Informal Practice: Bringing Mindfulness Into Daily Life | Week 7

Today we’re talking about informal practice—bringing mindfulness into the life you’re already living.

This week, I’ve created a guide to making any ordinary activity a mindfulness practice. It’s 10 minutes of learning how to close the gap between “meditation time” and “real life.”

Keep reading for the link.

Last week we explored self-compassion. This week, we’re making it all practical: you don’t need to sit on a cushion to be mindful.

When Meditation Became My Life (Not Just Something I Did)

When I first started using mindfulness, I used Headspace.

I think it was being provided free to NHS staff as a trial. I didn’t really know what it was, but I just knew the word “mindfulness.”

Something appealed. So I tried it.

Five minutes each morning. Before everyone else got up. Before I cycled to work for my 12-hour days.

It wasn’t easy.

Most of the time I’d press start, sit there, then 5 minutes later it would finish.

And I’d realize I’d been thinking about work the entire time. Or something coming up in life.

I wasn’t “meditating.” I was just sitting while my mind raced.

But I kept going. For a few months.

And eventually, something shifted.

I started to see my thoughts.

Not all the time. Not dramatically.

But a small gap had turned up that wasn’t there before.

Thought labeling started to occur sometimes. “Planning.” “Worrying.” “Judging.”

Most days it wasn’t that profound. It was just: “I have a lot to do today.”

But that noticing? That was enough.

The Walk That Changed Things

A year or so later, I used the Mindfulness in a Frantic World app.

One of the exercises was simple: Walk around your neighborhood. Look around.

See the little details on each house. If a squirrel or cat looked at you, notice it. Pause. See what it was doing.

That’s it. Just walk and notice.

Again, it was subtle. Occasional.

But I started seeing things I’d walked past hundreds of times without noticing.

Lovely intricate decorations on some houses.

Animals would watch me back, as I would watch them. A moment of stillness and pause in both our days.

It wasn’t meditation time. It was just… life. But with awareness.

Where It Shows Up Now

I carry this skill much more now.

When running: Noting how my feet move. My breath.

In a traffic jam: A chance to breathe deeply. To slow down. To notice. Not a frustration to fight.

With patients and clients: Noticing their subtle shifts in body language, mood, expression. And noticing how mine change with them.

Playing the piano. Walking in a wood. Having a drink at my allotment. Playing a board game with my kids.

Sometimes mindfulness is present. Sometimes it’s not.

When I’m doing work that drains me, dashing about to “fit everything in,” trying to “keep everyone happy”—awareness fades.

I don’t have it all right. None of us will.

But we can always move towards a better state.

A Question About Enlightenment

My 12-year-old daughter asked me recently about enlightenment. Whether it’s real.

She’s incredibly perceptive and intelligent. It was a good question.

My answer: People report it. And I’ve had an analogous experience.

Last year, whilst practicing trauma release therapy, I had a moment of sheer unadulterated bliss.

The whole world seemed full of love. And my role was to spread it everywhere. To tell everyone.

The intensity of that has faded. But it still stays with me.

And it’s deeply intertwined with awareness.

Not because awareness creates bliss.

But because awareness lets you be present for whatever’s here. Including moments of profound connection. Including ordinary moments. Including difficult ones.

All of it.

The Gap Between Practice and Life

Here’s what most people do:

They set aside time to meditate. 10 minutes, 20 minutes, maybe an hour.

They sit. They practice. They feel calmer.

Then they get up and go back to autopilot for the rest of the day.

Meditation becomes something you do. Not something you are.

It’s like going to the gym once a week then sitting on the sofa the other six days and wondering why you’re not fit.

Formal practice—sitting meditation—is important. It builds the skill.

But if you’re only present during designated “meditation time,” you’re missing the point.

The point isn’t to be good at meditation.

The point is to be awake for your actual life.

What Informal Practice Is

Informal practice means bringing full awareness to ordinary activities.

Not adding meditation to your day.

But making what you’re already doing into practice.

You’re already:

Making coffee
Eating breakfast
Showering
Driving
Walking
Talking to people
Working

What if you were fully present for those things?

That’s informal practice.

Not meditation plus life.

Life as meditation.

The difference:

Autopilot: Making coffee while checking your phone, planning your day, thinking about the meeting later

Mindful: Actually feeling the cup in your hand. Smelling the coffee. Tasting it. Being there for it.

Same activity. Completely different experience.

The Three Anchor Activities

Don’t try to be mindful all day. That’s overwhelming and impossible.

Instead, choose three ordinary activities you do every day.

These become your anchor practices.

Morning Anchor: What’s the first thing you do?

Brush teeth? Make coffee? Shower?
Choose one. Commit to being fully present for it.
Just that one thing. Every morning.

Midday Anchor: Something in the middle of your day

Eating lunch? Walking to a meeting? Making tea?
Choose one. When you do this, you’re present.
That’s your midday practice.

Evening Anchor: Something as you wind down

Driving home? Walking through the door? Sitting down after work?
Choose one. This becomes your evening touchpoint.
A moment to come back to presence.

Three activities. Already part of your day.

You’re not adding anything. You’re just showing up for what’s already happening.

The Method for Any Activity

Here’s the method for any informal practice:

Step 1: Notice you’re doing it
The moment you start the activity, recognize: “I’m making coffee now” or “I’m showering now.”

Step 2: Bring attention to the senses
What do you see? Hear? Feel? Smell? Taste?
Engage your senses fully.

Step 3: Notice when your mind wanders
It will. Within seconds. That’s normal.

Step 4: Gently return
When you notice you’ve drifted, just come back.
No judgment. Just: “Back to this. Right here.”

That’s it. Four steps. Works for anything.

Transitions as Practice

Here’s another powerful approach: Use transitions.

The moments between activities.

These are goldmines for informal practice.

Examples:

Before you open your laptop: Three conscious breaths
Before you walk into a meeting: Pause at the door. Ground yourself.
Before you start the car: Sit for five seconds. Notice you’re here.
Before you open the front door after work: Stop. Breathe. Arrive.

These micro-pauses create space.

They break autopilot momentum.

They help you choose how you want to show up.

You’re not adding time to your day.

You’re using the transitions that already exist.

Three seconds. That’s all it takes.

Breathe. Notice. Choose.

Then continue.

Do this five times a day, and you’ve practiced more mindfulness than most people do in a week.

This Week’s Practices

Primary Practice: Informal Practice Guide (10 minutes)

This week’s meditation walks you through how to make any activity mindful.

👉 Listen to your free Informal Practice guide on Insight Timer

This isn’t about adding more to your day. It’s about being present for what you’re already doing.

Micro-Practice: Choose Your Three Anchors

This week, choose your three anchor activities:

Morning (example: making coffee)
Midday (example: eating lunch)
Evening (example: walking through the door at home)

Write them down. Set reminders if needed.

Commit to being fully present for just those three things.

Bonus Practice: Transition Pauses

Notice five transitions in your day.

Before starting the next thing:

Stop
Three breaths
Notice: “I’m here now”
Continue

Change One Thing This Week

Pick ONE ordinary activity to make your mindfulness practice.

Something you do every day anyway.

This week, do it with full awareness. Every time.

That’s it. One thing. Done mindfully.

See how it changes your experience of the day.

Why This Is More Sustainable

Here’s why informal practice is crucial:

It doesn’t require extra time – You’re already doing these things

It doesn’t require special conditions – No quiet room, no cushion needed

It’s infinitely scalable – Any activity can become practice

It closes the gap – Between “meditation time” and “real life”

It’s how mindfulness becomes a way of being – Not just something you do

Formal practice trains the skill.

Informal practice is where you live it.

That’s what makes it sustainable for the long haul.

What’s Next

Next week—our final week—we’ll reflect on the journey and create your sustainable practice moving forward.

Until then, choose your three anchors.

Be present for your actual life.

P.S. You don’t need more time to be mindful.

You need to be present for the time you already have.

Every moment is an opportunity. Even the boring ones. Especially the boring ones.

References

Kabat-Zinn, J., Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, 1994, Hyperion

Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation, 1975, Beacon Press

Williams, M. & Penman, D., Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World, 2011, Rodale Books

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