Time needed: 5 minutes.
A great way to practice mindfulness is to check in and to ground yourself through the day.
Try this a few times a day. Any time you are feeling stressed, upset or just have a spare moment.
- How am I feeling right now? Check in with yourself and name it.
- Take a few slow breaths and feel your feet on the ground… this creates a supportive container for any difficult feelings
- Scan your body and notice how you are aware of your emotions: where are they in your body, how much space do they take up and what qualities do they have? You might notice qualities such as a weight, texture or colour.
- Continue to resource yourself with your breath and being aware of your feet on the ground. In this way you learn to more easily ground yourself.
Benefits:
A check in with yourself like this will do three things.
- Firstly, we are often very cut off from our bodies and our emotions, and doing this will ground us in our own bodies and experience.
- Secondly, it will help us to be more able to process our painful experiences and emotions without reactivity and taking actions that we regret.
- Thirdly it will build our capacity to be mindful… before you know it you will find yourself much more present throughout your day, and much more aware of your body and emotions…. Much more grounded.
This can be helpful in challenges in relationships with your family and at work, but also simply to be more present in day to day life… to appreciate each moment more! As you build your capacity to do this, it will become a resource which you can use in highly charged situations, but start small and build up.
