Easy mindfulness strategies
Mindfulness strategies have one main purpose: to prompt you to be present. Like, totally in the moment. Mindfulness doesn’t aim to help you get through your shift, finish out the week, or survive a season. Mindfulness aims to help you feel calm and centered as you connect to the exact moment you’re in. These techniques are useful when regulating emotions like anxiety and stress. (Think times like before a presentation or an important conversation, or after your little one had a meltdown in the middle of Target.) Mindfulness exercises are also effective in helping you build gratitude and more-fully experience joy. (Think savoring a sweet moment with a grandparent, enjoying comfortable weather, or celebrating a new promotion.) These are two super simple yet effective strategies that you can implement right away as you work to build your mindfulness practice. They’re even great for kids!
Finger trace
Hold one hand out with palm flat and fingers outstretched. Use a finger from the other hand to gently and slowly trace up and down each finger starting with the thumb. As you trace up a finger, breathe in. As you trace back down, breathe out. Find a steady, slow rhythm with this. Go through this process for each finger or for five full breaths. After tracing your last finger, check in with your body. Are you feeling calmer? Would it be beneficial to repeat this exercise? This strategy is great for several reasons. It is subtle and can be done quietly. Imagine being nervous to take an exam. This exercise can easily be done under a desk or with a hand resting in your lap. It’s also useful to slow down breathing, focus on breathing, and notice the sensation of your finger tracing the skin of your open hand. All of those points help you to be mindful rather than dwell on the past or worry about the future.
Senses countdown or 5-4-3-2-1
The more senses you can incorporate into your mindfulness practice, the greater chance you have of achieving a calm, present state. For this mindfulness exercise, you’re going to focus in on each of the five senses and count down from five. Allow me to explain what this looks like. Let’s start with sight. Look around you and notice, what are five things you can see? It can be literally anything. Next, see if you can identify four things you can hear. The first one or two will probably be somewhat obvious. After that you might find yourself having to really focus to catch more subtle noises. Then let’s focus on what you can feel. By “feel” I mean things you can physically feel. You might become aware of the pressure of your feet on the floor, lips being dry, or hands being cold. Feel free to move around so you can feel things, too. You could rub your hands on your legs to feel warmth or unzip your jacket to feel that gentle vibration. You might move on to smell after that. See if you can notice two separate scents. If nothing is standing out to you, grab an object and see if you can decipher it’s smell. It could be something like a candle or laundry, or even something not typically associated with smell at all like a pile of paper or throw pillow. Lastly, focus in on taste and see what you notice. If nothing stands out, consider taking a drink of water or sucking on a mint. After going through these steps you are likely to feel an increase of calm. Focusing explicitly on these areas makes it much harder for your mind and body to get wrapped up in different thoughts or intense emotions.
