Practice Mindfulness
Tips and Resources
With so much uncertainty about the future, it is normal and natural to feel overwhelmed, frustrated, or anxious. Mindfulness means acknowledging these feelings without being carried away by strong emotions. Explore the tips and resources below to practice grounding yourself and reclaiming your thoughts.
Tips
General
- To be mindful is to try to be present in the moment without interpretation or judgement
- Mindfulness takes practice. It is by definition purposeful and asks you to redirect your thoughts
- Schedule time-outs into your daily routine. Set frequent reminders to pause what you are doing, stretch, and move around
- Practice mindful pauses anytime you are feeling tense
- Check in with your body. Notice the feelings you are experiencing from your feet to your head
- Pay attention to how your body experiences stress
- Check in with your breathing. Feel air go in and out of your nose and mouth. Explore breathing exercises below
- Try a guided meditation. Some start or close the day with meditation, and others meditate as needed
- Minimize screen time
For Teens
- Be flexible, creating time and space for your teen to take a break when needed
- Work with your teen to incorporate tech breaks of at least 15-20 minutes into their day
- When stressed, help your teen to notice the things that are good - or even just ok - right now
- Help teens to challenge their own beliefs about a situation and remember that thoughts are not facts
- Teach your teens to S.T.O.P. when overwhelmed: Stop, Take deep breaths, Observe what’s going on, Proceed
For Kids
- Model mindfulness for your children. Take pauses with them
- Turn off screens during meals and play
- Kids can practice mindfulness even when not sitting still, like on a swing or wrapped in a blanket
- Breathing exercises are effective even in younger kids. Keep it simple - try teaching your kids belly breathing
- Help kids notice their surroundings with a five senses exercise (“What do you smell right now, what do you hear,” etc.) For scripts for five senses exercises and other relaxation exercises, explore the Intermountain Mindfulness Workbook
For Infants and Toddlers
- Children benefit from parents that are mindfully present
- Choose routine tasks (i.e. feeding/changing an infant) as checkpoints to pause, take deep breaths, and refocus to the present
- If you are becoming frustrated with a fussy infant, lay them down somewhere safe (like a crib) and remove yourself from the situation
Anxiety
