Mindfulness programme week one

 

I was lucky enough to be able to do Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy programme following my introduction to the concept in my Therapeutic Patient Education seminars. It took place over 8 weeks starting in January but ending in October because of Covid! I outlined what Mindfulness is in my previous post on it, so instead this and following posts will focuses on the types of mindful meditation I learnt to do and what I took away from the course. 

5 senses exercise 

In this exercise we were told to close our eyes and a small object was placed in our hands. we were then told to explore the object by touching it, tapping it and listening to it, and smelling it. It was hard and gritty and left a residue on my fingers, and smelled cheesy. We were then asked to take the ultimate leap of faith and bite into it. To my surprise I discovered that it was a piece of dried banana! I'd been expecting some kind of cheesy biscuit due to the smell. We the opened our eyes to look at the remaining piece and we observed the small holes in the middle and the slight translucency of it. 

This exercise was meant to introduce us to the idea of being mindful and in the moment. We were told to try it at home and I very much enjoy doing it with a piece of chocolate from time to time; really taking the time to savor it means that I feel the need to eat less! I also enjoy doing a slightly modified version when walking on my commute- I pay attention to everything I can see, hear, feel, smell, and even taste (usually toothpaste!). This exercise can also be enjoyable to do in the shower, espcially when you change to a new scent of shower gel. 

Body scanning exercise

In this exercise we scanned up through our body from our toes to our head, trying to pay attention to how each part of ourselves felt, for example if we were carrying tension in our shoulders. I find doing this exercise slowly hard as I struggle to scan a body part for more than a few seconds, and during the course we would do this for up to 30 minutes at a time. Definitely not my favourite type of mindfulness but interesting to try nonetheless. 

Some takeaways 

It is important to take time to just be present in the here and now and listen to your body and/or pay attention to what is around you. This enables you to take a break from regretting the past or worrying about the future and just to live in the present moment.