Chapter 11

Ten Simple Mindfulness Exercises for Managing Anxiety

Mindfulness doesn't mean sitting cross-legged and meditating in that position for hours on end. Those meditations do make up some of the practice of mindfulness, but you can also bring mindfulness to the simplest of everyday activities.

This chapter explores how you can be mindful daily with ten simple exercises.

Being Mindful in Nature

I was lucky enough to go to the New Forest in Hampshire the other day. Horses and cows had free rein to walk across the road whenever they liked, rows of trees went on for miles and miles and the sun was bringing out the flowers’ beauty and colours.

Just being there, breathing in the air and walking along the edge of the forest, made me feel calm. Reconnecting with nature is a great way to rest your inner being, your deepest sense of self. Living in a city or town, you can all too easily get caught up in the busyness of city life and modern-day living.

If you do live far away from the country or from nature, here are some suggestions to help connect with nature:

Most towns in the city have a local park where you can enjoy the trees while walking with mindfulness.

Carrying out a Mini Body Scan Meditation

This meditation is a shorter version of the body scan I detail in Chapter 5. You can incorporate it into your day in the morning when you first wake up or when you're lying down during the day for a short rest, for example.

Allow 5–10 minutes for this meditation:

1. Place a hand on your stomach.

   Become aware of your breath as your stomach rises and falls. Try to accept the breath as it is without forcing it.

2. Imagine the breath going all the way down the body into both legs and both feet.

   If you find this difficult, just bring a mindful awareness to both feet. What do they feel like? What does the contact feel like with the bed or the floor?

3. Picture the breath rising up your body, from both feet and up the legs.

   Become aware of both knees and any sensations there. Similarly, become aware of both hips when you reach that point.

4. Focus your breathing and mindful awareness on your tummy area and lower back.

   Become aware of any sensations, remembering to bring a sense of curiosity and acceptance as much as you can.

5. Bring the breath and mindful awareness to your chest and upper back.

   Remember if the mind wanders off, just gently guide it back to the breath and whatever you're focusing on.

6. Guide your breath gently down both arms to the fingertips and back up to the shoulders.

   Observe any sensations in the wrist and elbow as you go.

7. Focus your awareness on the neck, slowly moving up to the head.

   Become aware of facial expressions and any tension in your face.

8. Bring a sense of gratitude for your amazing body.

   Also, bring kindness toward yourself for taking care of your health in this way.

9. Open your eyes gently.

Trying out a Mini Sitting Meditation

Sitting meditation is about opening up your whole awareness. This short sitting meditation can help you manage anxiety in a few ways. (Check out Chapter 5 for more details and the full version.)

This mini exercise can be practised any time you have a spare few minutes. Read through the steps first and then have a go at practising it.

1. Sit in a comfortable position.

   Become aware of your breathing.

2. Notice any sensations you can feel in your whole body.

   Accept any aches and pains as best as you can. Bring a sense of curiosity to them. If it helps, try breathing in and out of the part of your body that causes you discomfort if you can imagine this.

3. Notice any sounds around you.

   Be aware of the volume, the pitch and the quality of the sound. Discover how your mind judges sounds. Notice the silence in between and underneath the sounds. Let the sounds come to you instead of reaching out for them.

4. Become aware of any thoughts you're having.

   Try not to become caught up in thinking. Try to distance yourself from your thoughts. Watch them arise and pass away, just like sounds do.

5. Allow your attention to be open.

   Notice whatever is strongest for you – sounds, thoughts, bodily sensations, emotions or even just your breathing. If your mind wanders off, gently guide it back to your breathing and then go back to your open awareness.

Breathing Mindfully

Mindful breathing is one of the most basic of mindfulness meditations, but that doesn't mean it isn't as useful or as effective as the others. Its great strength is that you can breathe mindfully anywhere. The practice usually lasts for about ten minutes, but you can practice it for as long or as little as you like.

To practise this meditation, sit in a comfortable, upright position:

1. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing.

   Choose where you can feel your breath the best: perhaps the tummy, the back of the throat or the breath going in and out of your nose. Accept the breathing as it is without forcing it to be a certain way.

2. Bring your mind gently back to your breathing.

   Your mind may wander off, which is perfectly normal. Don't judge or berate yourself; just gently guide your mind back to the breath. Accept whatever arises for you without getting annoyed or frustrated at yourself.

3. Open your eyes gently and notice how you feel.

   Have a little stretch if you want and then carry on with your day.

Practising a Mini Loving-Kindness Meditation

Loving-kindness is a great meditation for yourself and others. It can help you improve difficult or challenging relationships and any anxiety that arises as a result.

You can find a full version of a loving-kindness meditation in Chapter 6. Here's a mini version:

1. Lie down in a really comfortable position.

   You can do so on the floor or on a bed.

2. Place your hands on your heart and imagine a warmth arising from it.

   Say to yourself, ‘May I be well, may I be happy, may I be full of love.’

3. Imagine people that you know, such as family and close friends.

   Say to them, ‘May you be well, may you be happy, may you be full of love.’

4. Imagine everyone you know – friends, family, acquaintances, work colleagues, people you see every day and people you don't like.

   Say to them, ‘May you be well, may you be happy, may you be full of love.’

5. Imagine everyone you know, plus every living thing on the planet.

   Expand your awareness to as many living creatures and countries and populations as you can. Say, ‘May we all be well, may we all be happy, may we all be full of love.’

Listening Mindfully

Sometimes people hear but don't really listen. They do so because they're on automatic pilot and thinking about what they're going to say or do next without listening to what other people are saying or to what's going on. Mindful listening is important because it helps you to connect, and it improves your relationships with other people. How many times have you had conversations with people where you thought they weren't listening to you and were just waiting for their turn to speak?

You can also adapt the following mindfulness of sounds meditation to listening to a conversation you're engaged in:

1. Focus on your breath for a couple of minutes.
2. Open your awareness gently to all the sounds you can hear.
3. Notice how your mind is quick to judge the sounds that arise.
4. Be aware of the volume, pitch and quality of the sounds as they change.
5. Notice the silence between and underneath all sounds.
6. Let the sounds come to you.
7. Rest your attention on any sounds you can hear.

Cooking Mindfully

Cooking can be a creative pastime, and mindfulness enhances your enjoyment of it. Have a go at cooking a recipe that you love, or one you want to try, and notice what the experience is like for you.

Get a list of ingredients for your chosen recipe and follow these steps:

1. Feel your breath and the sensations in your body before you begin to cook.
2. Experience the sensations in your body as you whisk, chop, beat or crack the ingredients you're using.
3. Notice the texture of the food change as you start to prepare the meal.
4. Look out for any smells and new tastes while you're preparing the food.
5. Eat the food mindfully with friends or alone, making sure that you notice any differences in taste or smell.

   Chapter 5 discusses mindful eating in more detail.

Walking Mindfully

You can carry out any activity mindfully, even walking!

This exercise is a guide for slow mindful walking, which helps to get you to be mindful if you're feeling restless:

1. Stand upright in a stable position with your feet hip-width apart so that you're standing in a balanced position.
2. Become aware of your breath.
3. Shift most of your weight slowly onto your left foot and notice how the sensations in your feet change.
4. Move the weight onto the right foot and notice any sensations there.
5. Shift the weight back onto your left foot so that almost no weight is on the right foot.
6. Lift your right heel slowly and place it heel-first in front of you, becoming aware of your weight shifting in the body.
7. Complete the step.
8. Begin again with the left foot, noticing the weight of the body shifting and all the sensations when you take footsteps.
9. Walk in this slow mindful way for ten minutes or so, or as long as you can.

Stretching Mindfully

Mindful stretching is another great physical mindful exercise.

Do these movements as slowly as you can, because the purpose of the exercise is mindfulness, not stretching:

1. Stand in a balanced upright position.
2. Feel your breath without trying to control it.
3. Close your eyes gently.
4. Raise your arms slowly to the sky and feel the stretch in your arms and back.
5. Bring the arms back down again to your sides.
6. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 three times.
7. Notice how your body feels after you finish your stretching.

Cleaning Mindfully

Housework can sometimes feel like a real chore, but bringing a sense of mindfulness to it can enhance your enjoyment and give you a feeling of mastery when you complete the task.

Here are some ways to be mindful when cleaning.