Anxiety and Mindfulness
Posted: February 24, 2014
Anxiety tends to pull people into the future, a made up world that cannot be reckoned with.
Mindfulness is an exercise of grounding your thoughts in the present.
We can exercise mindfulness with some creative elements. My first experience with mindfulness, though that is not what they called it, was in my 9th grade art class. "Draw exactly what you see." It forced me to concentrate on what was exactly in front of me and re-create it on paper. To do it well, I had to block out other thoughts.
This can be used as an exercise before beginning a session as a way to help the client relax and acquire a "present" orientation and perspective. Sketching can also be utilized as a relaxation technique to teach clients to keep in their "coping skills tool box".
Mindfulness is an exercise of grounding your thoughts in the present.
We can exercise mindfulness with some creative elements. My first experience with mindfulness, though that is not what they called it, was in my 9th grade art class. "Draw exactly what you see." It forced me to concentrate on what was exactly in front of me and re-create it on paper. To do it well, I had to block out other thoughts.
This can be used as an exercise before beginning a session as a way to help the client relax and acquire a "present" orientation and perspective. Sketching can also be utilized as a relaxation technique to teach clients to keep in their "coping skills tool box".