A Mindful Summer Bucket List

What is a MINDFUL Summer Bucket List?

Well, “bucket lists” can feel all pressure-y and expectation-y. And since mindfulness is about non-striving and non-judgment, a mindful summer bucket list is…

“A List That It’s Okay to Not Complete and That’s Really Just About Being in the Moment as You Do The Things (Not Just Crossing Them Off the List) and Not Being Judgmental With Yourself If You Don’t Do Them.”

(But Google hated that title for my post.)

With no further ado, I’m sharing with you my list of things you can do this summer to explore mindfulness, deepen your practice, and cultivate compassion and wellbeing.

The Mindful Summer Bucket List

• Read a book about mindfulness (see a list of my top recommendations here)

• Eat an entire meal in silence — pay attention to the act of eating and to the taste of the food

• Go for a walk — with no iPhone, no music…. just pay attention

• Get a mindfulness coloring book and spend an afternoon coloring

• Watch Inside Out

• Start a gratitude journal — and write in it once a week

• Try a 45-minute meditation session

• Take a 24-hour technology detox — no phone, Internet, TV, etc.

• Declare a Day of Kindness and volunteer, engage in random acts of kindness, smile at people you see, and make people’s days

• Teach a mindfulness practice to your kids

• Forgive someone for something (maybe yourself?)

• Practice mindful walking

• Try these breathing exercises that my son learned in kindergarten

• Change up a daily activity — brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand, drive a different route to work, sit in a different spot in your morning meeting…. Go wild!

• Put on some music and dance — just move however your body wants to move

• Practice lovingkindness

• Take a class — art, painting, drumming, dance, tai chi

• Make a list of the things you love about yourself

• Do a 30-minute body scan meditation

• Declutter an area in your house that’s driving you crazy

• Make a mind jar

• Watch a sunrise

• Make a list of the top 10 things that help YOU reduce stress — and post it somewhere you will see it every day

• Create a meditation space or a calm-down space in your home

• Visit a local meditation center

• Meditate outside

• Add a “good news only” outlet to your Facebook feed (like HuffPost Good News)

• Practice mindful conversation with someone

Download a printable PDF of this bucket list!