1. Incorporating Mindfulness Practices in Your Recovery Jessica Cozart, SAC-T April 30, 2016

2. Why Mindfulness is a Superpower: An Animation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6T02g5hnT4

3. What are your experiences with mindfulness?

4. Defining Mindfulness  “Mindfulness is the ability to know what’s happening in your head at any given moment without getting carried away by it”

5. “Paying attention in a particular way;

6. on purpose,

7. in the present moment,

8. and non-judgmentally” Jon Kabat-Zinn

9. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Core Mindfulness Skills

10. “WHAT” Skills  Observe  Be curious about your experience  Simply notice, without trying to change  Describe  Use objective words to label your experience  Call a thought “just a thought,” and a feeling “just a feeling”

11. Exercise: Observe & Describe 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Activity

12.  In pairs, observe and describe the following:  5 things you can see  4 things you can touch  3 things you can hear  2 things you can smell  1 thing you can taste

13. “HOW” Skills  Non-judgmental stance  Awareness without evaluation  Remember, when you find yourself judging, don’t judge your judging!  One-Mindfully  Do one thing at a time with all your attention  Let go of distractions & concentrate your mind

14. Exercise: One-Mindfully Can we really multitask?

15. Let’s return to our definition…

16. Defining Mindfulness  “Mindfulness is the ability to know what’s happening in your head at any given moment without getting carried away by it”

17. Mindfulness is NOT  Positive thinking  Going into a trance  Trying to empty your mind  Always relaxing!

18. Response vs. Reaction

19. Event Interpretation Feeling Action Urge Action Result

20. Practice 1 minute breathing exercise

21. Things to keep in mind as you practice mindfulness

22. 1. Mindfulness is like mental training

23. 2. Plan to incorporate mindfulness practices into your routine

24. 3. Start small & work your way up

25. 4. Be kind to yourself!

26. Mindfulness Exercises

27. There are many paths to mindfulness!  Breathing exercises  Mindful Activities  Eating  Walking  Housecleaning

28.  Mindfulness of the external world  Observing your environment  Mindfulness of your internal experience  Thoughts, sensations, emotions  Body scans There are many paths to mindfulness!

29.  Meditation  Formal & informal  Community groups  Apps, audio files, and videos

30. Questions?