We know different people benefit from different mindfulness tools; we also know that we need to practise mindfulness, just as we would practise any competitive sport. This blog shares some of the tools in Ariana’s book (these include reference to a number of people who have shaped her thinking) for your consideration and practise:

1. At the traffic lights, instead of being impatient for the green man, appreciate how the red man gives you a chance to stop, breathe & look around.
2. Unfettered work and play (unitasking as compared to multitasking) should be scheduled. Have “quiet time” at work; that is, set periods in which employees agree to let one another work unfettered. (Leslie Perlow, Professor Harvard Business School)
3. Predictable time off (PTO) — e.g., have a planned night off; no email, no work, no smartphone. (Leslie Perlow, Professor Harvard Business School)
4. Take a few minutes and reflect upon, "What was the very best moment of your day?"
5. Each day for a week, choose a habit (such as brushing your teeth, drinking your morning coffee or eating breakfast) and simply pay attention to what’s happening while you do it. This is taking something we’ve placed on autopilot and putting it back on the list of things we pay attention to. (Mark Williams & Danny Penman)
6. Mindfulness and gratitude: “Intentionally bringing into awareness the tiny, previously unnoticed elements of the day.”
Mark Williams, Oxford Clinical Psychologist "We all have the ability to move from struggle to grace, whatever the challenges we encounter. In the “bubble of grace,” it doesn't mean the everyday things that used to bother, irritate and upset me disappear; they don’t, but they no longer have the power to bother, irritate or upset me. And when the really hard things come our way — death, sickness, loss — we are better able to deal with them instead of being overwhelmed by them. Moving from struggle to grace requires practice and commitment; living in a state of gratitude is the gateway to grace." Ariana Huffington Ariana suggests 10 finger gratitude; that is, at the end of everyday, use each of your fingers and thumbs and count off ten things for which you are grateful. If you can't find ten things, find at least three.
7. When practising mindfulness, if a thought comes, allow it through your mind with no judgment of the thought nor judgment of self in having the thought. Let it pass through like a cloud in the sky.
8. Be curious. Animals are always in the moment, sticking their noses into everything (literally). They see a world that we take for granted; one we’re usually just hurriedly passing through.
9. Create and fully experience essential space, an interval, a gap between things. (The concept of Ma, Japanese aesthetic)
10. Be fully present at the dinner table. "I seriously look forward to the day when the widely accepted practice of having phones anywhere near meals, never mind taking pictures, is looked upon as repugnant as picking one’s nose ...” Kimberly Brooks, Arts Editor, Huffington Post

There are a number of further tools which can be found in the appendices of Ariana Huffington's book, http://thrive.huffingtonpost.com

• www.pocketmindfulness.com
• www.psychologytoday.com/basics/mindfulness
• www.blackdoginstitute.org.au
• www.actmadesimple.com
• www.mindful.org