4 Ways to Actually Practice Mindfulness
- Brittany
- Dec 12, 2023
- 8 min read
Updated: Feb 17, 2024
What could be more of a shared human experience than dealing with stress? None of us need the research articles outlined here to remind us of the impact life events can have on things like sleep, work, family life, stress levels, not to mention physical health. Let's pivot, then, to a discussion about what actually helps us cope effectively.
So, What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a buzzword that many of us have heard but that tends to leave us full of questions. In theory, mindfhowulness means non-judgmental awareness of what your present experience is. Mindfulness means observing and accepting thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations without "over-identifying" with them. In other words, we don't get consumed by these thoughts and instead acknowledge their presence and let them pass. Here's an analogy that I find useful in understanding what the above definition really means. Think of mindfulness like observing a sunrise. You know it's probably a sunrise because of the time of morning and because you've seen one before. You notice where it's coming from in the sky, it's colors, what it's touching in the scenery around you. You may even compare it's colors to a previous sunrise and know it is different but no less beautiful. You know the sunrise is fleeting, that this image will come and go and be replaced with a different sky. We can't hold on to the sunrise because it is something separate from ourselves.
Mindfulness of our own present experience works the same way. When someone is being mindful, they notice what emotion or thought just rose up. They can also identify what probably triggered it and why it's there. They notice what it feels like but also what it looks like from the outside. They realize that thoughts and emotions are fleeting: they come and go throughout life. While it feels powerful right now, it will pass.
What does being mindful look like in everyday life?
knowing what emotion you're feeling right now
noticing when you're about to become angry
Realizing in the moment that your voice is raised or sounds tense
staying focused on a conversation
paying attention to your surroundings while being out for a walk
recognizing that your posture is stiff while sitting at your desk and stretching
acknowledging a personal success instead of refocusing immediately on the next goal
What are some clues that I'm not being mindful?
Driving on "autopilot" and not being completely aware of how you got from location A to B
Snacking out of boredom or habit
Repeatedly texting while out to dinner with a friend or date
Feeling preoccupied about something that happened in the past
Scrolling through social media apps, closing them and reopening them
Worrying about the future
Being in online class and browsing the internet at the same time
Having to reread a paragraph multiple times because the information isn't being retained
How and Why Does Mindfulness Help?
At this point, we know that mindfulness is a helpful skill to have. If you're like me or the common two year old, "why though" is a seriously valid question here. Through scientific studies, researchers have found a few different ways that mindfulness works to improve our coping. Keep in mind that it's often a mix of all of these things that are responsible for the benefits of mindfulness.
1) Reducing "cognitive reactivity". We've probably all been here: we think something negative about ourselves like, "I messed up that presentation, I'm always so awkward!" If we think it enough, it becomes a negative belief about ourselves. When we later have a sad mood, these thoughts and beliefs come back to us with ease, even if it wasn't a presentation or an awkward situation that made us feel sad in the first place. How easy it is to activate these negative beliefs when we are sad is called "cognitive reactivity". A recent study found that mindfulness works to improve our mood by reducing cognitive reactivity, and improving depressive symptoms in the process⁵. In other words, when people build up their mindfulness skills, those negative beliefs and attitudes don't consume them as readily and that's why their depression improves.
2) Improving "positive reappraisal". Positive reappraisal is a person's ability to see stressful events as beneficial and/or meaningful. Someone diagnosed with high blood pressure might positively reappraise the diagnosis as a sign to improve their lifestyle and overall health. To pull on another example from a friend who faced this misfortune this week, someone who brings in their car to a repair shop for one issue and later finds out their bill included the cost of new brakes might "positively reappraise" the bill as having fixed a scary issue before it had the chance to cause serious damage in an accident.
A study in 2012 followed 339 people who participated in an 8-week mindfulness-based course⁶. Researchers found that when mindfulness increased, so did positive reappraisal, which led to people feeling less stressed. Mindfulness helps us take a step back from the stressful situation and keep it in perspective. When we do that, we give positive reappraisal a chance to step in and do its thing.
What Can I Do to Practice Mindfulness?
There's some great ways of practicing mindfulness and building up your skill in this area. Below are some exercises to practice and avenues to pursue if you're interested.
Mindfulness Exercises
Mantram Repetition: research shows us that choosing a particular mantram (sacred word or phrase) that you can repeat to yourself silently throughout the day is a way of building mindfulness⁷ . To practice this, try to slow down and focus on something in the present moment while silently repeating the mantram to yourself. Mantram repetition can support the focus needed for a particular task or to steady the mind when dealing with something emotionally taxing.
Tip From the Researchers: choose a tradition-derived mantram because they tend to be felt as more powerful and stabilizing. That said, choose something you yourself connect to and find stabilizing. If repeating "You are a smart, powerful person. You’ve got this." is the mantra you want, go for it.
5 Senses Grounding: A common technique and favorite to many therapists and clients alike. I often teach this grounding mindfulness strategy to clients as a way to pull them out of their thoughts and into their bodies and current environment. It is a way of drawing our attention to the present moment and pausing to take in our surroundings in a new way. The key for each of these is to be intentional about what you're observing.
Sight: look around the room and choose 5 things you see. Ask yourself what you notice about each thing. If you see a plant, maybe you observe the shape of the leaves, or that it's green, or perhaps you notice the soil is looking a little dry and thirsty.
Touch: Turn your awareness to your body, and try to pick out 4 physical sensations that have been there this whole time, we just don't always pay attention to them. You might be able to feel the hair against your cheek, the weight of your glasses on your nose, the shoe around your foot, and your back against the chair.
Sound: Letting your focus shift, listen closely for three different sounds in the air around you. Maybe you hear the hum of electricity, the sound of your own breathing, the rustling of your clothes, or voices down the hall. Orient yourself to the sounds around you and the sounds created by you.
Smell: For some reason, this one tends to present the biggest challenge. If it doesn't seem like you can smell anything, take a second to work with your sense of smell. If you smell your shirt, does it smell like laundry detergent, dust, or your home? If you smell your hair, can you catch a whiff of shampoo? How would you describe the smell?
Taste: Lastly, focusing on your sense of taste, what do you notice? Maybe there's a taste of mint from toothpaste, or a lingering coffee bitterness, or perhaps just a dryness because you haven't eaten in a while.
After working through your senses, check in with yourself and try to observe what you're feeling. The goal isn't to get rid of it or "deal" with it, just to notice. Maybe you're calm, tired, hungry, enthused, etc. Just notice it and remind yourself that it comes and goes and hasn't always been there. The grounding exercise above can be used in any combination, and practice in truly any setting. If you're sitting on a bus, waiting in an office, or walking in nature, give it a go!
Mindful Meditation: Mindful meditation can be done without the help of an app, video, or sound file if you prefer to practice it on your own. One thing to remember is that it's natural and normal for the mind to wander while trying to practice mindfulness. It isn't necessary to clear your mind of all thoughts, it's catching your thoughts and drawing your attention back that's the "being mindful" part. Try to notice what thought distracted you without criticism or judgment, and refocus. Here's two ways of practicing:
In the morning when your alarm goes off, take an intentional deep breath. Try to notice how you're feeling about getting up and facing the day. If it's not a good feeling, try to take a step back and think about one small thing you could do to start your day off on a better note (maybe a coffee, or a certain item for breakfast, or sending a good morning text, etc). Then set an intention for the day: what's one thing you're planning on doing and willing to see through today?
At night while laying in bed, scan your body. Draw your attention to one feeling of comfort, like your soft pillow, the snug sheets, or your body against the mattress. Hold it in your awareness. Then when you feel ready to do so, try to hold another sensation in your awareness at the same time. Feel the pillow and the mattress at the same time. Keep your focus on these sensations, and as your mind wanders, gently bring it back. If keeping two sensations in present awareness is doable for you, add a third and try to hold all three in your awareness at the same time.
Tons of resources exist online: check out Positive Psychology's 22 Mindfulness Exercises or Mindful's 5 Simple Practices for Daily Life
Mindfulness Apps: If guided meditation and mindfulness exercises are more your speed, there's a ton of helpful ones available to us. Apps like Headspace and Calm can be downloaded and also have free previews on Youtube.
References
Cladder-Micus, M.B., Van Aalderen, Donders, A., Spijker, Vrijsen, J., & Speckens, A. (2018) Cognitive reactivity as outcome and working mechanism of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for recurrently depressed patients in remission. Cognition and Emotion,32:2,371-378,DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2017.1285753
Haliwa, I., Lee, J., Wilson, J., & Shook, N. J. (2020). Mindfulness and engagement in COVID-19 preventive behavior. Preventive Medicine Reports, 20, 101246. doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2020.101246
Garfin, D. R., Silver, R. C., & Holman, E. A. (2020). The novel coronavirus (COVID-2019) outbreak: Amplification of public health consequences by media exposure. Health Psychology, 39(5), 355–357. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000875.
Garland, E. L., Gaylord, S. A., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2011). Positive reappraisal mediates the stress-reductive effects of mindfulness: An upward spiral process. Mindfulness, 2(1), 59–67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-011-0043-8 Oman, D., Bormann, J.E. & Kane, J.J. (2020) Mantram repetition as a portable mindfulness practice: Applications during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mindfulness. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01545-w
Saricali, M., Satici, S.A., Satici, B. et al. (2020) Fear of COVID-19, mindfulness, humor, and hopelessness: A multiple mediation analysis. Int J Ment Health Addiction. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00419-5
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