Here you will find my mindfulness activity which will be targeted at people at risk for anxiety and stress. This could be suitable to use with people with active lifestyles, harsh work environments, teens, middle age adults or the elderly. The mindfulness activities are typically in a pdf format but here is the wording of what I use :
1. Come Back
When you catch yourself being caught up in worries about the future or guilt and regret about the past, just notice that it is happening and simply and kindly say to yourself, “Come back.” Then take a calming breath and focus on what you are doing right now.
2. Three Senses
Another helpful mindfulness trick is simply to notice what you are experiencing right now through three senses – sound, sight, touch. Take a few slow breaths and ask yourself:
What are three things I can hear? (clock on the wall, car going by, music in the next room, my breath)
What are three things I can see? (this table, that sign, that person walking by)
What are three things I can feel? (the chair under me, the floor under my feet, my phone in my pocket)
3. Body Scan
4. Mindful Breathing
5. Practice Mantras. A good one to start with is: I am enough. I am more than enough the way I am.
6. Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.
–Chinese Proverb
If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way.
-Dr. Wayne Dyer
Think of these answers to yourself slowly, one sense at a time. It’s impossible to do this exercise and not be present and mindful!
Mindfulness Exercise #7: Listening to Music
Listening to music has many benefits — so many, in fact, that music is being used therapeutically in a new branch of complimentary medicine known as music therapy.
Mindfulness Exercise #8: Cleaning House
The term “cleaning house” has a literal meaning (cleaning up your actual house) as well as a figurative one (getting rid of “emotional baggage,” letting go of things that non longer serve you), and both can be great stress relievers!
Mindfulness Exercise #9: Observing Your Thoughts
Many stressed and busy people find it difficult to stop focusing on the rapid stream of thoughts running through their mind, and the idea of sitting in meditation and holding off the onslaught of thought can actually cause more stress! If this sounds like you, the mindfulness exercise of observing your thoughts might be for you.
