Mindfulness for Wellbeing

Welcome to Week 1

I'm delighted that you have the opportunity to experience mindfulness, and see if it's possible to make a habit of mindfulness in your daily life.

Mindfulness is a practice of attention. To generate mindfulness, we:

  • become aware of our body (notice the position of our body, what we're in contact with)
  • notice the inclination of our mind (busy, restless, calm, curious, tired)
  • widen our awareness to include the environment around us (we might notice the air, noise, people, light, colours)
  • allow all of that to be, just as it is, without getting caught up in judgement 

Mindfulness is a practice, so you need to give yourself time to develop it as a habit.

Week 1 Practices

1)  Take 5

Take 5 minutes each day to establish your attention in the here and now.  Come back to your body and rest your attention in your breathing. There is a guided practice recording here and also a practice without any narration. And if you can take 5 minutes, twice a day - even better!

Guided Practice: Establishing your attention (5 minutes)

This short practice helps us unclip the past and future, and come back to the here and the now. (If you are feeling restless and don't want to stay still, you can do this while walking.)

5 Minute Timer: This silent 5 minute practice starts with 3 bells and ends with 1 bell. You can use this if you want to practice without narration.

 

2)  CREATE AN Anchor

Choose an anchor in your daily life to remind you to come off autopilot. You will use this anchor to practice generating mindful attention.
 Full instructions are below and can be downloaded here.

 

when you're talking yourself out of practicing:

My mind doesn't work that way - I'm easily distracted  That's fine. We have an 8 second attention span - it's normal for your mind to become curious about something else. This is about training your mind to hold focus. You can think of it as Mind Gym: your ability to focus will strengthen with consistent repetition. When you notice you've wandered, simply re-establish your attention.

I'm too busy for mindfulness  Pausing for 5 minutes will build resilience, help you think more clearly and restore your energy. It's a good investment for your body, mind and your work.

I can't stop thinking  Thoughts are part of being alive, so we're not aiming to stop our thinking. We are learning not to be swept up by our thoughts. Mindfulness is a practice, so give yourself time to build strength in this area: you'll be able to get distance from your thoughts and choose to rest in a calm state.

It's uncomfortable  Sometimes, feelings of boredom or restlessness come up - and that's not pleasant. Know that these are not fixed states: they're more like weather, passing across your mind. Is it possible to notice them and re-assert your connection with your mindful awareness? All weather moves along in its own time.