30 day mindfulness challenge! Try these mindfulness activities and see how it can benefit your health and well being!

For the past 30 days I have been challenging myself and my followers on Instagram and Facebook to try out this 30 day mindfulness challenge. Throughout the challenge I have brought up different actions you can take in a variety of areas of your life to bring mindfulness into your routine. By taking the time to bring awareness toward different areas of your life, you can work toward accepting and moving forward on areas you may be ignoring, continue improving in areas that may be aren't benefiting you as much as you'd like, decrease critizing, judging behavior and promote loving-kindness toward yourself and others, as well as bring awareness to your own health and wellness needs. This has the potential to help you reach your health, nutrition, and wellness goals just by bringing awareness throughout our vastly "auto-pilot" lifestyles. I have compiled links to all 30 videos within this blog post and short summaries to go with them if you would like to take the challenges at your own pace! I'd love to hear your comments, experiences, or any questions you may have! Also if you would like to begin working on your nutrition and health goals with some assistance feel free to schedule your appointment on our packages and scheduling page https://dancesportdietitian.com/packages-and-scheduling/ or give us a call at 520-230-2636.Hope you enjoy incorporating some of these mindful activities into your life!Day 1 or my 30 day mindfulness challenge! I challenge you to join me and become more aware of yourself and your body in order to begin improving your overall health and well being! What can you do to bring awareness to your body and really explore what your body needs! Day 1 of 30 mindfulness challenge videoDay 2 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 1 experience (sharing yours if you jump in!), answering some questions, and discussing day 2's challenge! I challenge you to incorporate mindful eating into at least one of your meals! Take the time to notice how your food tastes, how it smells, the textures, maybe the emotions that are brought on by your food. Take the chance to set a place setting for yourself, eliminate distractions, create a positive mood and allow yourself to reset during this time and appreciate your meal! Day 2 of 30 day Mindfulness challenge video-mindful eatingDay 3 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 2 experience (sharing yours if you jump in!), answering and discussing day 3s challenge! Taking mindful eating to the next level! Are you eating due to physical hunger or emotional hunger? How can you identify these differences and what may be leading to your emotional hunger? Check out the video to hear more! Day 3 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- identifying physical vs emotional hungerDay 4 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 3 experience (sharing yours if you jump in!), answering and discussing day 4s challenge! Taking physical vs emotional hunger to the next level! Let's act on the awareness of whether we are emotionally vs physically hungry! Make the commitment when you are physically hungry to eat something that will satisfy that hunger and your body's needs! If you are emotionally hungry, is there a better choice you can make to satisfy that emotional trigger or is food maybe the answer at this point?  Explore this without judgement and see if you can work toward making healthier choices!Day 4 of 30 day Mindfulness challenge video- Taking action once you've identified physical vs emotional hungerDay 5 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 4 experience (sharing yours if you jump in!), answering and discussing day 5s challenge! Bring mindful awareness to where your focus goes throughout the day. What percentage of your focus goes toward food? what about work? what about making judgments toward other? How can an imbalance in your focus maybe require a readjustment to improve your health? Check out the video to find out more:Day 5 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- where is focus and energy going throughout the day?Day 6 and 7 (two in one) of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 5 experiences (sharing yours if you jump in!), answering questions and discussing day 6 and 7s challenge! Day 6- how am I interacting with or responding to others? Bringing mindful awareness to whether we are taking the chance to smile at someone else, have a conversation? are we judging or questioning motives? How am I responding to others- take the time to notice this without judgement. Day 7s challenge- take the time to pay attention to your surroundings! We so easily get wrapped up in our social media, phones, etc. take the time to notice the trees, the weather, where you are in relation to others, not ignoring a kind gesture because of lack of awareness. Take the time to add this awareness to this world outside of your own little bubble and see what you find. Check out the video to find out more!: Day 6 and 7 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video-bringing mindful awareness to your interactions with others and what is going on around you!Day 8 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 6 and 7 experiences (sharing yours if you jump in!), answering questions and discussing day 8s challenge! What are our emotional responses to others and our environment and are they useful responses or do some of these need to change in order to improve our emotional and physical health on a daily basis? Check out the video to find out more: Day 8 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- what are your emotional responses to your interactions with others and the environment?Day 9 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 8 experiences (sharing yours if you jump in!), answering questions and discussing day 9s challenge. How often are you focusing and nitpicking your body and the bodies of others? Are you spending time focusing on any positives about your body? Exploring body image can be a tough topic, but bringing mindful awareness toward this can help us begin to combat this negativity, love our bodies are become healthier emotionally and physically! Check out the video to find out more: Day 9 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- mindful awareness of body imageDay 10 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 9 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 10s challenge. What can you do to adjust your negative body image statements to positive ones so you can start accepting your body and improve your emotional and in turn physical health? Check out the video to find out more: Day 10 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- changing negative body image statements to positive thoughts and statementsDay 11 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 10 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 11s challenge! Day 11 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! How can being mindful while grocery shopping help you make better choices and even possibly save you some money? Day 11 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- Mindful grocery shopping!Day 12 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 11 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 12 challenge. How can you change your experience of inevitable stress or antsiness while waiting in line to a positive, mindful experience to become aware of your emotions and what is going on around you or take the time to check back in with yourself and take action to adjust those negative emotions? Day 12 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- bring mindfulness to your time spent waiting in lineDay 13 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 12 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 13s challenge! Are you going to react or respond today? This challenge focuses on bringing mindful awareness to situations where you are likely to react in, many times, an unfavorable way that results in you feeling guilty or sorry later on, or making a situation worse than it may have actually been. By taking this time to bring mindful awareness to the situation you are allowing yourself to separate enough from the situation to respond and determine if you reaction is the route you want to take or is there a response that may be more favorable to you? Check out the video to explore this more: Day 13 of 30 day mindfulness challenge- reacting vs respondingDay 14 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 13 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 14’s challenge). What causes you anxiety throughout your day and what is your way of physically manifesting that anxiety? Explore this topic with our day 14 video: Day 14 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- What causes your anxiety and how do you physically manifest it?Day 15 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 14 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 15’s challenge. Once you identify what causes you anxiety throughout your day and what is your way of physically manifesting that anxiety, how do you own this anxiety and not judge yourself for it, or identify if there is an aspect of It you can address to reduce your anxiety? Check out the video for more info: Day 15 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- Owning your anxiety without judgment and maybe making a change!Day 16 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 15 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 16’s challenge. Taking a fresh perspective. There are so many things that are a part of our daily lives that we don’t pay much attention to, but by taking the time to bring awareness to these daily items it can put a fresh perspective on our daily lives and challenge us to then shift that awareness back to our own habits and actions. Day 16 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- taking a fresh perspective on our day to day habitsDay 17 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 16 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 17’s challenge.There is a big part of mindfulness described as loving kindness. This action or emotion is one that plays a crucial roll in how we respect and honor our own health and well being as well as those around us. Check out the video to explore: Day 17 of 30 day Mindfulness challenge- Using mindfulness to incorporate loving-kindness into our livesDay 18 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 17 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 18’s challenge. Yesterday we focused on applying loving-kindness toward ourselves and today we will discussing expressing that loving-kindness outward toward others. Check it out!: Day 18 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- expressing loving-kindness toward others!Day 19 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 18 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 19s challenge. In honor of it being October Friday the 13th, I want to challenge you to bring your mindful attention to fears in your life. How do these fears differ from anxiety? Are they logical or illogical fear and how are they affecting our every day health? Check out the video for more info: Day 19 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- Bringing mindful awareness to your fearsDay 20 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 19 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 20s challenge. To expand on yesterday’s concept of fear, what fears were you able to identify that you could actively work to shift away from being a fear? Were you able to identify an “irrational fear” and accept it? What can you identify that you can do to eliminate that fear from being a road block in your life? Check out the video to explore further: Day 20 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video: Identifying and eliminating the road blocks of irrational fearsDay 21 and 22 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 19 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 21 and 22s challenge. For this 2 n 1 challenge I want to focus on a mindfulness practice that delves into some of the basic mindfulness concepts and then explore it one step further. I challenge you for day 21 to find a body scan meditation and take the time to try it even if it’s just once. Allow yourself this time to focus on each individual area of your body throughout the meditation and gently guide your focus back when you inevitably get distracted. For Day 22 I want you to explore your notices and feelings from this body scan and identify what areas of your body were experiencing pain,discomfort, or tension and what you can do to help this areas- bring awareness and act on your health to improve your overall quality of life from this awareness. This more structured mindful challenge is an extension on some earlier challenges but is an important concept in making your health a priority! Day 21 and 22 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- trying out a body scan meditation, taking what you notice and act on it!Day 23 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 21 and 22 experiences (sharing yours if you jump in!), answering questions and discussing day 23s challenge ( video on my fb Page, link in bio on IG). For today’s challenge I want you to explore your mindful awareness of social norms. What social norms actively effect the decisions and the actions in your day to day lives? Are these social norms even ethical? Are you accepting thoughts and actions that are detrimental to your mental or physical well being? Are there any social norms that affect your day to day lives that maybe have a positive purpose? This discussion is inspired by the ongoing #metoo campaign and to bring awareness how something that may seem to be a social norm can allow us to accept or carry out mistreatment toward others and how these norms can begin to propagate and make actions more acceptable that, as a society, we still consider outside the norm.Day 23 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- bringing mindful awareness to social normsDay 24 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 23 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 24s challenge. For today’s challenge I want you to explore your mindful awareness to the difference between acceptance and indifference. Many times we feel that if we accept something as is that is a form of indifference rather than an acknowledgement of how you are feeling and how things are at that moment and accepting what they are so you can continue moving forward in the situation. Where this differs from indifference is that by separating yourself from the situation and not accepting the emotions and experiences of that moment but only taking the step to separate yourself from the situation does not allow you to complete processing and becomes a lack of awareness rather than an acceptance. Find out more by checking out the video: Day 24 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- exploring indifference vs acceptanceDay 25 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 24 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 25s challenge. For today’s challenge I would like to challenge you to bring mindful awareness to listening. Many times while we are having conversations with others we are so focus on what we are going to say next or focus on what we have to get done that day that we don’t take the time to actually listen to what others have to say. This can prevent you from developing relationships (business or social) with others and give off the notion that you have no respect for what the other person is saying. By being mindfulness of listening it can allow you to more actively engage in conversation, decrease the frequency of ideas being misconstrued from only hearing half of what someone said, can truly improve your relationships with others, and maybe even benefit your health if you are mindfully listening to your practioner. Find out more using the link: Day 25 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- mindful listeningDay 26 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 25 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 26s challenge. For today’s challenge I would like to challenge you to bring mindful awareness into eating your meals out at restaurants. While eating mindfully on your own or surrounded with others performing similar practices may be a slightly easier task, eating dinner out mindfully brings in a whole different set of experiences. To still incorporate mindful eating into your meal out without causing an awkward or uncomfortable social environment there are a couple different, less apparent ways to still bring mindfulness to your meal. #1 be aware of the environment and what emotions does it evoke? Is the restaurant too busy and causing high stress or anxiety or is it a calm environment with pleasant mood music and lighting? #2 when you get your meal take the time to take in the smells, tastes, textures, visual presentation, and emotional connections of your meal, maybe even share a thought with the person you are eating with. Allow yourself throughout the meal to continue conversation normally but when you have a free moment bring the attention to the enjoyment of your food. #3 put your fork down in between bites! If you notice yourself rushing, pause and maybe bring up a conversation topic with the person across the table #4 still pay attention to hunger and satiety cues. Am I tempted to finish this whole plate because it’s in front of me and tasty or because I’m actually hungry? These are just a few ideas and I challenge you to explore more ways as to be mindful while out at a meal and still maintaining a fun, light hearted social environment! Day 26 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- mindful eating out at restaurants or social eventsDay 27 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 26 experiences, answering questions and discussing day 27s challenge. For today’s challenge I would like to challenge you to bring mindful awareness to your morning routine. So many times we autopilot through our mornings, dragging ourselves through and sometimes not even remembering if we did some of our activities (e.g. brushing your teeth, putting on deodorant, etc) or if we were remembering the day before. This happens so often to so many of us (especially before that morning cup of coffee) that we miss out on our experiences during that part of the day. Take the time to bring awareness to each of your morning tasks, does anything vary on a day to day basis? Is anything exactly the same? What is something that you maybe never noticed before that you probably have begun to do on autopilot? Check out the video to explore further: Day 27 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video-bringing mindfulness to your morning routineDay 28 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 27s experiences, answering questions and discussing day 28s challenge. For today’s challenge I would like to challenge you to bring mindful awareness to meal prep or when you cook in general. How often do many of us find meal prepping a chore so we find the easiest, quickest options and find the most mindless way to cook just to “get it over with?” For those of you who enjoy cooking or meal prepping do you find that you are mindful while cooking? Are you noticing the smells and tastes while cooking? What emotions are being evoked? How does this mindfulness lead you to fine tune your cooking or allow you to appreciate the food that much more? Explore further: Day 28 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- mindful meal prep/cookingDay 29 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 28s experiences, answering questions and discussing day 29s challenge. For today’s challenge I would like to challenge you to bring mindful awareness to the effect your actions and choices have on the environment. Many times we think, my one choice to not recycle or choose sustainable farmed foods or drive a diesel vehicle won’t have a large effect on out environment or we don’t even think about it. If we were all to bring mindful awareness to these choices and some of us decided that they were detrimental enough to make a change, would we see a change on the effects to our environment? By improving these choice and our environment could we improve our own health by decreasing exposure to harsh environmental toxins or other carcinogens? Check out the video to explore further: Day 29 of 30 day mindfulness challenge video- bringing mindful awareness to the effect your actions and choices have on the environmentDay 30 of my 30 day mindfulness challenge! We are discussing my day 29s experiences, answering questions and discussing day 30s challenge. For today’s challenge I would like to challenge you to go back through the different mindfulness focuses throughout this challenge as well as explore other areas you may be able to be mindful and explore the best times to implement these throughout your day. Take what you have learned from this experience and begin putting mindfulness into your day to day practice where you see fit. Take the time to check in and reset when you get overwhelmed, express loving-kindness, and allow yourself to implement this method of self care- benefit your health and wellness! I am so grateful for all of you who have played a part in this journey and have challenged yourself! Day 30 of 30 day mindfulness challenge- putting it all into action as you see fit!Wishing you all the best in health and wellness,Ricci-Lee Hotz, MS, RDN                                                                                                                                                      Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Owner of A Taste of Health, LLC                                                                                Denver's Dancing Dietitian                                                                                                                                               "Improving Quality of Life One Bite at a Time"