Mindful

This week’s practice is to reflect on the Mindfulness Challenge you just completed. It’s not easy to commit to something, especially your practice. You’ve now gotten an idea of what is is like to practice Mindfulness on almost half the days of the week, WOW! What a great accomplishment that is all by itself!

After accomplishing something, it is important to take time to reflect, or look back, on that accomplishment. This is how we can learn the most from our experiences. If you’re wondering how to reflect, wonder no more, because the it is broken down for you in 5 easy steps.

It’s ok if you missed some days, or had to start a practice over, just answer the best you can. And…go!

1. What did I like most about practicing the 3×3 Mindfulness Challenge?
2. What was hardest about practicing the 3×3 Mindfulness Challenge?
3. What was it like making the challenge a regular part of my day?
   1. Was it easy to make time? Was it hard?
4. How did I feel after I practiced?
5. What advice would I give to myself for next time?

Of course there are always more questions to ask, but this is a good start and a good place to come back if you feel either stuck, or like you’re reaching a new level in your practice!

Practice Tip: Feel free to keep practicing any or all of the Mindfulness Challenges this week. Stay tuned next week to see how we’ll use our skills from this Challenge next!

It all starts with something small.

We began with a Mindfulness Challenge to start a small practice: three minutes a day, three days in a row. Take a moment here to congratulate yourself for your hard work and to think about how it was to take time to practice each Challenge, or even just to try practicing each Challenge. Small things can become really big, and it is definitely really big that you made it to this last week!

Now we’re at the third and final part of the Mindfulness Challenge. Each practice before has built a stepping stone to arrive where you are now. First Body, then Breath, and this week our Mindfulness Challenge will work with the Mind.

Our practice today is to find a Peaceful Place in the Mind. You can think of this like building a Rest Nest for yourself inside your head. So whenever you want to quiet down, press the pause button, or let go of some stress, you have a space that’s always there for you wherever you go.

Finding a Peaceful Place in the Mind:

1. Find a comfortable seat and close your eyes.
2. Notice how your body feels in your seated posture. See if you can soften your muscles here, just like in your Flower Petals Body Scan.
3. Now notice your breath, and see if you can use your Belly Breathing practice to make your breath big and full.
4. We’re ready to turn our attention to the Mind. Notice what’s going on in your mind right now. Are you thinking about something that happened or might happen? Is the mind off in a daydream?
5. Wherever your mind is, gently bring it back to this moment, right here and now.
6. Begin to imagine your favorite, most Peaceful Place. If you’ve already created a Rest Nest in your home or have one at school, maybe you imagine that Rest Nest. Maybe you have a favorite spot at the park, or some place you’ve gone with your family that was very peaceful for you.
7. Focus in on one Peaceful Place, and begin to notice as many things as you can about it. If it’s your Rest Nest, then maybe notice if there are pillows or blankets, and what color they are. If it’s outside, notice if there are birds or trees, and how they sound and look.
8. Begin to make this image of your Peaceful Place as clear as possible in your mind.
9. Imagine that with each Belly Breath, your Peaceful Place becomes more and more clear.
10. Take another ten breaths here, then slowly make your way out of your Peaceful Place and back into the room around you as you blink your eyes open.

Take a few moments here to reflect on your Peaceful Place. It can be really nice to draw it out or journal about it to help you remember for the next time you practice.

Remember, the Challenge is to practice 3 minutes a day, 3 days in a row! If you miss a day, don’t worry, just start again the next day. Good job and good luck!

It all starts with something small.

This week’s 3 x3 Mindfulness Challenge is a Flower Petals Body Scan. Practice your Flower Petals Body Scan for 3 Minutes a day, 3 days in a row! It is the same idea as the Glitter Globe Body Scan we practiced earlier in the year, just imagining Flower Petals instead of Glitter.

1. If you’d like, set a 3 minute timer on your phone with a calming alarm sound. You can also practice without a timer.
2. Begin in a comfortable seat with a tall spine and eyes closed.
3. Imagine you’re sitting under a beautiful tree full of flowers. A gentle breeze comes along and the Flower Petals blow off of the tree and begin to drift to the ground.
4. Start by noticing the Flower Petals as the reach the top of your head. Then follow them as they travels down your face, maybe scrunching up your face muscles and releasing here so they don’t tickle your nose.
5. Feel the Flower Petals moving over your shoulders and down your back. See if you can roll your shoulders back and down, softening to help the Flower Petals move more easily on their path.
6. Follow the Flower Petals as they roll over your heart space, and down across your belly. Take a big breath in to the belly here, and a deep breath out.
7. Imagine the Flower Petals brushing down the fronts and backs of your legs, touching your knees, and floating all the way down to your toes. Soften through your legs and feet to so the Flower Petals can move more easily to the ground.
8. Take a big big breath in through your nose and fill up your belly. Then blow all the air out through your mouth to clear off any Flower Petals that are still on you.
9. Keep your eyes closed and notice how you feel.
10. When your alarm rings, gently come back to the space you are in by blinking open your eyes, and taking gentle movement.

If you’re keeping track of your practice on a calendar or chart, go ahead and mark off one day of practice. Great job! Remember to keep practicing until you reach 3 days in a row!

Stay tuned for next week’s practice.