1.7. A Strategy For Psychological Resilience: Mindfulness

What is mindfulness exercise?
In its simplest terms, it is managing where our attention goes. Like you holding the steering wheel of a car and
steering it. Mindfulness exercise improves your attention. Types of mindfulness exercises: formal and informal
practice. These exercises can be on the breath, on emotions, on emotions and breath. Formal practice
is the type of exercise where we consciously sit or lie down (body scan meditation) and focus on our breath,
bodily sensations, sounds, other emotions and thoughts and emotions every day. Informal practice is creating
mindful awareness in daily activities such as eating, exercising, housework, successfully establishing relationships, and in any action at work, at home and anywhere you find yourself.

Informal exercise example: Apple exercise
After reading this paragraph, let your eyes look away from the page and direct your gaze to somewhere else.
For example, it could be an apple on your desk. Put aside the labels in your mind and look at that apple as
if you were seeing an apple for the first time. Look at its colors and the shapes on it. Then direct your atten
tion to its smell. How does it smell? Does every part of it smell the same or is it different? Then take a bite.
Which part of your mouth tasted the apple first? Is it sweet or sour? Take another bite and compare it to the
first taste? Does the apple taste the same everywhere? Or are there slight differences? In other words, this
first practice you did, looking at it from a non-judgmental, objective place and evaluating it is an example of
mindfulness. Just as we approach an apple with new eyes, when we show the ability to approach events,
thoughts and habits with new and non-judgmental eyes, our capacity to see some habits that have trapped
us in a vicious cycle increases. This forms the basis of the potential of your mindfulness technique to make
a tremendous difference in our quality of life.

Formal mindfulness exercise example: (5 minutes)
Choose a comfortable upright chair. Adjustable chairs are ideal. Adjust the height so that your feet are flat on
the floor, and tilt the chair slightly forward so that the base of your spine touches the back of the chair.
1. Close your eyes or position your gaze downward, not focused on the floor. Keep your hands on your thighs—it doesn’t matter if they touch or not.
2. Now attend to your breathing, bringing your attention to a point where you can comfortably feel your breath
with each breath, such as your nostrils, abdomen, or ribcage. Pay attention there, however you feel comfor
table. Some people find it best to focus on the rise and fall of their abdomen—the lower abdomen—but others
choose to focus on the air going in and out of their nose instead.
3. As you do in every moment of your life, allow your breath to be unsteady—don’t try to breathe deeply. All
you are doing now is watching your body breathe.
4. After paying attention to your breathing for about five minutes, open your eyes and stretch your body a little
bit when you feel ready, at your own pace, without rushing.