important when it comes to mindfulness.

A couple other challenges are about cleaning out various areas of your home.  Again this relates to the clutter concept.  Cleaning out the clutter in your home will allow you to be more mindful.

Practicing single tasking is also part of this challenge.  By now I’m pretty sure it goes without saying that this is a huge part of mindfulness.

There’s also a challenge to go on a mindful walk.  This can really help to clear your head, which is beneficial for both mindfulness and minimalism.

There’s even a challenge to practice gratitude.  Gratitude is an important part of mindfulness as well.  Being grateful for what you have can really put you in a better mood, and put some of your anxieties in perspective.

Leaving a whole day unplanned is another suggestion.  This could be a great way to just live in the present moment and not worry about what’s going to happen next.  I know I find this very difficult, and I’m sure many others feel the same.

These are some of the many different challenges available on the thirty day mindful minimalist challenge.  It’s a great opportunity to try and link the concepts together.  I hope this has inspired you to take a stab at both mindfulness and minimalism.

Have you ever tried minimalism? What do you think of these ideas?  Let me know in the comments!

Remember: Everyone starts out as a beginner, if they can do it then so can you.

Mindful Musings

A mental health journey through mindfulness.