How to Make Your Reading Time a Mindful Experience

Need the time to care for yourself? What if you could enhance the time you’re already spending reading and make THAT into a self-care practice?

In today's episode, I offer some tips and give you some examples of how to make your reading time a mindful experience!

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Full Show Notes (Transcript)…

Hi there, I'm Stephanie Leopold and I am excited to welcome you to the Readerly Collective Podcast, where bookworms unite and geeking out is highly encouraged. Join me as we explore the world of books in the reading life, celebrating all types of readers and all types of genres. Grab your favorite beverage, cozy up in your reading nook, and let's dive in.

Well hey there, readers. I hope you are having a wonderful day. I hope you're reading some great books. Today, and this whole month of September, we're going to be talking about reading as self care. Now, I know that word, maybe dreaded, S word, self care, gets thrown around a lot today. And I think there is still this idea for some of us that self care needs to take a lot of time. It needs to be a day long spa treatment, bubble baths, massages, manicures, and pedicures, and while that is a very nice way of caring for yourself, it is not just these big moments of pampering. Self care is really about (exactly what it says) caring for yourself and that can be done in very small moments of the day. They can be done in our regular routines. And so I'm here today to talk about, of course, reading as self care. And today specifically, I want to talk about getting the most out of your reading experience by making it a very mindful experience, which feeds into the self care.

We all need self care, care for self, I know, I know, you have heard all the analogies: You have to put on your own oxygen mask first before you help anybody else. You have to fill your own cup before you pour into others, yada, yada, yada. If you're rolling your eyes, I get it. And at the same time, I think those analogies exist because they are true and it is very important if you are depleted mentally, emotionally, physically, you cannot be your best self for others. I am going to give you some tips on how to, what I essentially like to think of as “fill your own cup,” (I'm going to use that analogy) through your reading time and your reading experiences.

Maybe in the past you’ve all heard about self care, you know rationally, it's important, but maybe you just have a hard time implementing it. Maybe you're checking off the boxes. Like self care is just another thing on your to do list that you’ve just got to get through and get done. Maybe that looks like just going through the motions of your day to day life and feeling in a rut, going through it mindlessly rather than mindfully. Both of those things, checking off the boxes, making self care a to do, and going through the motions mindlessly don't fill us up. After today's episode, you are going to have some tips, be able to put them into practice in order to make your reading time a very mindful experience, and hopefully use these tips in other areas of your life when you need to check in with yourself.

So let's get into it! Right off the bat: What is mindfulness? I think that is also a term that gets thrown around a lot. Maybe you have heard of it, but essentially, what being mindful is, is having an intentional focus on something. It's also a way to really engage your senses: sight, touch, hearing. smell, taste. And I think the great thing about mindfulness and practicing mindfulness, when you PRACTICE it, it really becomes this non judgmental, embodied experience. Nothing is right or wrong, this is the experience you are having. This is the feeling or the sensation or the sound or whatever sense you are engaging. This is what you are experiencing. And it's not wrong or right, it's not good or bad, it just is. We're just here for non judgment, which is what I really love about the practice. All of us can benefit from being less judgmental of ourselves. So, , that is what mindfulness is: an intentional focus and it's a way to engage all of your senses in a non judgmental way So, that's really kind of the first thing I wanted to discuss.

The first tip to make your reading time a mindful experience is to PAUSE and NOTICE. If you're sitting on a couch, notice how the cushions feel under your bottom, feeling your feet on the floor, or propped up on the couch. If you're laying in bed, notice how the mattress is supporting your whole body. Just take a moment and really pay attention to how that feels. You can also, if you've got your book or e reader, (we're going to get to audiobooks in a little bit), but if you've got your book or your e reader, notice how that feels in your hands. Is that cool? Is it heavy? If you have a large hardcover book, it might be heavier than if you are reading on an e reader. If you have a print book, what do the pages feel like? What is the paper quality? Listen, if you're a reader, you know, I think I'm preaching to the choir - you know, we're particular about our paper quality! And just notice, what does it feel like turning the pages? If you're on your e reader, what does it feel like? What does it feel like if you've got buttons that you push or if you're just tapping the screen? Notice what that all feels like. Remember, it doesn't have to be any necessarily good or bad label on it. It's just your experience. What does that feel like, and what do you notice?

Next we’re really going to start engaging out other senses. If you have your favorite beverage near you or a snack to eat while you're reading, this is also a really great way to be mindful and engage your senses. So, if you have a delicious cup of coffee, really slow down and notice what that tastes like as you're drinking it. Notice, is it too hot? Is it just right? Is it Goldilocks? Personally, I put creamer in my coffee, so it's like this beautiful, creamy brown color. So you can the color of your drink. What does it smell like? I love the smell of coffee brewing, it is just one of my favorites. So what does it smell like? If you've got the mug in your hand, notice it warming up your hands. This also goes for cold drinks. Notice the ice clinking as you pick up your cup. Notice the sensation of you taking a drink and the liquid going down your throat. Is it cooling your throat? If you've got a alcoholic beverage, do you feel it further down like in your chest? If you're eating, take a moment and pay attention to what that tastes like. What that sensation is on your tongue? I usually like to eat peanut butter M& Ms. So that outer coating candy is like really smooth and then if I bite into it, there's a crunch. You are just focusing and noticing what that all smells like and tastes like.

Next, what do you hear around you? As I'm recording this, if I got real quiet and focused, I can hear construction. Not the most calming, but I can hear them banging on a house across the street. Maybe you've got a fireplace and you can hear the fireplace crackling, or you've got a fan on and you can hear the whirring of the fan. If you're a dog mom like me, I can usually hear my dogs snoring if they're sleeping. Or maybe you really don't hear a lot of stuff, and it’s really silent. And maybe for this mindful experience, you can just take a moment and sit in that silence. And pay attention to what the experience is, sitting in that silence like? Maybe you have background music on or TV. Mindfulness is taking a moment and putting it into focus what we normally might not be paying attention to. Then, if you're listening to audiobooks, what Is that experience like? Is the narrator's voice pleasing? Are they trying to do a voice that irritates you? Sometimes I have listened to those stories where the audiobook overall is good, but then someone tries to do one particular voice and it annoys me. Do you have headphones in? You can pay attention to what the headphones feel like - are they small earbuds that just fit in your ears, or are they headphones that cover your whole ear?

So we talked about noticing and focusing. This is not something that you have to spend a lot of time on. This is your reading time, but take 30 seconds, a minute, and go through each one of your senses. Touch, smell, hearing, taste, and sight. When we engage those senses, it really heightens our experience. We begin to savor, (that’s a great word!) our experience. If I’m really savoring my surroundings, the time I get to spend reading, I'm savoring this drink, I’m savoring this book. And when we can savor and really be mindful of these things and these moments, it can really help to fill our cup. This practice, I think, can also enhance our appreciation. Recognizing that I am so fortunate that I get to live in today's world where I can have all of this knowledge and all of these stories at my fingertips, essentially. So noticing, focusing, engaging all of your senses to enhance your reading life and the reading experience. Those were really easy quick tips, maybe more of a walk through, but hopefully that was helpful. You can take those into other areas of your life. when you want to try to be mindful. This is a great thing to just even practice throughout your day, just checking in with yourself, like how am i feeling? Am I feeling tension in my body, am I feeling agitated, or am I calm? Little things like that you can put in to your every day life, not just your reading. As always, I hope this was helpful. I hope this gave you something to think about. I would love to know how you are using mindfulness in your reading life.

If this resonated with you, if you want a place to practice mindfulness, and having time set aside for your reading, I am excited to share with you that the Readerly Collective Membership Waitlist is officially open. You can head over to www.thereaderlycollective.com/membershipwaitlist to sign up, be the very first to know when doors open, get some special bonuses, and hear more about how this membership is going to support you in this passion that you love. Until next week friends, take care.

Well that closes another chapter on this week's episode of the Readerly Collective podcast. Remember the conversation doesn't have to end here. Connect with me on Instagram at the Readerly Collective or over in our Facebook group. All you have to do is search the Readerly Collective.

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