How to Practice Mindfulness Without Meditation
Mindfulness isn’t meditation. Meditation is just one way to get there. The real practice could be much simpler — and you might already be doing it without realising.
A quick search on Google gives the following definition of Mindfulness — “it is the practice of paying attention to the present moment without judgment.”
Meditation is one way to cultivate that state.
The goal isn’t to silence the mind. It’s to notice our thoughts and gently bring our focus back — whether to body sensations, the breath, a mantra, or an image. It isn’t about achieving a blank state; it’s about awareness.
Awareness of what’s happening in our thoughts and feelings.
Awareness of when we’ve drifted away unintentionally.
Awareness to keep bringing ourselves back to the present with kindness.
Over the years, I’ve discovered other ways to practice mindfulness — especially useful if you’re someone who finds it hard to sit still for meditation or “never has the time” for it.
How Clouds Became My Meditation
I started painting as an adult with no formal training, often copying paintings I found on Pinterest. My first attempt at a complex landscape (for me!) felt ambitious, and I remember struggling with the clouds. They looked robotic and unnatural. Eventually, I gave up on perfecting them. But something interesting happened — that painting sparked a fascination with real clouds.
The clouds in the sky look so obvious, but so difficult to replicate
As children, once we learn the names of things, our curiosity and sense of awe often fade. We stop really seeing them — unless something unusual catches our eye, like a particularly striking sky.
After that painting, I began noticing clouds more often. The subtle variations in colour. The shifting shapes. The way light dances through them. I’d catch myself gazing at the sky while travelling and began to notice how clouds even look different in different parts of the world.
What began as casual observation turned into a practice I loved — simply watching clouds, feeling joy in the moment, being mindful of how I felt, and approaching them with curiosity rather than dismissing them as “just clouds.”
From Clouds to Trees to Birds
This way of seeing soon expanded to trees — noticing the different textures of bark, the shades of green, the shapes of leaves. And then to water — the ripples, the waves, the way they change with the wind.
When I went on my first birdwatching trail, I realised I had been doing the same thing with birds: labelling them as “birds” and moving on. I discovered there were multiple varieties just in my apartment complex. Even common pigeons became fascinating once I truly saw them.
An Invitation
So here’s my invitation to you:
What in your life have you labelled so completely that you’ve stopped really noticing it? Where can you bring more mindful attention?
One more tip: if you have kids, being mindful while you’re with them can be deeply rewarding. They have a way of reigniting curiosity about things we’ve long stopped seeing.
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