Change your habits to wake up to your experience.

One tool that can help for introducing more mindfulness in your life is just to change day to day things slightly. If you try things just a little bit differently, all of a sudden you might realize that you've been doing it on autopilot all along. Sometimes we realize this when we have an injury, and we have to alter our normal routines because we can't use our hand/foot/neck/back the same way we are used to, but we don't have to injure ourselves to take a lesson from this.

Doing things differently is also one way to develop our neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to re-form itself by creating new connections. This can also help you increase your stamina for doing things you don't normally do, and see the world from a different perspective.

Here are some ideas: (Try implementing one a day, not all at once!)

• Try brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand
• Take a different route to work
• If you have a normal seat at the dinner table, switch it up a little.
• Get off the bus a stop early and walk
• Read a book about something you normally wouldn't
• Listen to a political talk show with an opposing view to yours, and practice breathing and empathizing with the speaker
For more on everyday change you can make to wake up to your everyday experience, visit our other resources on mindfulness.