Have you or any of your family members experienced heightened levels of stress, anxiety, fear, impulsivity, aggression, or focus problems? Do they occur on a consistent basis? Mindfulness is a simple, portable, and practical tool that has the potential to help alleviate some of these issues. And it can be done by all ages and developmental levels. Join me as I give you some practical ways to implement mindfulness into your daily life.
key points to remember
A. By definition, mindfulness is the practice of paying attention without feeling the need to constantly judge. From that definition, we craft the 3 key components that comprise a healthy and beneficial mindfulness practice.
1. Intentional Awareness: Awareness can be brought to anything- breath, conversation, sound, walking, music, etc.- but it must be focused attention. Our minds are designed to wander so reteaching them to focus on one thing for any period of time takes practice.
2. Practice: Mindfulness is simply bringing your awareness to the present moment- jumping off the “wheel of the past” and the “wheel of the future”. It takes practice to recognize when our thoughts are on autopilot and need a moment of mindfulness. As with everything, the more you practice, the more you benefit from the results.
3. Non-Judgmental: Self-doubt and criticism are rampant in today’s youth. Opportunities to compare in unhealthy ways abound. When practicing mindfulness, the goal is to be in a state of non-judgment. When thoughts of “I will never get the hang of this”, “I don’t know why this is so easy for ____, but so hard for me”, or thoughts of judging others or current conditions “why is life so unfair?” pop up, change them to self-affirmations.
· “In this moment, I am happy.”
· “In this moment, I am confident.”
· “In this moment, I am totally at peace.”
· “In this moment, I am ________.”
B. For heightened emotions or for those who have experienced trauma and are in a state of constant hypervigilance (always in a stimulate state):
** Use grounding techniques prior to focusing on awareness or breath work. Grounding brings the mind back to the body and stops it from working out of survival mode. Grounding allows for the brain access focus and concentration to bring it into the present and out of fear, panic, etc.
1. 5 Senses: Sight, Hearing, Touch, Smell, Taste
- Bring awareness to things you see, things you hear, things you can physically touch and feel, things you can smell, and things you can taste (5-4-3-2-1 or any combo)
2. Finger Holds: Using the opposite hand, grab the desired finger of the chosen hand and hold tightly for a minimum of 2 minutes. Each finger aligns with an emotion.
- Thumb= worries
- Index finger= fear
- Middle finger= anger
- Ring finger= sadness
- Pinky finger= nervousness
- Pressing on the palm= increase feelings of happiness
C. Basic breath mindfulness awareness practices
1. Breath awareness: “I am aware of my in-breath, I am breathing in. I am aware of my out-breath, I am breathing out.” Practice for a length of time that feels good to you and allows you to stay in a state of focused awareness and acceptance.
2. Breathe in calm, breathe out tension: “I breathe in calm, peace, and ease.” “I breathe out tension, stress, worry, and fear.” Practice for a length of time that feels good to you and allows you to stay in a state of concentrated awareness and no judgement.
session presented by
leslie anway, psy.d., ncsp
Leslie Anway is a nationally certified doctoral level school psychologist, certified clinical trauma specialist, and ACES Consortium trainer. She is an advocate for mental health awareness and social emotional wellness in the schools and has provided numerous trainings on both mindfulness and trauma-sensitive practices in schools and a variety of community settings. Leslie and her husband have three grown children and one seven- year-old grandchild (who practices mindfulness with grandma!).
If you would like more information, please contact Leslie at anwayl@vailschooldistrict.org or leslieanway@email.arizona.edu
Vail School District Disclaimer: The Vail School District is neither endorsing nor promoting this program. The distribution of this information is provided as a public service to parents.