Mindfulness Skills - VIDEO 2 - QUIZ

Understanding Mindfulness: What Skills and Techniques to Use

• Mindfulness is the state of fully awake and embodied awareness that arises through paying attention on purpose in the present moment.
• Mindfulness includes focused attention, open awareness, and kind intention.
• Observe is the first skill of mindfulness, which involves observing our experience at the level of pure sensation using our five senses.
• Describing what we are observing is an optional step, using objective words and phrases, not judgments or editorializing.
• Describing what we observe can help us recognize and name our feelings, which can help calm us down and settle our nervous system.
• Imagining that thoughts and feelings are coming and going can help us let them pass naturally without clinging to them, which can lead to more suffering.
• Some images that can be used to allow things we observe to pass through our awareness are putting them in a box and watching them travel down a conveyor belt, putting them on a leaf on a stream and watching them float away, or imagining clouds in the sky passing by.
• Participate is the third skill of mindfulness, which involves putting mindfulness into action in everyday life.
• Engaging in everyday activities mindfully can help slow down and tune into sensory experiences, which can help put us in the moment and take us out of our heads.
• Mindfulness is often practiced in DBT groups and can also be found on the internet and apps.
• Practicing mindfulness can help improve mental health and overall well-being.
• Mindfulness involves being aware of our thoughts, feelings, and surroundings without judgment or attachment, which can help us respond to situations more effectively.