MINDFULNESS

In our everyday life we are often far

from being mindful: when we do seve-
ral things at once or automatically, or
when we are controlled by established
habits, thought patterns and beliefs.
Whenever we think we already know
something, we are no longer present
in the moment. We are in „autopilot
mode“. Being mindful, on the other
hand, means observing internal and
external processes with undivided,
calm attention and to perceive them as
a holistic image. Mindfulness in other
words, means to be present - comple-
tely in the here and now.

TIPS TO LIVE IN THE HERE AND NOW

WHAT BENEFIT DOES MINDFUL- THE RAISIN EXERCISE
NESS GIVE US? This is how it works:
Normally we react immediately to ›› Take a single raisin.
a stimulus. For example, if you are
›› Look at the raisin as if you have
stuck in a traffic jam, you get annoy-
never seen a raisin in your life.
ed. But mindfulness acts as a buffer
Describe the raisin in every detail
between stimulus and reaction. This
(colour, shape, surface).
creates a gap that helps to loosen up
and change established reaction pat- ›› Now close your eyes and feel the
terns. We then are no longer helpless- raisin as it lies on your hand (is it
ly exposed to certain events, but can heavy or light ?). Take the raisin
react appropriately to a situation as between your thumb and fore-
conscious beings. We leave our „auto- finger and feel the consistency of
pilot mode“ and enter an active state the raisin (soft or hard, how does
and self-determination. But how? For the surface feel?)
example with this small and very ef-
fective exercise, for which you only
need a few minutes of time and a
raisin:
›› Where does this raisin come from?
›› Which and how many people were
involved in its creation?
›› Smell the raisin. Which thoughts and
feelings come up?
›› Put the raisin on your tongue - but
please do not chew it yet - just
place it on your tongue. How does HOW DOES THE
the raisin feel? Is there already a RAISIN TASTE?
taste?
›› And now chew exactly once and
then feel. What changes?
›› Now chew the raisin at least 10-20
times and be careful. Take a break
and pay attention to your senses. Sources:
What do you taste, where exactly in
Renate Heiderich (www.shift-thinking.de)
your mouth do you taste it?
http://www.coaching-akademie-muenchen.de/
›› And now swallow the raisin - images/pdf/pdf-nl-3-2013-methode-achtsam-
observe what happens next. keit-rosinenuebung.pdf
MINDFULNESS MEDITATION
In mindfulness meditation, we adopt a
stable, upright and therefore „proud“
sitting posture. Then you close your
eyes or focus on a fix point and concen-
trate on your breath. This can be done
in several ways. We suggest that you
concentrate on the sensation in the ab-
domen, which occurs when breathing in
and out.
Your task now is to keep your attention
on this feeling at all times. To make it
easier to focus on your breath, you say
„in“ to yourself with every inhalation
and „out“ with every exhalation. Try to
notice as quickly as possible when your
attention is wandering off. If you notice
that your brain is busy with something
other than your breath, make a short
note and return to the exercise.
When thoughts come up, say to yourself:
„Thoughts“. When bodily sensations ari-
se, say to yourself, „bodily sensations“.
When feelings such as anger, impatien-
ce or restlessness arise, say to yourself,
„There is anger/impatience/restless-
ness“.
If you find that you feel pain in your
knees from sitting for long periods of
time, you can try to simply perceive
this feeling, make a mental note and
then return to breathing. However,
your brain will quickly turn back to the
pain and activate avoidance schemes:
You will feel an impulse to sit down
differently. But you can also try again
to simply observe („bodily sensation“,
„movement impulse“, „restlessness“)
and then concentrate on your breath
again.
You can do this as long as you can. If it is
really unbearable, pause briefly, thank
yourself for the great effort and find
NOT IMMEDIATELY REACT
another sitting position or take a short
break in which you can stretch your legs. WITH AVOIDANCE

One of the great advantages of this

exercise is that you really train to be
able to bear also unpleasant bodily sen-
sations and feelings and not immediate-
ly react with avoidance.
GOALS:

›› Not to think what is not possible at

the moment, but focus on what is.
›› Radical acceptance (acceptance of
the situation and my feelings)
›› Non-judgemental perception of
your thoughts and feelings
SPENDING MORE TIME IN THE judge it (too) strongly. Often it is not
MOMENT INCREASES WELL- the actual things that trigger certain
emotions in us, but rather our thoughts
BEING AND CONCENTRATION about these things. By daring to allow
Mindfulness means to perceive the unpleasant things to happen without
present attentively and to accept it wit- judging, worrying or distracting one-
hout judgment. self, the level of stress decreases.
Mindfulness means attention. For the In principle, thinking about something
present, for all that is there - without a lot is not a bad thing. On the contra-
wanting to change it. But this can be ry: it can even trigger feelings of hap-
difficult, especially when we do not piness - for example, when we solve a
feel well. Then (negative) thoughts can problem, make someone happy or learn
take over, we get stuck in the past or something new.
drift off into the future, worrying about
things that might happen one day. And
afterwards we blame ourselves for ha-
ving thought about it too much again.
Thoughts and feelings come and go. It MINDFULNESS MEANS
is quite natural. We only get into the ATTENTION
downards spiral of thoughts when we
block ourselfs against something or
MINDFULNESS CAN BE TRAINED
However, going through life more mind-
ful requires a certain continuity and
practice (there is a reason for mindful-
ness trainers to exist). The longer you
stay involved, the more success will be
noticeable. Mindfulness exercises help
you to become the boss of your own
world of thoughts, to feel your body,
senses, needs and feelings, to let stress
pass, …
The following mindfulness exercises
are well suited for beginners and do
not take up much time.
5 ADDITIONAL MINDFULNESS EXERCISES

1 START YOUR DAY RIGHT

WITH MEDITATION
You can already start the day
›› The emphasis is on perceiving
things: This short meditation and
mindfulness exercise is about
training not to get stuck on a fee-
with a good portion of mindful- ling or thought, but to let unplea-
ness. Simply take a few minutes sant things go without getting angry
for this, preferably immediately about them. This is achieved by
after waking up and lie down with realizing that you „get stuck“ and
open eyes. then shifting your attention to the
Now you: next part of your body or simply
focus on breathing. Maybe it helps
›› Consciously breathe in and
to let go by saying to yourself, „Oh,
out deeply several times.
okay, this is a thought that is on my
›› Close your eyes and focus on mind.“
your body and your mood,
listen carefully: The best way
to do this is to scan your
body once, from head to toe,
and perceive how you feel,
what thoughts and ideas are
circulating.
2 APPRECIATE THE ORDINARY
THINGS IN LIFE
Mindfulness exercises can al-
enjoying. Why don‘t you try to eat
very slowly and describe exactly
what you taste, feel and perceive.

ways be practiced - whether whi- ›› Walking to work or going for a stroll:

le brushing your teeth, having How does walking feel under my
breakfast, or on your way to work feet? How many steps do I take per
or waiting for the bus. What does breath? What do my arms do when I
the toothbrush in the mouth feel walk? Alternatively, you can acti-
like? What kind of sounds does it vely concen trate on your surroun-
make? Is the toothpaste cold or dings and look for beautiful or
warm? strange things. You will certainly
discover tiny details that you have
Concentrating fully on just one never noticed before. Here, too, rule
thing - the opposite of multitas- number one is: feel, smell, listen.
king - is the key to more attenti-
veness. Our brain shuts off all the TIP: During this mindfulness exercise it
hustle and bustle around us and can help you to make „inner notes“ by
focuses. That feels good! formulating what you are just discover-
ing - or imagine that your head is a ca-
›› Especially when eating, it‘s a mera and your eyes are taking pictures
great experience: far too of your favourite impressions.
often we eat fast and without
3 STONE MEDITATION
Stone meditation sounds like
some sort of hocus-pocus? This
exercise is not as weird as it
sounds. The next time you go for
a walk, just pick up a stone that
you would have kicked away with
your feet or that you normally
would have walked past. Find a
quiet and comfortable place at
home and examine the stone with
all your senses. What colour is
the stone? What does its surfa-
ce look like and how does it feel?
What does the stone smell like?
What kind of sounds can it make?
It is best to close your eyes, as
this sharpens your other senses.
Where does it come from? What
has it already experienced? And
off we go on a fantastic journey …
4 BREATHE!
A popular tool in mindfulness
exercises is your own breath.
After all, it is always there and
flows through us.
During a breathing exercise, one
pays close attention to the course
of their breath throughout the
body. You feel the draft through
your nostrils, the expansion of your
chest and the convexity of your
abdomen. It is not important to
breathe particularly deeply. Your
breath should remain exactly as it
naturally is. Simply observe it, do
not change it. You should take at
least five minutes for this mindful-
ness exercise. If you like, you can of
course continue for longer. An alarm
clock helps you to let go, so you
don‘t have to blink all the time.
5 KEEP A DIARY
A diary help you record the mo-
ments when you were complete-
ly in the here and now, e.g. when
you took a bath, went for a walk
or made a phone call. Whether in
form of notes or as a written text
– the more often these thoughts
are written down, the more you
train your attention and consci-
ousness.
By the way: keeping a diary is
also a great sleep ritual, it pro-
motes the formation of positive
thoughts.
MORNING RITUALS CAN ALSO WORK MI-
RACLES. FOR EXAMPLE YOU CAN START
THE DAY OFF BY:

›› stretching out long and wide

›› opening the window and breathe in
and out deeply
›› a short meditation
›› putting on your favourite music
›› haveing a glass of water
›› play a round of ...

Really anything that makes you feel

good in the morning is allowed.

Source: https://www-de.scoyo.com
 MORE TIPS & SUGGESTIONS
FOR THE CORONA EVERYDAY LIFE

Tips for staying at home Managing university tasks

with children (PDF) in a structured way (PDF)

Tips for organising your

Weekly schedule (PDF)
daily routine (PDF)

List of pleasant activities to Video about the Pomodoro

do at home (PDF) technique (YouTube)

Initial help on dealing with Annual Calendar

(negative) feelings (PDF)
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