Mindfulness Living in the moment keeps you centered and away from the “what if’s” and “why not’s”. Mindfulness is about staying in touch with your own experience moment to moment in an accepting way. It is a practice that is helpful to control thoughts that have a life of their own. Using these concepts may be helpful if you find yourself triggered and overwhelmed. Mindfulness Concepts:
1. Observing -‐ Pay attention to yourself, your environment and others around you. When observing, the trick is to just notice things, like “I notice I’m thinking about the future.” Or “I notice my pulse is faster as I’m talking with my mother.” 2. Describe – Now put words to the things you observe. You can describe simple things like washing the dishes or going for a walk. Describe all the details you see and the actions you are doing. 3. Participate – Allow yourself to be completely immersed in the activity, allowing yourself to forget everything else. Managing Thoughts: Sometimes our worst enemy is our minds and what we think about and tell ourselves. Thoughts are just thoughts! They are not you. Here are some helpful suggestions when you are struggling with painful thoughts. (From: Get out of Your Mind and Into Your Life, Steven c. Hayes, Ph.D) 1. Label your thoughts – Call out loud exactly what you are doing, rather than just thinking the thought. You are “having” the thought. For example, if you are thinking that you are unworthy of love, instead of saying, “I am unlovable”, add a label to the event of thinking: “I am having a thought that I’m unlovable.” Try it this way: • I am having the thought that…… • I am having the feeling that….. • I am having the memory that…. This allows you to put distance between the thought and you. The thought is not you!
www.dbtselfhlep.com; Get out of Your Mind and Into Your Life, (2005) Steven C. Hayes Dialectical Behavior Therapy Training, 2012