Written by Katie Dabbs | December 16 2020
After a year full of ups and downs, we know the holidays will look a bit different this year. While the decorations are up and the festive films are back on TV, not being able to see friends and family will mean some holidays traditions will be put on hold for another time. If you’re feeling a touch of the Holiday Blues or looking for a way to relax (aside from coming to MOVE if you can!), thankfully there are a few ways to help bring ourselves some peace and calm.
Mindfulness is a “collection of practices aimed at helping us to cultivate moment-to-moment awareness of ourselves and our environment” (Smith et al 2017). It is basically an awareness of our thoughts and feelings the moment that they appear in our mind. When we practice noticing our emotional and physical sensations in this way we can steer our responses and choices purposefully and unconsciously, which can help us achieve our goals.
Mindfulness has lots of benefits aside from helping you find some peace and quiet for yourself amid a challenging festive period! Researchers have found that meditation can help people tackle habituation - the tendency to stop paying attention to new information in our environment (Antonova, Chadwick & Kumari 2015). Other studies have shown it can help us recover better from stress (Taren et al 2015). Even better, evidence suggests that mindfulness can be beneficial long term to help stick to exercise goals and keep on track (Ulmer, Stetson & Salmon 2010) - perfect for those of us looking at new goals for 2021!
What are some mindfulness techniques?
There are lots of ways to begin a mindful practice - a quick Internet search returns lots of insightful articles and apps like Headspace and Insight Timer are extremely popular. Here are a few suggestions via Positive Psychology and Anxiety Canada.
1. The Raisin Exercise
This might sound funny, but it is a great introductory exercise for beginners. Don’t worry if you don’t love raisins - pick a fruit or vegetable with an interesting colour, smell or texture - perhaps a festive food like clementines?!
Pretend that you have never seen a raisin (or your chosen food!) before. Pay careful attention to:
The way the raisin looks;
How it feels;
Its smell;
Its taste.
Focusing on the raisin helps bring your mind to what is right in front of you. Taking time to notice these small details is helpful - you are less likely to focus your attention or energy on worries or other things going on around you. Don’t worry if your mind wanders - this will happen! Gently bring yourself back to the exercise.
2. The Body Scan
The Body Scan is another great mindfulness technique, contemplating the sensations we experience through each part of the body and paying special attention to the way each area feels. The scan usually moves systematically through the body, for example, starting at the feet and moving upwards. Anxiety Canada has a useful PDF document to help you conduct your own Body Scan.
A typical Body Scan could go as follows:
Step 1: Lie or sit down in a comfortable place like a carpeted floor, couch or bed.
Step 2: Gently close your eyes. Let your shoulders drop down and away from your ears. Bring your attention to your breathing - notice the rhythm and experience of breathing in and out. Move with awareness if you need to adjust your position.
Step 3: Bring your attention to your body: how it feels, the texture of clothing against your skin, the contours of the surface on which the body is resting, the temperature of the body and the environment. Perhaps you’re chilly after having been outside admiring holiday lights...
Step 4: See if you are able to just notice what you feel without judgment – for example, if you notice tingling, warmth, pulsating, tightness, or other sensations. Again, it’s not about whether these sensations are good or bad, it’s just about noticing them.
Step 5: Scan your body from your feet to your head, bringing awareness and curiosity to areas you notice different sensations.
3. 10-minute Mindfulness Routine
This quick three-step mindfulness practice is ideal if you only have a short amount of time to practice.
Step 1: Bring awareness to what you are doing, thinking, and sensing at this moment. Sit comfortably and notice any thoughts and feelings that come up by acknowledging them without judgement then letting them pass.
Step 2: Bring awareness to your breathing for at least six breaths.
The goal is to focus attention on one thing: your breath. Be aware of the movement of your body with each breath, of how your chest rises and falls, how your belly pushes in and out, and how the breath feels in your nose - is there a specific part of your breath you notice most?
Step 3: Expand your awareness outward from your body to the environment.
Begin to become aware of your body. Notice any sensations you are experiencing, like tension, aches, or perhaps a lightness in your face or shoulders.
Expand your awareness out to the environment around you. Bring your attention to what is in front of you. Notice any colors and patterns, smells and textures or sounds. Maybe you notice sparkling holiday lights, the smell of the Christmas tree or some holiday tunes playing!
When you are ready, slowly open your eyes. This short exercise helps you build awareness by allowing yourself to notice thoughts and feelings then letting them pass by.
Try out different durations, types, and frequencies of meditation and write down how you feel before and after the practice—and see what seems to work for you. You will notice as you begin that your mind might wander often as different thoughts come up - don’t feel discouraged, this is normal and is one of the things mindfulness can help with in the long run: choosing which thoughts we want to engage with. This will not only be useful over the holiday period, but also help you focus on your existing or any new goals at MOVE. With a little practice, mindfulness techniques can help us stay present and focused, through Christmas and beyond!
**Reminder - Move will be CLOSED from December 24 to December 27 and December 31 and January 1, 2021 - On behalf of our board of directors, staff and volunteers we wish you a happy and safe holiday season!
References
22 Mindfulness Exercises, Techniques & Activities For Adults (+ PDF's). (2020, October 16). Retrieved December 16, 2020, from https://positivepsychology.com/mindfulness-exercises-techniques-activities/
Hasenkamp, W. (n.d.). How to Focus a Wandering Mind. Retrieved December 16, 2020, from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_focus_a_wandering_mind
Greenberg, J., Reiner, K., & Meiran, N. (n.d.). "Mind the Trap": Mindfulness Practice Reduces Cognitive Rigidity. Retrieved December 16, 2020, from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0036206
Mindfulness Exercises. (2019, September 11). Retrieved December 16, 2020, from https://www.anxietycanada.com/articles/mindfulness-exercises/
Taren, A., Gianaros, P., Greco, C., Lindsay, E., Fairgrieve, A., Brown, K., . . . Creswell, J. (2015, December). Mindfulness meditation training alters stress-related amygdala resting state functional connectivity: A randomized controlled trial. Retrieved December 16, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4666115/
Ulmer, C., Stetson, B., & Salmon, P. (2010, May 01). Mindfulness and acceptance are associated with exercise maintenance in YMCA exercisers. Retrieved December 16, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0005796710000835
Image credit can be found here: https://www.mindful.org/5-mindful-tips-navigating-holiday-stress/