By Grace Landry, BHSc

I am going to invite you to focus your attention on an object that is in front of you. This object could be a plant in your office, a pencil on the table, or a tree outside your window. What are you feeling when looking at this object? What are you hearing? What are you smelling? Focus on what you are feeling and where you are feeling as you look at this object. Is your mind feeling calm? Is your stomach feeling queasy? Are your hands feeling sweaty?

If you chose to participate in this activity, you just practiced some mindfulness. Well done!

Mindfulness is a common strategy to use for coping and looks different for everyone. From noticing how you are feeling during a heated conversation or listening to calming ocean sounds for two-minutes before bed. Practicing mindfulness means bringing awareness to our present experiences and emotions (Creswell, 2017). A common misconception with mindfulness is that it must look like meditation; as in sitting cross legged on the floor, eyes closed, and slowly and quietly saying “uhmmm”. Mindfulness can absolutely look like this, but it can also look like laying outside in the grass, sitting down on the couch and journaling, or colouring in a colouring book. Mindfulness has many health benefits including reducing stress and anxiety, improving attention and memory, and promoting self-regulation (Mineo, 2018).

Mindfulness can be incorporated into anyone’s routine, including children! Incorporating mindfulness exercises for children can help with emotional regulation, academic performance, social skills, and more. Teaching children how to be mindful will exercise the executive functioning skills of feeling more than one feeling at a time. For example, if a child is angry, it doesn’t mean that they only feel angry. They can also feel sad and angry, or happy and angry, or grateful and angry. Mindfulness gives people the outlet to experience what they are feeling and identify where they are feeling it.

There are several Mindful Moment exercises on the Building Brains Together website. More exercises are added every month so try what is there and check back to see what is new.