January 9, 2024 • 13 mins
Prepare to unlock the secrets of mindfulness with me, Dr. Enrico Dolcecore, as I guide you through the transformative power of living in the now. This episode is a treasure trove of practical tips to help you reduce stress, heighten focus, and fully engage with life's simple pleasures—like the ritual of your morning coffee. From the structured guidance of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction to the gentle flow of Tai Chi, we explore a variety of pathways to a mindful existence. I’ll also share how the act of mindful eating can turn an ordinary meal into a sensory journey, and how a few deep breaths can anchor you firmly in the present moment. Join us and discover how these accessible practices can cultivate serenity and clarity in the hustle of daily life.
In the face of relentless economic uncertainties and societal pressures, it's paramount to foster a sense of inner peace and project a vibrant energy to the world around us. This conversation is an invitation to embed mindfulness into your routine, not just as a practice but as a lifestyle. We'll explore how embracing these techniques can enhance your health, reduce static in your life, and amplify your magnetism to others. Whether you're a seasoned practitioner or a curious newcomer, your feedback will help shape a community of mindfulness advocates supporting each other toward a more focused and tranquil existence. So, step into this shared space of growth and let’s begin the collective journey to a calmer being.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to another podcast of Living a Full
Life.
I'm Dr Enrico Dolce Corri andI'll be your host today, and we
are going to go throughmindfulness.
Today we're going to talk abouthow to be more mindful.
What does mindful mean?
How does it impact our lives?
Was it due for us?
Was it due for others?
When we're more mindful?
(00:21):
So mindfulness is really thepractice of being in the moment
and experiencing your body inspace.
So being mindful is actuallycan be a stress reducer.
It can be a static.
It can dissolve static in ourlives.
It can create a lot of focuspoints that help ground us, to
(00:43):
help eliminate stress orminimize it as much as we
possibly can.
Mindfulness, I think, is an artthat has been lost, especially
in the Western world.
We really don't take the timebecause we feel like we just
don't have the time to bemindful.
But yet, if we were to bemindful, we would be able to
calm a lot of things and a lotof the common day stresses that
we have.
So there's a lot of fantasticways to be mindful, and one of
(01:07):
the top ones depends on all yourpreferences on how to be
mindful.
Meditation is probably the mostpopular method and it involves
focusing your attention on apresent moment, often using your
breath, and there's breath worktoo.
But meditation can just be aguided presentation.
(01:29):
There's a great app called Calmthat helps beginners get into
meditation, where they just kindof sit and learn how to just
focus in the moment and try andshut down as many parts of their
brain as they can.
That always ramble throughthoughts.
We're always thinking, we'realways imagining, we're always
doing things through ourthoughts in our head and always
moving our body, called SlowTwitch.
(01:52):
That we do all the time, and someditation can be a great art
to help with that, and thingslike yoga or Tai Chi.
These body mind practicescombine physical movement with
focused breathing, and breathwork in itself can be a stress
reducer as well.
Just being mindful in thebreath, taking a breath as deep
(02:14):
as we possibly can, breathingthat out, gives us just a few
moments to just be focusing onone thing, which is breathing.
So just that in itself, breathwork can be an amazing exercise
to help with being more mindfuland grounded in what we do.
And there's also somethingcalled a structured program
(02:35):
called Mindfulness-Based StressReduction MBSR.
This is group type mindfulnesstechniques that help provide
support and guidance forbuilding a consistent practice
through learning together andgroup type methods, and we've
had people in our office come into help teach about breath work
and relaxation in our officeand then they do that in groups
(02:58):
as well.
It's been fantastic.
I learned a lot through that aswell.
So those are absolutely greatforms of just getting started.
Formal practices of justbecoming more mindful in the
moment.
If you ever watch Karate Kid orany of these old movies where
they would sit in front of thecandle and just kind of focus,
(03:19):
these are simple exercises Igive to families with kids and
they tell me you know, itdoesn't have to be a candle, we
don't want to burn down thehouse, but it can be anything
that we just focus one thing on,maybe a light or an object, and
then we're in a quiet roomwhere we just kind of focus our
attention on looking at that onething, to try and just describe
(03:40):
it mentally and focusing on theone thing describing everything
about it what it looks like,what it's doing, how it's static
.
These things can really helpwith that.
Informal practices are justfocusing on yourself and I find
these to be the most effectiveway to practice.
Mindfulness is just doing a bodyscan, just kind of lying down
(04:01):
in bed and just taking a fewminutes to notice and feel every
sensation that you have.
If you're in your PJs, yourtoes are touching the sheets or
the warmth of the blanket orwhat you feel right now, your
digestion, your breath.
Usually it's dark in the roomso your senses are a little bit
limited there.
As far as vision, what you hear, just doing a little bit of a
(04:25):
body scan, quietly, to justnotice physical sensation,
there's one called the fivesenses exercise as well, where
you pay close attention tosensory experiences during
everyday activities, focusing onwhat you see, what you hear,
what you smell, taste and touch,for example, you know, really
savoring your morning coffee orappreciating the sounds of
(04:47):
nature on a walk.
These, I think, are morepractical things and the way we
live our lives is like when wego for a walk with the dog, to
just taking a moment to justenjoy the breeze, enjoy, you
know, the flowers, whatever itis that we're walking by, the
nature of the birds, whatever itis that are walking by or
flying by, and enjoying that,just practicing our senses in
(05:10):
nature as well.
Another exercise which is greatmindful eating, where we can
use tasks during the day likebreathing.
We all have to breathe, sotaking a moment to focus on
breathing is great.
We all have to eat, so taking amoment on eating is absolutely
fantastic as well.
Just eat slowly and deliberately.
We use these exercises witheating to help with mastication
(05:33):
and TMJ issues as well.
So there's a practical thingwith this to trying to chew food
on both sides of the mouthequally, instead of eating on
one side and then moving it tothe other side and then
swallowing.
Trying to divide the food intotwo on both sides and masticate
each side equally.
That's that's a great task andit's great for the jaw as well.
But but while you're doing this, you can focus on the taste,
(05:56):
the texture, the aroma Sensation.
You chew thoughtfully and avoiddistractions to fully enjoy the
experience of the food.
This can be as simple as justeating your chicken and
vegetables that night, or evendoing it at A five-star
restaurant that food as well.
Whatever may be, but doing itdeliberately is what makes it
(06:19):
mindful, and it's just what agreat habit is, just a good way
to eat slowly and eating yourfood quietly and chewing it and
not scarfing it down like ahorse.
That's, that's a great way to.
We talked about breathing, butthroughout the day, take a few
moments to pause and focus yourbreath, observing its natural
rhythm and letting go of worriesor distracting thoughts.
(06:41):
So, during the breathing, toalso kind of let go of things,
because sometimes, just when youfocus on the breath, you still
got thoughts going through yourhead.
So, not just focusing on thebreath inhaling and exhaling but
letting go of those thoughtsand then bringing it to your
body, trying to expand your,your ribcage as you breathe,
(07:01):
trying to keep that moment, thatmotion going while keeping your
body still.
These things you can do it in aseated position in front of the
desk, you can do it standing,you can do it lying down,
doesn't matter either way.
It's just mindful to thinkabout how you breathe in and out
.
So start small and be consistentwith all this.
That's, that's the key.
If you're gonna do, you know,60 seconds every day.
Just put aside one minute everyday to do this, whether it's
(07:24):
through chewing your food,whether it's through breathing,
whether it's through meditation,whether it's through stretching
or yoga, whatever may be, startand become consistent.
This is a great time of theyear to create new habits,
because everyone's on the samepage.
Begin with just a few minutesof practice each day and
Gradually just increase as youfeel comfortable.
Consistency is key to buildingand maintaining a mindful habit.
(07:46):
Be kind to yourself.
You know I Don't getdiscouraged if you're mind
wanders or you get caught up inthoughts.
I remember when I startedtesting meditation and trying to
learn and starting to do it, itwas ridiculously frustrating at
the very beginning to do itActually later on.
At the very beginning, I didn'tknow what I was doing, so I
(08:08):
thought I was doing a good job.
Then, when you start to learnthe little things, you're like,
oh my gosh, how many thoughtswere going through my head.
That's not meditation at all.
I thought, because I was justsitting still for 10 minutes,
that I did a great job, but allthe thoughts that were going
through my head I was like, ohmy gosh, I didn't focus on
anything.
So then, at that point, when Iwas able to understand what it
is to just be still, it was 100%frustrating, just completely
(08:31):
frustrating, because I couldn'tstop thinking it was impossible.
I don't ever think I did thislong enough and I was just
months.
I was practicing this daily asfour kids, where I don't think I
got to the point where nothoughts were going through my
head.
I don't think I got to thatpoint, which is considered an
advanced level of meditation orthought to not be able to be
focusing on any thoughts.
I don't think.
(08:52):
I don't think I went fiveseconds.
So you got to set your goal.
You got to set the bar low whenyou're learning until you can
slowly move it up If you want toget to that level.
But just being consistent andbe kind, don't get discouraged.
If you get caught up in yourthoughts, it's natural.
Just gently bring yourattention back to the present
moment without judgment that'sthe best way and just restart
(09:15):
and make it enjoyable.
This doesn't have to be from abook or a program or anything
that's super serious.
It's just explore differentmindful activities to find what
resonates with you and evenconnect with others.
There's groups and onlinesupport and Facebook groups and
a whole bunch of stuff out therewhere you can learn more about
being mindful.
It's not a remember.
Mindfulness is a practice.
(09:36):
It's not something you're goingto get to.
It's not a destination.
There is no final goal withthis.
I just think each and every oneof us what I've learned over my
entire career which is 17 years,by the way and life is that we
need to be more mindful.
All of us just need to be moremindful.
It's because we get sodistracted with all the static
(09:56):
and all the things that we needto do that we lose ground, get
irritated, get frustrated, loseour emotions, lose our tempers,
are unkind to others, and thenthese are the cascading effects
of not being mindful.
Hence why I wanted to do thispodcast.
I think it's just helpful to bemore mindful.
So it only helps with stress,with anxiety, with getting
(10:19):
better sleep, and when youbecome mindful, you realize all
the little things that youstress about.
Most of them are just not thatimportant.
That's what that's the result ofbeing, because mindfulness
leads to gratitude, andgratitude becomes very simple.
Gratitude becomes the simplestthings Thank you for being able
to eat, sleep and have a roofover your head.
(10:43):
Really, the basics is what youbecome very thankful for, and
then you can be thankful foreverything else that's on top of
that.
So mindfulness leads togratefulness and they're all
into the same, and when peoplemarch that type of tone, they're
just more kind, they're moreunderstanding.
They're also more magnetic.
These people become moremagnetic and if you're a parent,
(11:04):
you want to become as magneticas possible to your kids.
You want to be the role modeland a leader for as long as you
possibly can in their life.
They always should be able toturn back to you, and that
happens by being stoic, ithappens by being mindful,
happens by being gratefulbecause you're open to more
(11:25):
people.
The more static you create inyour own life, the harder it is
to attract other people.
You lose that magnetism toother people.
So, yeah, this year is going tobe a little bit different.
We're going to elevate peoplethis year with their health and
their vitality and trying to getthem to a higher frequency,
vibrancy, whatever it is thatyou follow.
As far as your health paradigm,it's about being mindful and
(11:47):
reducing the stress.
It's, it has been a stressfulyear, you know.
Last year it's going to beanother stressful year,
unfortunately, with economic andfinancial stuff that's going on
for everyone.
That's infected, you know,affected.
But this is, the cost of lifehas gone up.
So that's why I thought apodcast like this could be
useful.
So try mindfulness, whateverthat means to you, whatever way.
(12:07):
That sounded good there.
I just gave you the simplestforms of being mindful.
But, and then let me know, sendus some comments, respond back
to us, let us know one way oranother, through social media or
responding to the podcastitself and let's know what you
try, what you learn, what youget from, what worked for you.
Maybe we can get enoughresponses so that we can help
people guide them to the most.
(12:29):
Maybe it is the breath workthat was the most effective, or
whatever it may be, so I'd loveto hear more about your journey
through mindfulness.
Have a fantastic week and we'llcatch you, just like every
single week here, on living afull life.
Hello and welcome to another podcast of Living a Full
Life.
I'm Dr Enrico Dolce Corri andI'll be your host today, and we
are going to go throughmindfulness.
Today we're going to talk abouthow to be more mindful.
What does mindful mean?
How does it impact our lives?
Was it due for us?
Was it due for others?
When we're more mindful?
(00:21):
So mindfulness is really thepractice of being in the moment
and experiencing your body inspace.
So being mindful is actuallycan be a stress reducer.
It can be a static.
It can dissolve static in ourlives.
It can create a lot of focuspoints that help ground us, to
(00:43):
help eliminate stress orminimize it as much as we
possibly can.
Mindfulness, I think, is an artthat has been lost, especially
in the Western world.
We really don't take the timebecause we feel like we just
don't have the time to bemindful.
But yet, if we were to bemindful, we would be able to
calm a lot of things and a lotof the common day stresses that
we have.
So there's a lot of fantasticways to be mindful, and one of
(01:07):
the top ones depends on all yourpreferences on how to be
mindful.
Meditation is probably the mostpopular method and it involves
focusing your attention on apresent moment, often using your
breath, and there's breath worktoo.
But meditation can just be aguided presentation.
(01:29):
There's a great app called Calmthat helps beginners get into
meditation, where they just kindof sit and learn how to just
focus in the moment and try andshut down as many parts of their
brain as they can.
That always ramble throughthoughts.
We're always thinking, we'realways imagining, we're always
doing things through ourthoughts in our head and always
moving our body, called SlowTwitch.
(01:52):
That we do all the time, and someditation can be a great art
to help with that, and thingslike yoga or Tai Chi.
These body mind practicescombine physical movement with
focused breathing, and breathwork in itself can be a stress
reducer as well.
Just being mindful in thebreath, taking a breath as deep
(02:14):
as we possibly can, breathingthat out, gives us just a few
moments to just be focusing onone thing, which is breathing.
So just that in itself, breathwork can be an amazing exercise
to help with being more mindfuland grounded in what we do.
And there's also somethingcalled a structured program
(02:35):
called Mindfulness-Based StressReduction MBSR.
This is group type mindfulnesstechniques that help provide
support and guidance forbuilding a consistent practice
through learning together andgroup type methods, and we've
had people in our office come into help teach about breath work
and relaxation in our officeand then they do that in groups
(02:58):
as well.
It's been fantastic.
I learned a lot through that aswell.
So those are absolutely greatforms of just getting started.
Formal practices of justbecoming more mindful in the
moment.
If you ever watch Karate Kid orany of these old movies where
they would sit in front of thecandle and just kind of focus,
(03:19):
these are simple exercises Igive to families with kids and
they tell me you know, itdoesn't have to be a candle, we
don't want to burn down thehouse, but it can be anything
that we just focus one thing on,maybe a light or an object, and
then we're in a quiet roomwhere we just kind of focus our
attention on looking at that onething, to try and just describe
(03:40):
it mentally and focusing on theone thing describing everything
about it what it looks like,what it's doing, how it's static
.
These things can really helpwith that.
Informal practices are justfocusing on yourself and I find
these to be the most effectiveway to practice.
Mindfulness is just doing a bodyscan, just kind of lying down
(04:01):
in bed and just taking a fewminutes to notice and feel every
sensation that you have.
If you're in your PJs, yourtoes are touching the sheets or
the warmth of the blanket orwhat you feel right now, your
digestion, your breath.
Usually it's dark in the roomso your senses are a little bit
limited there.
As far as vision, what you hear, just doing a little bit of a
(04:25):
body scan, quietly, to justnotice physical sensation,
there's one called the fivesenses exercise as well, where
you pay close attention tosensory experiences during
everyday activities, focusing onwhat you see, what you hear,
what you smell, taste and touch,for example, you know, really
savoring your morning coffee orappreciating the sounds of
(04:47):
nature on a walk.
These, I think, are morepractical things and the way we
live our lives is like when wego for a walk with the dog, to
just taking a moment to justenjoy the breeze, enjoy, you
know, the flowers, whatever itis that we're walking by, the
nature of the birds, whatever itis that are walking by or
flying by, and enjoying that,just practicing our senses in
(05:10):
nature as well.
Another exercise which is greatmindful eating, where we can
use tasks during the day likebreathing.
We all have to breathe, sotaking a moment to focus on
breathing is great.
We all have to eat, so taking amoment on eating is absolutely
fantastic as well.
Just eat slowly and deliberately.
We use these exercises witheating to help with mastication
(05:33):
and TMJ issues as well.
So there's a practical thingwith this to trying to chew food
on both sides of the mouthequally, instead of eating on
one side and then moving it tothe other side and then
swallowing.
Trying to divide the food intotwo on both sides and masticate
each side equally.
That's that's a great task andit's great for the jaw as well.
But but while you're doing this, you can focus on the taste,
(05:56):
the texture, the aroma Sensation.
You chew thoughtfully and avoiddistractions to fully enjoy the
experience of the food.
This can be as simple as justeating your chicken and
vegetables that night, or evendoing it at A five-star
restaurant that food as well.
Whatever may be, but doing itdeliberately is what makes it
(06:19):
mindful, and it's just what agreat habit is, just a good way
to eat slowly and eating yourfood quietly and chewing it and
not scarfing it down like ahorse.
That's, that's a great way to.
We talked about breathing, butthroughout the day, take a few
moments to pause and focus yourbreath, observing its natural
rhythm and letting go of worriesor distracting thoughts.
(06:41):
So, during the breathing, toalso kind of let go of things,
because sometimes, just when youfocus on the breath, you still
got thoughts going through yourhead.
So, not just focusing on thebreath inhaling and exhaling but
letting go of those thoughtsand then bringing it to your
body, trying to expand your,your ribcage as you breathe,
(07:01):
trying to keep that moment, thatmotion going while keeping your
body still.
These things you can do it in aseated position in front of the
desk, you can do it standing,you can do it lying down,
doesn't matter either way.
It's just mindful to thinkabout how you breathe in and out
.
So start small and be consistentwith all this.
That's, that's the key.
If you're gonna do, you know,60 seconds every day.
Just put aside one minute everyday to do this, whether it's
(07:24):
through chewing your food,whether it's through breathing,
whether it's through meditation,whether it's through stretching
or yoga, whatever may be, startand become consistent.
This is a great time of theyear to create new habits,
because everyone's on the samepage.
Begin with just a few minutesof practice each day and
Gradually just increase as youfeel comfortable.
Consistency is key to buildingand maintaining a mindful habit.
(07:46):
Be kind to yourself.
You know I Don't getdiscouraged if you're mind
wanders or you get caught up inthoughts.
I remember when I startedtesting meditation and trying to
learn and starting to do it, itwas ridiculously frustrating at
the very beginning to do itActually later on.
At the very beginning, I didn'tknow what I was doing, so I
(08:08):
thought I was doing a good job.
Then, when you start to learnthe little things, you're like,
oh my gosh, how many thoughtswere going through my head.
That's not meditation at all.
I thought, because I was justsitting still for 10 minutes,
that I did a great job, but allthe thoughts that were going
through my head I was like, ohmy gosh, I didn't focus on
anything.
So then, at that point, when Iwas able to understand what it
is to just be still, it was 100%frustrating, just completely
(08:31):
frustrating, because I couldn'tstop thinking it was impossible.
I don't ever think I did thislong enough and I was just
months.
I was practicing this daily asfour kids, where I don't think I
got to the point where nothoughts were going through my
head.
I don't think I got to thatpoint, which is considered an
advanced level of meditation orthought to not be able to be
focusing on any thoughts.
I don't think.
(08:52):
I don't think I went fiveseconds.
So you got to set your goal.
You got to set the bar low whenyou're learning until you can
slowly move it up If you want toget to that level.
But just being consistent andbe kind, don't get discouraged.
If you get caught up in yourthoughts, it's natural.
Just gently bring yourattention back to the present
moment without judgment that'sthe best way and just restart
(09:15):
and make it enjoyable.
This doesn't have to be from abook or a program or anything
that's super serious.
It's just explore differentmindful activities to find what
resonates with you and evenconnect with others.
There's groups and onlinesupport and Facebook groups and
a whole bunch of stuff out therewhere you can learn more about
being mindful.
It's not a remember.
Mindfulness is a practice.
(09:36):
It's not something you're goingto get to.
It's not a destination.
There is no final goal withthis.
I just think each and every oneof us what I've learned over my
entire career which is 17 years,by the way and life is that we
need to be more mindful.
All of us just need to be moremindful.
It's because we get sodistracted with all the static
(09:56):
and all the things that we needto do that we lose ground, get
irritated, get frustrated, loseour emotions, lose our tempers,
are unkind to others, and thenthese are the cascading effects
of not being mindful.
Hence why I wanted to do thispodcast.
I think it's just helpful to bemore mindful.
So it only helps with stress,with anxiety, with getting
(10:19):
better sleep, and when youbecome mindful, you realize all
the little things that youstress about.
Most of them are just not thatimportant.
That's what that's the result ofbeing, because mindfulness
leads to gratitude, andgratitude becomes very simple.
Gratitude becomes the simplestthings Thank you for being able
to eat, sleep and have a roofover your head.
(10:43):
Really, the basics is what youbecome very thankful for, and
then you can be thankful foreverything else that's on top of
that.
So mindfulness leads togratefulness and they're all
into the same, and when peoplemarch that type of tone, they're
just more kind, they're moreunderstanding.
They're also more magnetic.
These people become moremagnetic and if you're a parent,
(11:04):
you want to become as magneticas possible to your kids.
You want to be the role modeland a leader for as long as you
possibly can in their life.
They always should be able toturn back to you, and that
happens by being stoic, ithappens by being mindful,
happens by being gratefulbecause you're open to more
(11:25):
people.
The more static you create inyour own life, the harder it is
to attract other people.
You lose that magnetism toother people.
So, yeah, this year is going tobe a little bit different.
We're going to elevate peoplethis year with their health and
their vitality and trying to getthem to a higher frequency,
vibrancy, whatever it is thatyou follow.
As far as your health paradigm,it's about being mindful and
(11:47):
reducing the stress.
It's, it has been a stressfulyear, you know.
Last year it's going to beanother stressful year,
unfortunately, with economic andfinancial stuff that's going on
for everyone.
That's infected, you know,affected.
But this is, the cost of lifehas gone up.
So that's why I thought apodcast like this could be
useful.
So try mindfulness, whateverthat means to you, whatever way.
(12:07):
That sounded good there.
I just gave you the simplestforms of being mindful.
But, and then let me know, sendus some comments, respond back
to us, let us know one way oranother, through social media or
responding to the podcastitself and let's know what you
try, what you learn, what youget from, what worked for you.
Maybe we can get enoughresponses so that we can help
people guide them to the most.
(12:29):
Maybe it is the breath workthat was the most effective, or
whatever it may be, so I'd loveto hear more about your journey
through mindfulness.
Have a fantastic week and we'llcatch you, just like every
single week here, on living afull life.
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