Body
Notice what you can feel physically.
Pressure, warmth, coolness, tension, movement, breathing, posture.
Self-Care Series · Client resourceTry the first practice
Mindfulness
Learning to notice experience as it happens.
Mindfulness is a way of paying attention to what is happening right now—in your body, emotions, thoughts, images, memories, expectations, and impulses.
The goal is not necessarily to relax, feel better, or make anything go away.
The first task is simply to notice.
A different purpose
Mindfulness is not the same as relaxation
Relaxation is useful when you want to reduce physical tension or arousal. Mindfulness has a different purpose.
You can be mindful while relaxed, anxious, angry, sad, excited, uncertain, or uncomfortable.
Mindfulness may sometimes produce relaxation, but relaxation is not the task.
Instead of beginning with
How can I change what I am feeling?
Mindfulness begins with
Sometimes noticing clearly changes an experience. Sometimes it does not. The first task is simply to see what is there.What is happening in me right now?
Pause long enough to see
A different way of paying attention
Much of the time, we move quickly through experience. Something happens. We react. We think about it, explain it, judge it, or move on.
Mindfulness slows the process down just enough to notice more of what is actually happening: tension appearing, breathing changing, a difficult-to-name feeling, a repeating thought, an image or memory, an impulse, or a subtle shift.
You do not need to notice everything.
The skill is becoming more interested in experience as it unfolds.
Practice 1
Check in with what is here
Take a minute or two. You do not need to close your eyes. You do not need to relax. Just pause.
Emotion
Is there a feeling or mood present?
Calm, irritation, nervousness, sadness, interest, tiredness, excitement—or simply a sense that something is there.
Mind
Notice what your mind is doing.
Thoughts, images, memories, plans, expectations, questions.
You do not need to stop them.Pause and ask
What is here right now?
Stay for a few moments. That is enough.
Practice 2
Stay with one thing
Attention usually moves quickly. Choose one thing that is present and manageable—a sensation, emotion, image, thought, impulse, or anticipation.
Bring attention gently toward it. You do not have to make it stronger. You do not have to make it disappear. Just become curious.
- Where do I notice it?
- What is it like?
- Does it stay the same?
- Does it move, change, strengthen, or fade?
- Does anything else appear with it?
Stay interested for a little while. Then let your attention widen again.
Practice 3
Notice what happens next
Experience often unfolds in sequences that happen too quickly to notice.
Someone asks you a question.
You notice your stomach tighten.
Then an image appears.
Then you think, “I’m in trouble.”
Then anxiety appears.
Then you want to explain yourself.
The question that keeps the sequence open
What happened next?
sensationimagefeelingthoughtimpulse
Your sequence may include body sensations, emotions, thoughts, images, impulses, and actions—in any order. The purpose is not to build a perfect map.
The purpose is to become more familiar with how your own experience unfolds.Mindfulness in the room
Bringing mindfulness into therapy
Therapy often involves talking about things that happened somewhere else or at another time.
But useful information is also appearing while we are talking.
- your breathing change
- tension appear somewhere in your body
- an emotion rise
- a thought or memory arrive
- an image flash through your mind
- an urge to explain, withdraw, laugh, change the subject, or move away from something
Sometimes it can be useful to slow down and pay attention to those reactions together.
Instead of only talking about an experience, we can notice part of it happening in the room.
That can give us something new to explore.
Use this together in session
A short therapy warm-up
At the beginning of a session, or before exploring something important, take a minute to shift into this way of paying attention.
Arrive
Let yourself arrive where you are. You do not need to relax or change anything.
Notice your body
What can you feel physically right now?
Notice your emotional state
Is there a feeling, mood, or emotional tone present?
Notice your mind
What thoughts, images, memories, or expectations are here?
Stay with the question briefly
What is happening in me right now?
When you are ready, continue.You do not have to explain everything
Mindfulness is not a search for hidden meanings. Sometimes a tight chest is simply a tight chest. Sometimes a thought passes and nothing important follows.
Sometimes slowing down reveals something you had not noticed before. The aim is not to force insight. It is to give experience enough attention that something can become clearer if there is something to learn.
Keep it manageable
Mindfulness does not require you to stay with experiences that feel overwhelming. When practising on your own, begin with ordinary situations and manageable emotions.
If something becomes too intense, difficult, or confusing:
- let your attention widen
- reconnect with your surroundings
- move your body
- return to something ordinary
- bring what you noticed into therapy if it seems important
You can be curious without pushing yourself.
Take it away from the screen
Try it in everyday life
Pause briefly while waiting for someone, before answering an email, during a difficult conversation, when you notice tension, when something unexpectedly affects you, when you are enjoying something, or when you are unsure what you feel.
Pause and ask
What is happening in me right now?
Stay interested for a moment longer than you usually would.
You do not always need to change the experience. Sometimes the useful thing is simply to know it more clearly.
NoticeStayFollowLearn
This is a direction of travel, not a rigid sequence.Take a copy with you
Print or save this resource
Use your browser's print dialog to print the key practices or save them as a PDF.