An alternative way to do simple mindfulness (Part 1)
Most mindfulness techniques have at their heart a simple instruction.
Focus on your breath…
This is supposed to be simple, but what if it isn’t simple for you? What then? For people struggling with anxiety it may increase the feelings of panic.
Mindfulness involves placing our attention on a chosen anchor, noticing when our mind is distracted or wandering and choosing to return it back, with a king and friendly curiosity towards the experience. You should start simple by focusing 1 – 5 minutes or even do short 30 second bursts a couple of times during the day. So, I want to introduce you to a few alternatives to using breathing as the anchor focused around our senses.
1. Look & Focus
Choose an everyday object in the room to look at and become aware of the colour, shape or light reflections. I personally like looking at a light candle as its often flickers so there is movement too.
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Natural ways to reduce anxiety – Part 4
Following on from my last post on calm breathing, I want to introduce you to calming counting. The advantage of this technique over calm breathing is that it helps you stop focusing on worried thoughts! Calming Counting
- Sit comfortably.
- Take a long, deep breath and exhale it slowly while saying the word "relax" silently.
- Close your eyes.
- Let yourself take ten natural, easy breaths. Count down with each exhale, starting with "ten."
- This time, while you are breathing comfortably, notice any tensions, perhaps in your jaw or forehead or stomach. Imagine those tensions loosening.
- When you reach "one," open your eyes again.
Your energy account
We all know that we aim to have a good nights sleep to wake up full of energy. But as I have said before, sleep is only one way to boost your energy. Think of yourself as having an energy account, and energy raising activities e.g. sleep, credit your energy account and energy draining activities e.g. frustration, debit your energy account. You may find it helpful to work out the balance on your energy account. Use the table below to identify what in your life drains your energy and what raises your energy.
Now you have worked out what is happening to your energy account. If you are unhappy with how much energy your have then I recommend you go back through the energy raising activities and consider what you can easily incorporate into your life. Once you had done this and implemented them, then you can go through your energy draining activities and see what you can give up. It is important to boost your energy first as it put you in to a positive state of mind before tacking what in your life drains your energy.Energy Debits - Energy Draining Activites Energy Credits - Energy Raising Activities Unhealthy eating with heavy, rich, fatty, sugary good Health diet with give excellent nutrition supported by vitamin and mineral supplements Alcohol Cigarettes Drug abuse Over-stimulation (including over work) Natural highs from nature, dance, relaxation, music, physical achievement, humour and creativity. Sedentary lifestyle Exercise Fear Worries Anxiety Stress Frustration Depression Feeling things are out of control Security Peace of mind Rest Joy Happiness Isolation and loneliness Lack of love or support Being dominated Being stuck in the past Close personal relationships Sense of belonging Healthy boundaries Ability to forgive including yourself No self-expression Boredom Underachievement Creative self-expression Excitement Achieving Lack of purpose and meaning Clarity about your true values, purpose and meaning Difficult relationships Good relationships Lack of spiritual nourishment No sources of uplift Good sources of spiritual uplift
