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What is mindful awareness?
- Mindful awareness is paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, with an attitude of curiosity (openness) and acceptance (non-judgment).
- Thoughts, emotions, and behavior urges are all things happening in our body that we can learn to use skillfully rather than getting caught up in them and being carried away by them.
- Thoughts are like trains going back and forth in our head. We can choose to jump on and be taken for a ride, or not.
- Emotions are like clouds moving through us like the weather. We can learn to let them move through us and pass rather than acting through them, unnecessarily.
- Behavior urges are like nudges. We can choose to follow them or not.
Skills
- Building those skills requires mindful awareness, or mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of shifting into the perspective of the objective observer of our thoughts, emotions, and urges to recognize them for what they are and choose our response.
- Here are a few basic exercises to begin practicing to build our mindfulness skills:
- Mindful Breathing
- Sit in a settled position wherever you are and close your eyes
- Breathe slowly in through your nose for a count of four taking the breath down to fill the belly
- Breathe slowly out through your mouth for a count of 8 pursing your lips for the exhale
- Coming to Your Senses
- Name five things you see, hear, smell, feel, taste
- Practice naming without evaluation or opinions
- Name five things you see, hear, smell, feel, taste
- Body Scan
- Pretend a scanner is moving down your body from the top of your head to the end of your toes
- It’s scanning for anything it notices. That may be temperature, tension or relaxation, soreness, the sensation of your body sitting in the chair, your feet touching the ground, etc.
- Mindful Breathing