How to Live Mindfully, 18 Mindfulness Quotes for Inspiration
Who doesn’t love a good inspirational quote?! They cause you to pause, think, and reflect. They may even inspire you to make new goals, inspire new ways of thinking and living, and improve your life. Being more mindful can improve all aspects of your life and health. And for this reason, I was inspired to share 18 Mindfulness Quotes for Inspiration to Help You Live Mindfully.
There are six mindfulness quotes to inspire healthy living, six to encourage healthy eating, and six mindfulness quotes to inspire travel.
What is Mindfulness?
Before we get to the quotes, it is essential to understand mindfulness. According to mindful.org, “mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.” Mindfulness takes practice every day.
Benefits of Mindfulness
Mindfulness has impressive benefits. It helps with stress reduction, trains your body to perform at the highest level, boosts creativity, and strengthens your neural pathways increasing concentration and awareness. It can also help maintain healthy eating and healthy personal and professional relationships.
How to Practice Mindfulness
There are many ways to practice mindfulness. Here are a few!
- Breathing exercises – These exercises help bring awareness to where you are by focusing your attention on your breathing.
- Mindful stretching – While stretching using mindfulness, you focus only on your breathing and how your body feels. Try to focus only on those two things and avoid other distracting thoughts.
- Meditation – Specifically, mindful meditation focuses on breathing while seated still for 10 to 30 minutes.
- Mindful Eating – Practicing mindful eating focuses on eating consciously to eat enough to be satisfied without overeating or eating too little.
Mindfulness Quotes to Inspire Healthy Living
“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, and not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” – Buddha
Living in the moment is the key to enjoying life. It allows us to be fully present with our loved ones, improving our relationships. It is easy to be worried about the future or upset about things that happened in the past. But when we are not focused on the present moment, we may be missing out on moments we may never get back.
“Notice when negative thoughts about yourself or your body come into your awareness. Don’t react to them. Instead, you can take note of their presence and let them float right by you.” – Dr. Susan Albers
In the book, Eating Mindfully, Dr. Susan Albers talks about how having painful past experiences about weight or food can cause negative feelings or thoughts to arise. And these negative thoughts can affect how we feel today and affect our eating patterns. To prevent dwelling on these thoughts, imagine them like leaves floating down a stream and let them float by you.
“Your body is precious. It is your vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care…To keep the body in good health is a duty…otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” – Buddha
This quote is such a great reminder to treat our bodies in the best way possible. Our bodies deserve to feel the best by remembering to move daily, eat nutritiously, drink enough water, get enough sleep, and get regular physicals, amongst many other healthy habits. When our bodies are healthy, this helps us thrive in all other aspects of our lives, such as in school, careers, and relationships.
“Fall down seven times, get up eight.” – Zen Proverb
This Zen proverb reminds us never to give up. Whatever your goals are, it may take time to achieve them, or you may even have multiple failures before reaching your goals. Some of the world’s most outstanding entrepreneurs and leaders did not achieve their goals on the first try. So, you should not give up either.
“He is able who thinks he is able.” – Buddha
The power of the mind is strong. When you believe you can do something, then it is possible. Dream big!
“Mindfulness means being awake. It means knowing what you are doing.” Jon Kabat-Zinn
One of the first steps to being more mindful is awareness. Sometimes it can be easy to zone out during activities we do every day. But remembering to be fully present helps to stay in tune with our bodies and our needs.
Mindfulness Quotes to Inspire Healthy Eating
“One should eat to live, not live to eat” – Benjamin Franklin
This quote by Benjamin Franklin reminds us that food is nourishment! Food also gives us energy and allows our bodies to stay active and healthy. Food is life!
“You can’t change the past or control the future, but you can impact what you are eating right now.” – Dr. Susan Albers
Remembering to be mindful of the present time helps us make healthy choices. Instead of thinking about things we should have done or thinking in the future or putting off making healthy changes for next week, make changes right now.
“When walking, walk. When eating, eat.” – Zen Proverb
While multitasking is a common practice in today’s fast-paced society, focusing on one task at a time allows our minds to function at the highest level. For example, mindful eating works best when focusing on eating only. In addition, distractions such as watching TV can prevent us from realizing when we are full and lead to overeating.
“Before eating, always take time to thank the food.” – Arapaho proverb
Being grateful is one of the steps to being more mindful. Try thinking of at least five things that you are thankful for every day, including the delicious, healthy food you get to eat.
“Progress, not perfection.” – Dr. Susan Albers
I love this simple yet important concept. So often, we are constantly grasping for perfection instead of noticing the fantastic progress we have made. Stop to see your progress, no matter how small it may seem. Are you eating more vegetables? Eating more mindfully? Are you exercising more than you were before? Making small changes can have a considerable impact on your health.
“Eat to be content. Work toward a middle ground between the eating extremes – being not full or starving, just okay. Aim to feel content.” – Dr. Susan Albers
Eating to be content rather than overly full is another vital concept for mindful eating and feeling healthy. Learn to feel your hunger and fullness and aim to eat until you feel satisfied.
According to Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, the authors of Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that Works, try to pause in the middle of the meal and assess your fullness level. For example, on the hunger scale of 1 = ravenous to 9 = stuffed, 10 = feeling sick from overeating, you should aim for 6-7 = feeling satisfied and content.
Mindfulness Quotes to Inspire Travel
“Looking at beauty in the world, is the first step of purifying the mind.” – Amit Ray
Don’t you love looking at a beautiful sunset or a view of the mountains? Being out in nature and exploring this beautiful world of ours really brings calmness to the mind. It really makes you appreciate this amazing planet.
“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller. – Ibn Battuta
Travel is one of the reasons why I wanted to start writing. To tell the stories about the people I meet and the extraordinary places to see in my own country and the world. It would be selfish not to share the things I have experienced, and I hope to inspire others by sharing my travel stories.
“People don’t take trips, trips take people. – John Steinbeck
This quote I believe refers to having a plan and itinerary for a trip, but the plans can change. Being flexible while you are traveling and being in the moment can allow for amazing things and experiences to unfold.
Having an idea and some plans of things to do can be a starting place but allow for some room to explore. Because you never know what you may come across. It may be even better than what you had planned.
“To wander is to be alive.” – Roman Payne
Probably one of my favorite ways to travel is wandering around a new city. So maybe that’s why I came up with Nosh Nourish WANDER! Wandering allows for exploration, adventure, the unexpected, and it truly can be exciting, making you feel alive!
“Only one who wanders finds new paths.” – Norwegian proverb
This Norwegian quote goes along with the previous quote by Roman Payne. To wander is to explore. And when you explore, you may find new places and paths to travel. Even in your own town. You do not have to wander far to find a new path.
“Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.” – Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama quote is encouraging us to travel somewhere new every year. Going somewhere new expands our perceptions and helps broaden our understanding of the world.
Conclusion
In conclusion, mindfulness takes practice and time, but can truly make improvements to your health. These mindfulness quotes can help to inspire healthy changes and spark adventure and travel. What are some of your favorite mindfulness quotes? And, how do you practice mindfulness? Share your quotes and mindfulness practices in the comments below!
More Posts to Check out
To learn more about using mindfulness to improve your relationship with food, check out this post, Intuitive Eating Vs Mindful Eating: What is the Difference?
Also, check out some of my other posts such as Nutrient-Dense Foods: Top 15 Foods and 7 Things to Do in Germany!
