After 17 days of participating in Aetna’s Month of Mindfulness 30-day program, I’m already feeling the benefits and super excited to share today’s tip with you!
Are you ready to have fun and be mindful at the same time? Playing forces you to live in the moment. Think of children. They’re always playing — and happier for it.
Today’s Tip: Bust Out A Board Game
Playing is really good for you. According to science it increases our immune cells, helps with creativity and makes you feel more optimistic at home and at work. So take some time today to play with the dog, play a board game with your kids or simply draw a doodle – and be present for the experience.
My husband and kids frequently play board games together and I recently joined them on a game of retro Sorry! It was wonderful for me since it can be hard for me to wind down and not focus on my list of things I need to-do. I was able to be more mindful during the game by making myself fully present to pay attention to the expressions on my kids’ faces and seeing their happiness with the whole family playing. The game allowed me to shift my focus away from my thoughts of things I needed to get done around the house and really live in the moment. We had a great time…and I won! Beginner’s luck, I guess.
The other mindfulness strategy that I recently started was mindful coloring. Ironically, I bought my 11 year-old daughter a mindful coloring book over the holidays called Secret New York: Color Your Way to Calm. I’ve taken my girls on trips to NYC so I thought this would be fun book for her to color since we love New York City. After I got the book, I decided it would be great for me to color in it, too. I have done my mindful coloring before bedtime and find that it really helps me to disconnect from technology and get in a much better state-of-mind for restful sleep. Coloring helps me to be more mindful to slow down my breathing, which then helps me to reduce my stress. It also allows me to be very present and living in the moment. Sometimes I will have one of my daughters do it at the same time so they pick out a picture they want to color and we will be coloring different pictures at the same time. Spending great quality family time together in a mindful way…LOVE IT!
So, break out a board game with the fam or give mindful coloring a try for yourself. There a variety of awesome mindful books you can find at the local bookstore or on Amazon.
Please join me on my mindfulness journey and visit AetnaMindfuless.com to participate and learn more. Have fun and please share your mindfulness experiences on social media using #Mindful30
 This post was sponsored by Aetna, who believes health is about the body and the mind. Stress can affect emotional and physical health, and reducing stress can boost wellbeing. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blogger’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of Aetna. To learn more about stress reduction, visit AetnaMindfulness.com.