Your mind is powerful. At any age, at any stage.

Ellen Langer, a pioneer researcher in the field of ageing and psychology, found that our mindset of age - how old we feel, the stereotypes about age that we carry - can have a huge impact on our physical cognitive and psychological abilities.

In fact, she found that when men in their 70’s spent just 5 days in an environment set up like 20 years prior, they improved on hearing, memory, grip strength, vision, joint flexibility, manual dexterity, IQ, gait, posture and decreased symptoms of arthritis. They were also rated as looking significantly younger in photos by observers. You can read more about her work here.

The bottom line: what you believe has a huge impact on what you can do.

Aldora’s mindset and anti-ageism series will pull together research in mindfulness, psychology, and holistic health to bring you simple steps to shifting your mind and taking advantage of your amazing power.

This article starts with the basics of mindfulness, which is the first step in harnessing the power of the mind.

Let’s get started.

What is mindfulness?

A simple google search will reveal many different definitions and ways of looking at mindfulness.

This can make it look complicated and like something only “yogis” can do, when in fact it can be simple and easy for everyone, everywhere, anytime.

The key is finding the right definition that resonates with you.

Look at the list below and choose the definition that makes you go “oh, I get it now”.

Mindfullness is:

• Being aware of the present moment

• Noticing your surroundings

• Being fully “awake”

• Feeling connected, like your sense are heightened, and you’re noticing more details around you than you normally would

• Being fully “alert”

• Feeling like your brain is “online”, or firing on “all cylinders”

• Coming out of the fog of moving through life and simply “going through the motions”

• Breaking out of your automatic thoughts and actions

• The difference between driving home and not knowing how you got there, and driving home noticing the feeling of the steering wheel beneath your hands

• A space in time where you felt truly alive

How can I become mindful?

Once again, there are many ways to do this, and many, many books and articles out there that you can read at your leisure.

Aldora’s simple method is to do the following 2 things together:

1. Recruit your body

2. Recruit your mind

We explain how to do each - with options you can pick from - below.

Recruit your body

You need to bring yourself “into” your body. This sounds mystical and confusing. It’s really simple, we promise. All you need to do is use one of your senses, and notice that you’re doing it.

Everyone has a slightly different “best sense” for bringing them into the moment.

For Dr. Liv, it’s vision. When she looks at her palms and thinks what do I see? (the second part of recruiting your mind), she is brought instantly into the moment.

You can try:

1. Vision - look at something closely. Your hands. Your feet. The distant horizon. A candle. A blade of grass. Anything will do. Just look closely.

2. Touch - feel something. The couch beside you. The fabric of your clothes. The leaf of a plant. The fur of your pet. Focus on the sensation.

3. Smell - take a deep inhale and see what smells you can identify. The earthy smell after rain. Food cooking. A flower. Inhale deeply and notice the aroma.

4. Taste - eat something and focus on the flavours in your mouth. A piece of chocolate. Cheese. Yogurt. Kale. It doesn’t matter what you pick. Let the taste resonate.

5. Hear - focus on what’s around you. Identify a noise. Listen carefully. The sound of your air conditioner. The hum of a bee. The whistle of the wind. The rustle of footsteps. Listen intently.

If you’re having trouble “dropping into the moment”, try:

• recruiting two, three, or even all five senses. A common trick is the “5-4-3-2-1 rule”. Find 5 things you can see, 4 you can touch, 3 you can hear, 2 you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste.

• recruiting while you are in nature. Looking at a flower, smelling the rain, or hearing a bird can feel more “awakening” than doing the same with things that are human-made.

Recruit your mind

While mindfulness is often marketed as a state of “no thought”, ignoring our thoughts does not necessarily work, especially when we are just getting started in our mindful journey.

Instead, we have found that actually recruiting your mind to the task at hand can help you drop more effectively into the moment.

All you need to do is give your mind a cue as you recruit your body.

One sentence that gives it an instruction of what you are trying to focus on - in order to bring your “awareness” to it (and out of your own head).

This could look like asking:

1. What do I see?

2. What do I hear?

3. What do I smell?

4. What do I taste?

5. What do I feel? or

6. What is that?

For example, as you look at your hands, say in your mind - what is that?

You will find that suddenly your attention is more focused. You notice the lines on your palm. You notice that you have 5 fingers. You notice you can turn your hands over and back and forth in the air.

This may be enough to bring you into the moment, but if you need more, try:

• take a deep breath in….and out…. and say to your mind (without speaking out loud) “I am here”.

In closing…

• Your mind is powerful.

• You can use this power to your advantage.

• To tap into the mind, you must start with mindfulness.

• This requires recruiting your mind and body into one unit, at one time, in a state of “being in the moment”, or total awareness.

• It may take a few tries to get into it - you’ll get there.

• Continue learning more about mindset and anti-ageism with aldora.

Disclaimer: The content on Aldora Health is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. For more read our Terms of Use.