Mindfulness with BYEP

Mindfulness & BYEP

Of all the skills and tools we teach to our participants, mindfulness is perhaps the most useful (and sometimes most difficult!) concept in BYEP’s curriculum. Mindfulness is the practice through which a person learns to be present in the moment, managing stress by not letting the mind run wild with worries and anxieties over things you can’t control, instead finding the patience to focus only on the problems that you actually have the means to engage with.

Mindfulness is hard, but the benefits from the practice are numerous and well-documented, from stress-relief to a general sense of well-being. Try out some of these exercises from the BYEP curriculum below, but remember: go easy on yourself! Don’t worry if this all takes a while to get used to, just go at your own rate to retain a positive association with your mindfulness practice.

STOP Exercise:

Stand up and breathe. Feel your connection to the earth.

Tune in to your body. Lower your gaze. Scan your body and notice physical sensations or emotions. Discharge any unpleasant sensations, emotions or feelings on the out breath. Notice any pleasant ones and let them fill you up on the in-breath.

Observe. Lift your eyes and take in your surroundings. Observe something in your environment that is pleasant and be grateful for it and its beauty.

Possibility. Ask yourself what is possible or what is new or what is a forward step.

Mindful Breathing “meditation” Exercise:

Lower your eyes and notice where you feel your breath. That might be the air going in and out at your nostrils or the rise and fall of your chest or stomach. If you can’t feel anything, place your hand on your stomach and notice how your hand gently rises and falls with your breath. If you like, you can just lengthen the in breath and the out breath or just breathe naturally. Your body knows how to breathe.

Focus on your breath. When your mind wanders, as it will do, just bring your attention back to your breath. You might like to say ‘thinking’ when you notice your thoughts and just gently shepherd your attention back to your breath.

This can be done for longer than one minute. However, even for one minute it will allow you to pause and be in the moment. Or you might just like to breathe out stress on the out breath and breathe in peace on the in breath.

Exploration of the Senses

Give members 5 minutes or so to find a small object, (one you can hold in your hand.) Lead them through the following exercise. Place the object in front of you on a table or in your lap. Observe it closely- first not moving it, and then picking it up and turning it over and around, gazing at it from different angles and in different lights. Just notice shapes, colors, sizes, and other characteristics that are visible. Then change your focus to your fingers and hands touching the object. Notice the sensations of touching the object; notice the texture, temperature, and feel of the object. Put the object down. Close your eyes, and inhale and exhale deeply and slowly. Then, with beginner’s mind, open your eyes. With new vision, once again notice the object. With beginner’s mind, open to feeling new textures, sensations, explore the object with your fingers and hands. Put down the object, and once again focus your mind on inhaling and exhaling once.

DIY Mindfully You

Reiterate to participants that mindfulness is the act of consciously focusing the mind in the present moment without judgement and without attachment to the moment. A mindfulness skill has three components:

1. Observe: to pay attention on purpose to the present moment

2. Describe: to put into words what you have observed

3. Participate: to enter into an activity fully and wholly , becoming one with whatever you are doing.

As a group make a list of possible practices: watching clouds, walking slowly, noticing nature, facial expressions and movements of another person, find something beautiful to look at, observe the taste and act of eating, sounds, your breath while listening to something, touch of your skin, your imagination etc.

Once members have grasped the concept that a mindfulness practice can be incorporated into absolutely anything, ask them to develop a routine they can introduce into their daily life. It can be as simple as, “every time I wash my hands I am going to take two cleansing breaths”, or “whenever I have a judgmental thought towards myself, I am going to smile and send love to myself.” Pass out notecards and allow for members to create. Ask group members to share.