| Core Mindfulness
...is used to help disorganized or confused thinking, and problems with "detached thinking" including episodes of dissociation. ::OBSERVE:: Just notice the experience, observe internal experiences and external behaviors in the "here and now," watch your thoughts and feelings come and go like clouds in the sky, do not push away your thoughts and feelings, just let them happen like a "Teflon mind"- let things slide off like they do from a nonstick pan. ::DESCRIBE:: Put words on the experience, call a thought just a thought, a feeling just a feeling - don't confuse these with the facts. Example: "here is that said feeling," or "my stomach muscles are tightening," "I notice..." ::DON'T JUDGE:: See but don't evaluate, separate your opinions from facts - from the who, what, when, and where, acknowledge the harmful, and the helpful, but don't judge it, don't judge your judging. Example: replace "you're a jerk" with "I feel (blank) when you do that." ::STAY FOCUSED:: Do one thing at a time, let go of distractions, and focus your attention. ::EFFECTIVELY:: Focus on what works. Do what needs to be done in each situation. Stay away from "fair" and "unfair," "right" and "wrong," "should" and "should not." PLAY BY THE RULES. Don't "cut off your nose to spite your face." Act as skillfully as you can, meeting the needs of the situation you are in. Not the situation you wish you were in; not the one that is just; not the one that is more comfortable; not the one that...Keep an eye on YOUR OBJECTIVES in the situation and do what is necessary to achieve them. Let GO of vengeance, useless anger, and righteousness that hurts you and doesn't work. ::ONE-MINDFULLY:: DO ONE THING AT A TIME. When you are eating , eat. When you are walking, walk. When you are bathing, bathe. Do each thing will your full attention. If other actions, or thoughts, or strong feelings distract you, LET GO OF DISTRACTIONS and go back to what you are doing - again, and again, and again. CONCENTRATE YOUR MIND. If you find you are doing two things at once, stop and go back to one thing at a time. ::PARTICIPATE:: Enter into your experiences. Let yourself get involved in the moment, letting go of ruminating. BECOME ONE WITH YOUR EXPERIENCE, COMPLETELY FORGETTING YOURSELF. ACT INTUITIVELY from wise mind. Do just what is needed in each situation - a skillful dancer on the dance floor, one with the music and your partner, neither willful nor sitting on your hands. Actively PRACTICE your skills as you learn them until they become part of you, where you use them without self-consciousness. PRACTICE: Changing harmful situations, your harmful reactions to situations, and accepting yourself and the situations as they are. ::Practicing Mindfulness:: 1. Experience your body on the chair/sofa 2. Experience your hand on a cool surface or a warm surface. 3. Trace the lines on your hand. Be mindful to your palm and fingers. 4. Attend to and try to sense your stomach, your shoulders. 5. Write your name with your non-dominant hand. 6. Stroke just above your upper lip, then stop stroking and notice how long it takes before you can't sense your upper lip any longer. 7. "Watch" in your mind the first 2 thoughts that come in. 8. Imagine that your mind is a conveyor belt, and that thoughts and/or feelings are coming down the belt. Put each thought and/or feeling in a box near the belt. 9. If you find yourself describing thoughts, sensations, or feelings, "step back" in your mind, so to speak, and observe your describing. 10. If you find yourself distracted, observe that; observe yourself as you become aware that you were distracted. 11. Egg balancing. 12. Eating or drinking mindfully (candy, juice). 13. Breathing with cascading exhales 14. Breath in, "One," breathe out, "One," breathe in, "Two," etc. ::Core mindfulness homework:: Return with examples of using Core Mindfulness skills: observe, describe, participate, non-judgmentally, one thing in the moment, effectively. |