Mindful Practices of the Month

MONTH

MINDFUL PRACTICE

DEFINITION

September

(Breathing Introduction)

Begin introducing breathing practices.

October

Breathing

Mindful breathing means paying attention to what breathing feels like for you.  We can breathe in and out slowly and notice how it helps us focus, relax, and make good choices.

November

Body Scan

Mindful body scan means paying attention to how our bodies feel.  When we notice how our bodies feel it helps us relax our muscles and feel our energy.  It also reminds us of when we need to try a calming strategy.

December

Heartfulness/

Kind Thoughts

Heartfulness means thinking of and sending kind thoughts to yourself and others.  Heartfulness helps us send out our positive energy and feel better about people and things that may bother us.

January

Coping Skills

Mindful Coping skills means paying attention to how you feel and noticing when you need to use a coping skill to feel better.  We can use things in the “Relaxation Station” or any positive strategy and notice how our thoughts and feelings may change.

February

Seeing

Mindful seeing means paying attention to what we see.  We can notice details things of things which we did not see before. Mindful seeing can help us appreciate things and also notice others’ feelings more.

March

Cooperating

Mindful cooperating means paying attention to how you act, feel, and treat others when you’re working with others.  When we pay attention to how we cooperate we can get along well with others, even when we don’t agree.

April

Thinking

Mindful Thinking means paying attention to our thoughts and noticing how our thoughts make us feel.  When we notice our thoughts we can choose to keep thinking the ones that are helpful to us and change the ones that do not help us.

May

Movement

Mindful Movement means paying attention to how our bodies feel as we move.  Mindful movement can be doing yoga, playing sports, or walking as we notice how these activities feel to our bodies and minds.  We can use mindful movement to help us calm or energize our bodies.

June

Reflection

Mindful Reflecting means thinking back on what happened.  When we reflect on what worked, we can remind ourselves to do this again.  When we reflect on what did not work well we can think of ways to change things for the better.