Yes, even scrubbing bowls can be mindful. Tune into your senses. What is the temperature of the water? What does the dish soap smell like? What does the plate feel like in your hand?

How do the lines look on the carpet? What does the carpet feel like beneath your feet? Can you see and feel a certain rhythm in the repeated arm movement?

Showers are glorious, aren’t they? So be in the moment and enjoy them! What does the water feel like? What does your shampoo smell like? Where are you holding tension and how does the water help loosen that up?

Chopping veggies? What does the knife feel like in your hand? What smells do you notice? Do you see a cutting board full of different colors and textures?

Are you a coffee or tea drinker? What does the mug feel like in your hand? What does your coffee or tea smell like? As you sip, where do you taste it on your tongue? What does the steam feel like on your face?

Even when you’re trying to be mindful, your mind will wander. When it does, bring your attention back (even for a few minutes) to the tangible things you can see, smell, hear, taste, and feel. We encourage you to read more about mindfulness as there is so much more to learn and so many benefits. But starting small feels good—it’s free, it’s good for you, and it takes no time away from what you’re already doing. Try one (or more) out!

Loneliness is a natural human emotion. But if you judge yourself for feeling it, that can trap you in a cycle of not feeling good enough, which can then lead you to isolate, and leave you feeling more lonely. If this cycle feels recognizable, it’s because most of us have been there at one point or another. The trick to breaking out of the cycle is catching yourself when you’re just starting to get caught up in it.

This trap looks different because while you might be suffering or feeling disconnected on the inside, on the outside you’re giving the impression that you are just fine. You might still socialize, speak up in meetings, go out with friends, or appear generally happy. But you are hiding your true self from others, which can leave your relationships feeling hollow, superficial, or unfulfilling. Over time, you might find it increasingly difficult to open up to people—this cycle is what traps you in impression management, rather than meeting your own needs for deep, authentic, social connection.

There are a lot of ways people numb their emotions to avoid having to feel the painful ones. The trap here is that cutting yourself off from painful emotions means disconnecting from the joyous and meaningful ones too. Using food, substances, spending money, video games, or other distractions as a way to avoid your feelings of loneliness can get you caught in the trap of needing more of those things to cope, rather than actually satisfying your true needs.

You might not even realize when you’re caught in habits that are keeping you isolated away from meaningful social connections. For example, you might have gotten used to turning down invitations or not answering phone calls. In turn, people may have stopped reaching out, and before you knew it, it felt too uncomfortable to reach back out to them when you were ready for more company.

Comparing yourself to other people will almost always leave you feeling like you want to disconnect or separate from others. Once you get started comparing yourself to others, you’ll find yourself doing it more and more, which makes it harder and harder to view yourself objectively, just as you are. Breaking out of this cycle requires you to remember that even if someone looks like they have it all together, you don’t know how they got there, or the private details of their lives (including their sacrifices, sorrows, or personal issues).