In my post on World Mental Health Day I wrote about the importance of self-care, and mentioned the Wellness Hour I had committed to each week. With the second national lockdown starting today, in today’s Wellness Hour I shared six pocket mindfulness exercises that I have used in the past. These are designed to be picked up as and when they are needed. Some may seem familiar but I have adapted these over time so that they work for me. I thought I would also share them here for you; but you may find you need to tweak these as you use them.
Mindful Breathing
For this you can either be stood or sat down, whichever is most comfortable and convenient for you. As with most of these exercises this is a good one to do in those natural periods when we find ourselves waiting, whether it’s for the kettle to boil or for your computer to load. All that is needed is the ability to stay still and focus on your breath for at least one minute.
Start by breathing in and out slowly. I’ve found a good method is to breathe in for 4, hold for 4 and then breathe out for 4.
Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, you should be letting your breath flow effortlessly in and out of your body.
Let go of all your thoughts (I know this can be particularly challenging): the things you have to do later today or tasks that need your attention. Just let those thoughts come and go whilst remaining focussed on your breath.
Purposefully notice your breath, focusing on your own sense of awareness as it flows through your body and fills you with life.
You don’t need to stop after one minute, if you need more time just keep going until you feel calm and relaxed. This is a good way of re-centring and finding new energy throughout your day.
Mindful Observation
This exercise is to help you notice and appreciate the simple, sometimes unappreciated elements of your environment. Reconnecting with the beauty of creation, something that can be easily missed when we are rushing around.
Choose a natural object from your immediate environment and focus on it for a minute or two. This could be a flower or an insect, or even the clouds or the moon.
Don’t do anything except notice the thing you are looking at. Simply relax into watching for as long as your concentration allows.
Look at this object as if you’ve never seen it before.
Visually explore its formation, and allow yourself to be consumed by its presence.
Let yourself connect with its energy and its purpose within the natural world.
If you have the same view outside your window, focus on how it changes as the seasons change.
Don’t look. See.
There is a term used in office environments known as 20:20:20, this means to look 20 metres, for 20 seconds, every 20 minutes. It is a way of getting your eyes from looking away from a screen and is supposed to reduce tiredness and let you concentrate for longer. This exercise could help with this.
Mindful Awareness
This exercise should cultivate a heightened awareness and appreciation of simple daily tasks and the results they achieve. Think of something that you do every day, more than once, something you might typically take for granted, like opening a door or making a drink.
At the moment you, for example, touch the door handle, stop for a moment and be mindful of where you are, how you are feeling and where the door will lead you.
Similarly, the moment you boil the kettle, take time to appreciate the hands that enable this process and the brain that knows how to do it. Maybe take a moment to thank those that have been involved in providing the resources you have to make that drink.
Equally, these ‘touch point’ cues don’t have to be physical ones. You may wish to use these to help release negativity. Each time a negative thought enters your head you may want to take a moment to stop, label the thought as unhelpful and release the negativity. This is typically known as noting.
Choose something that resonates with you today and, rather than operating on autopilot, take occasional moments to stop and cultivate purposeful awareness of what you are doing and the blessings these actions brings to your life.
Mindful Listening
This is the one I found the hardest to start with, but with time I have found this useful. It is designed to make you open your ears to sound in a non-judgmental way, and to train your mind to be less swayed by past experiences and preconceptions.
A lot of what we feel is influenced by experience, we may dislike a song because it reminds of a period in our lives when things felt negative or we love a song because of what it symbolises.
This exercise forces you to listen to some music from a place of neutrality, with an awareness of the present that is not hindered by any past experience or any preconceptions.
Select a piece of music you have never heard before. This may be something you have in your collection but never listened to, or maybe just put on a radio station (one you don’t normally listen to) and listen to the first thing that comes on. (If you want a greater challenge select a song you know really well)
Close your eyes and put on your headphones (this helps to immerse yourself in the track with no distractions).
As hard as it may be, try not to get drawn into judging the music, either by its genre, title or the artist. Instead allow yourself to get lost in the journey of sound.
Explore every aspect of the track. Even if its not to your liking at first, let go of your dislike and become aware of all that you are listening to.
Explore the song by listening to each instrument. Separate each sound in your mind and analyse each one by one.
Hone in on the vocals: the sound of the voice, its range and tones. If there is more than one voice, isolate each one as you did with the instruments.
The idea is to listen intently, to become fully entwined with the composition without preconception or judgment of the genre, artist, lyrics or instrumentation.
Don’t think, hear.
Mindful Immersion
The purpose of this exercise is to create contentment in the moment and escape from the constant striving that we find ourselves caught up in on a daily basis.
Rather than desperately wanting to finish a routine task in order to get on with doing something else, take that regular routine and fully experience it like never before.
I’ve tried to think of an example that I feel everyone with an experience of: if you are cleaning your house, pay attention to every detail of the activity. Rather than treat this as a regular chore, create an entirely new experience by noticing every aspect of your actions:
Feel and become the motion when hoovering the floor, sense the muscles you use when scrubbing the dishes, develop a more efficient way of wiping surfaces.
The idea is to get creative and discover new experiences within a familiar routine task.
Instead of labouring through and constantly thinking about finishing the task, become aware of every step and fully immerse yourself in the progress. Take the activity beyond a routine by aligning yourself with it physically, mentally and spiritually.
Who knows, you might even enjoy the cleaning for once!
End of day review
This last exercise is based on St. Ignatius’ end of day review; taking time at the end of each day acknowledge and be thankful for what has come before. This is something I took up during Lent and have kept going, though it is ok to miss the odd day. For me I use a journal to document these, but you may just want to think and reflect without making a permanent account. As a Christian, I always use this as a prayerful act but if that doesn’t work for you then you can adjust these as necessary.
During this exercise it is important not to dwell or cast judgment on the areas you identify; just acknowledge that those moments happened, don’t try to pick apart why or what you think that might have meant.
I always start with the negative, acknowledging when I struggled to feel God’s presence in the day.
Then moving on to when I felt alive in God’s presence. Again, not casting judgment or trying to explain why, just noting it down.
Next I pick a moment that particularly stands out for you.
Then think ahead to tomorrow and your prayer/wish for that day.
I then typically end with a prayer intention, something that has come to my attention during the day that I want to pray for.
For me, I normally do this just before bed to have a clear end to the day.
Some of these will be helpful, some you might hate; but I wanted to share with you different things that I have found helpful in anxious moments.
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