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Five Senses Practice

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This handout can be used to guide your practice of attending to the five senses. Ideally this practice is done somewhere in nature. At Stanford, we take this worksheet to our beautiful cactus garden

near the psychiatry building. The directions are simple, use the corresponding bubbles to jot down what you notice regarding your sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. At the cactus garden, it is hard to notice taste, so you may use the “flavor” of the air as the cue for this sense. A fun activity following the completion of the worksheet is to try to turn your observations into a poem about the experience.

A thumbnail of the practice is visible to the right.

You can download the worksheet with the link below:

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Enjoy the practice!

The Mindful Pause

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This week our practice focus is simplicity. There is so much joy that can be connected to by simply taking a moment out of the day and pausing, breathing, sensing this wakeful presence that is right here, right now and allowing all of this moment in. So please take a few moments right now to do that while you gave upon this beautiful image below:

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Five Senses of Fall

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Hello Mindful Readers! This week’s focus is the Five Senses of Fall. Last week was the Fall Equinox- the first sign that days won’t be quite as long as summer time, and that the season has changed.

This week’s practice will be a reflection on Fall, and what that means to you using our Five Senses.

1. Sight- What do you see that lets you know it is Fall?
2. Sound- What kinds of sounds might you hear during Fall?
3. Taste- What kinds of tastes make you think of Fall?
4. Smell- What kinds of smells remind you of Fall?
5. Touch- What might you touch, or stomp on in the Fall?

Student tip: If you’re feeling creative, make a collage with magazine pictures, or photos you print off the computer (with your parent or guardian’s permission). A drawing is also a great idea. You can even ask if it’s okay to take your own photos of what reminds you of fall for each sense and make a collage with those photos. The sky is the limit. Use your awesome creative skills!

Teacher’s tip: Engage the students to perhaps imagine they are actually working through each experience with their five senses. Ex. Tell me what you see outside that reminds you of Fall. Tell me what a pumpkin pie is like that reminds you of Fall flavors. For more creative students, you might support them in making a collage, or figuring out what to take photos of that best represents their Five Senses of Fall.

3×3 Mindfulness Challenge: Reflection

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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!

3×3 Mindfulness Challenge: Mind

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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!

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