Angel's Mindfulness Masterclass

Former Member

Last night in chat **Angel** shared a Mindfulness activity with us - she's on a break from the boards at the moment but it was really popular and she asked me to post it.

If you've not heard of Mindfulness before it's about taking time to notice what you're doing - we all spend a lot of our lives on automatic pilot and Mindfulness is about taking a moment to be aware of your surroundings and to relax - it's a bit like meditation and can be a really useful tool to deal with all kinds of things.

So.... here's the one that **Angel** showed us last night - have a go and let us know what you think

This tends to require you closing your eyes, but you can't really hear me, so you kinda have to..er..LEAVE YOUR EYES WIDE OPEN

This best works if you get someone to read it out to you, rather than, reading it, then trying to remember it all yourself, but yet, I love this activity and it's like an in the moment thing. So, here it goes Find someone whose willing to read this out to you if you can.

Adopt the attitude of Mindfulness, close your eyes, and rest comfortably for a moment. Allow all your muscles to relax, (You don't have to close your eyes, but it works a lot better when your eyes are closed.) - your face, jaw, neck, stomach, hands and Legs.

Once you are relaxed imagine yourself in your own private cinema. You're feeling safe and there is no one else around you.

(If I didn't have a saw throat, I would record me speaking this.)

Up on the screen you can imagine a time recently when you were upset. With a boy friend, girl friend, family member. Take a moment to conjure up the experience as though it was happening now.

Watch your thoughts, feelings, urges, body sensations and so forth connected to this experience as it plays out on the screen. Observe your experience and let yourself experience them fully without judging them, and then silently put words on these experiences, for example, 'My shoulders feels tense' or, 'My mind is racing.'

Now think of how you may tolerate this moment effectively using one of your distress tolerance skills. Which skill may work? What would be the most effective thing to do in this situation? Use your wise mind to help you figure out what might work and focus on effectiveness.

Wise Mind Skills, and Distress Tolerance Skills:
Accept (Distract yourself)
Self Sooth (Five senses) -Moisture your skin.
Pros and Cons List - Write up the good and the bad points, make sure you always top off the bad with one good point.
Radical Acceptance.- Just sit and observe something for a few minutes. Describe it in words.
Describe (Put words on to your experience)
Participate - Enter in to the Experience.
Stay Focussed (mindfully in the moment)

Personally - I love mindfulness, and I understand at times it can be embarrassing to do in front of others, but it's really relaxing when you're feeling over hyperactive and just want to calm down, or angry, or just sad. So, do use it. Will put more Mindfulness articles up soon, keep an eye out