Thriving New Mama

If you’re looking to have better mental health, be more resilient, more joyful and peace-filled this 2025, start investing in your self-awareness. You can sign up for the TOTALLY FREE 25 days mindfulness challenge here. 

Remember, this is not your “sit down-breathe-meditate” kind of mindfulness. It’s helping you to get on top of the five blocks of present moment awareness. 

TLDR; What are the five building blocks of present moment awareness and why it matters

Five building blocks of present moment awareness help you to know when you need something different. It could be as simple as you being hungry and needing to fill your stomach or something to do with your relationships such as you being defensive and needing to step away from the conversation. 

Why it matters

If you want to stop yelling at your kids, saying or doing something you’d regret later in a heat of anger; 

If you want to stop feeling stressed and defensive whenever your in-laws or spouse talks to you about money, or your working schedule, or the cleanliness in the house;

If you want to feel more joyful and peace-filled this 2025, and not always holding tension, second-guessing yourself or walking on eggshells, START WITH BUILDING YOUR SELF-AWARENESS.

I break it down in FULL in this blog post so check it out here. 

Here are the five building blocks of present moment awareness 

Cognition

Emotions 

Five-senses perception 

Movement 

Body sensations 

These five building blocks are constantly present, constantly interacting with one another and they usually default to certain habits. 

For example, if you see your spouse roll his eyes and hear him scoff, you may:

• Tell yourself: “oh, he’s judging me again.” (cognition)
• Feel embarrassed, guilty and anger (emotions)
• Face flush, heart rate increases (body sensations) 
• Tell yourself again: “I can never please him.” (cognition)
• Feel shame (emotions)
• Shoulders slump, look down to avoid eye contact (movement) 
• Heart feels heavy (body sensations) 

You can imagine how these can happen in any order and how quickly you may be cycling through this entire process. 

Why join this challenge 

First, it’s NORMAL. And in fact, good news – your body is DOING ITS JOB.

These mostly automatic responses are quick and intended to keep you safe. If you came from an environment where there was abuse, making yourself look and feel small may have kept you safe. 

A lot of these responses are also formed from many, many years of habits. Many times, they were also formed from unconscious, pre-verbal times like when you were only a child. 

It’s not going to be easy to just “snap out” or “grow out of it.” 

Show yourself some compassion. 

What you CAN DO is to start with awareness. 

This 25 days challenge is intended to gradually increase your self-awareness in your cognition, emotions, five-senses perception, movement and body awareness. I have also incorporated somatic self-compassion practices to regulate your nervous system. 

Sign up here. You can start anytime. 

Full details of the challenge (printables, clickable links to more resources) 

There are three core work types in this challenge:

#1 Stop and notice 

This is a reminder for you to literally slow down or stop and pay full attention to one thing. I’d give you a suggestion. Sometimes, it’s to increase body awareness. Other times, it might be to build vocabulary for your emotions. 

#2 Awaken your senses 

Your body is constantly taking in information about the world through your five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. Your nervous system also depends on something called “neuroception,” which are your five senses, to detect danger in the world. We might be more used to certain senses because of childhood experiences or habits formed from our lifestyle. This core work in the challenge is to awaken all five senses. Anyway, the world is going to be a lot richer because of that! 

#3 Move your body 

Moving your body is a beautiful way to regulate your nervous system (i.e. after a long day at work, you go for a walk and feel more refreshed!). It’s also a way to increase your present moment awareness of your body sensations and movement.

For every practice, I have also included a recommended time to spend on it. MOST of them are less than 10 minutes and doable from right where you are.

You can grab the printable in a calendar format or checklist format.

You can pick which one works best or is the most interesting for the moment. 

25 practices for busy moms to increase present moment awareness and for better mental health 

1. Stop and notice: What would make my body feel more comfortable right now? (<3 mins)

Is it too hot or cold? Do you need to stretch your legs a little? Would hugging a cushion feel more comfortable? Learn to notice the physical sensations and the things that make you feel more comfortable.

2. Awaken your senses: Listen to Peter and the Wolf and notice the layerings of the musical instruments (<10 mins)

“Peter and the Wolf” is a beautiful orchestra piece and I love starting with this. It’s made for children to discover that orchestra pieces can tell a story and to practice discovering the layers to the music. Clap for Classics! is a podcast for children and has introduced it in an adorable way here. If this is your first time appreciating an orchestra piece, it’s a fun and easy way to get started! 

3. Move your body: Listen to this playlist from Ding Yi Music Company and feel the music move your body (<3 mins)
   Aside from noticing the music tempo, rhythm and beat, you would also be tuning in to how your body responds to the music. We naturally tap our feet to the beat of the music. This would challenge you to activate your whole body. You can do this in the restroom or bedroom, somewhere private and where you feel safe. 

4. Stop and notice: Walk through your home and feel the different surfaces against your feet (<3 mins)

The soles of our feet are more sensitive and it can be a great grounding experience to notice the sensations on the soles of our feet. 

5. Awaken your senses: Head to the market and smell the various herbs (<10 mins)

Take a walk and heat to the nearest wet market. I’ve found it to be such an olfactory tour. There’s the smell of fishes, dried goods, spices like curry leaf and turmeric. If it’s overwhelming for you, you can do a quick one or start at the outskirts of the market. 

6. Move your body: Move according to this piece from Esplanade Offstage (<3 mins) 

This is the same as what you’ve done earlier. It takes practice to become used to moving your body and paying attention to music, especially if hearing is not a sense that you’re more sensitive with. I’m going to invite you to repeat some of the exercises, maybe with slight tweaks, so you can deepen your self-awareness. 

7. Stop and notice: How can you be seated more evenly on the chair? (<3 mins)

Are your sit bones even? Are you sitting squarely on the chair? How’s your posture? Aligning and opening your posture can help you breathe more easily, improve nervous system functioning, and this exercise also increases body awareness. 

8. Awaken your senses: Enjoy your scrambled eggs with more milk than usual  (<10 mins)

Don’t stress about this. Beat 2-3 eggs, add milk and stir fry for less than 3 mins on a hot pan. If you generally prefer something with a milky taste, you can even try adding less milk. 

9. Move your body: Listen to Peter and the Wolf and follow along the movement of the bird (<10 mins) 

I introduced “Peter and the Wolf” earlier. Every music instrument represents a character in the story. Clap for Classics! is a podcast to introduce classical music to young children and they have one episode that introduces the characters. This is one way to learn the characters, the musical instruments and you can try moving like a bird. 

10. Stop and notice: What in your environment captures your attention? (<3 mins)

Is it the people? The sound of traffic? The smell of the city? This helps you to discover which sense you’re most attuned to. Go deeper. If it’s people, what about them? Is it their interactions? Is it their body language? 

11. Awaken your senses: Feel the vibration through your body as you sound a vowel (<3 mins)

When you sound a vowel, you actually activate your vagus nerve and regulate your nervous system. Notice how you feel after sounding a vowel and how the vibration runs through your body. 

12. Move your body: Make a homemade play dough (>1 hour) 

Knead it, roll it, cut it, stretch it… there are many things you can do with play dough and you would also be working through these fine motor skills while you make the homemade play dough. Check out this recipe for ingredients and intructions.

13. Stop and notice: Look around you at the different people and notice their body language. Who exudes calm? (<3 mins)

This is going deeper from noticing your environment. Now, you’re zooming in on the people and reading their body language. Which ones exude calm? Which ones elicit a feeling of calm in you? These might be the body language of people that have previously made you feel safe. 

14. Awaken your senses: Step on the grass barefoot (<3 mins)

Remember how the soles of your feet are very sensitive? I’m challenging you to stand – just STAND, on the grass barefoot. We have different capacities. Honour your capacity. If this is hard for you, you can stand for just 10 to 15 seconds. 

15. Move your body: Visit National Gallery and attempt an art narration (>1 hour) 

I’m borrowing this from Charlotte Mason, a British educator from the 20th century. She uses Narration, as a method of learning and assessing. Narration, simply put, is retelling what you have seen or heard from memory. To do an art narration, you a) pay close attention and look at the art piece in front of you (any piece that you feel drawn to), b) after you are certain you have looked at every detail, close your eyes and see it in your mind’s eyes and c) recall as many details as possible. This is an exercise to improve attention and awaken your senses to notice. Plus, it’s a fun outing to the National Gallery! 

16. Stop and notice: Try different body postures and notice which feels powerful to you (<3 mins)

Physically move and get into different body postures. You can try some of these: a) stand with hands on hips and feet shoulder-width apart, b) get into the shape of a ball, c) stretch your arms out like tree branches, d) one hand on hip and other hand pointing in front of you and e) sit with arms and legs sprawled out. How do they feel? Which bring about feelings of power and strength? 

17. Awaken your senses: Close your eyes and feel the clothes in your wardrobe. Try and identify your favourite piece. (<10 mins)

Here’s a fun one! Notice the fabric against your fingers. Are they soft? Are they rough? What details are present e.g. zippers, pockets? See if you can visualise the outfit and identify your favourite one! 

18. Move your body: Listen to The Nutcracker and allow your body to move with the music (<10 mins) 

The Nutcracker is a classical musical piece that accompanies a ballet performance. It’s a story set at the base of the Christmas tree. Listen to Clap for Classics! Podcast introducing the piece here.

19. Stop and notice: What would make your body feel more comfortable right now? (<3 mins)

Is it standing up to stretch? Are you hungry or thirsty? This is a repeated exercise and a very foundational one. Learn to notice the physical sensations and the things that make you feel more comfortable. It increases body awareness and it is great practice of self-compassion. 

20. Awaken your senses: Run your fingers down your face (<3 mins)

Literally run your fingers down your face, slowly. Notice the warmth from your hands. Notice how your facial muscles respond to it. I find it useful to do this exercise with my eyes closed. Cupping your hand around your cheek is a variation of this, which you would be introduced to later. It is also a great self-compassion practice. 

21. Move your body: Go on a nature walk (>1 hour)

I love the NParks gardens and am biased towards East Coast Park and Jurong Lake Gardens, which is newly opened. Check out the available trails and events via the NParks website. You can also book a Forest Therapy experience, which curates an experience for you in nature. 

22. Stop and notice: Trust that the ground can hold you. How would your body rest more into the ground? (<3 mins)

We hold more tension than we are consciously aware of, even if we’re sitting or standing on solid ground. What if you trusted that your chair/the floor can hold you? Can you sink in a little more into the surface? How it feel to have the chair or ground hold you? 

23. Awaken your senses: Cup your hand around your cheek (<3 mins)

Place your hands around your cheeks. You can close you fingers or not, touch your face or not. Experiment with some of these variations and notice how it feels for you. Do you feel comforted? More relaxed? Or is the touch uncomfortable? Cupping your hand around your cheek or running your fingers down your face is a great somatic self-compassion practice. You can tweak them slightly to find what works best for you! 

24. Move your body: Complete a mobility drill (<10 mins)

Find a mobility drill on Youtube and follow along for a 10 mins mobility drill and stretch. If we spend lots of time seated and in front of the laptop (which is super likely!), this is going to feel very relaxing and opening.  

25. Stop and notice: Intentionally relax your face (<3 mins)

Like our bodies, we hold more tension in our faces than we are consciously aware of. For me, I feel it more between my eyebrows and around my cheeks. Scan through your face. How does it feel now? Scan through it again and intentionally bring more relaxation to that part. How does it feel now?

If you’re looking to have better mental health, be more resilient, more joyful and peace-filled this 2025, remember this is the FOUNDATION. Start investing in your self-awareness today. You can sign up for the TOTALLY FREE 25 days mindfulness challenge and get the printable here. 

I have it in a calendar or checklist format.