Week 30: It is always a good week when we start with mindfulness

Let's begin with 5 minutes with your thoughts and see where it leads

Sit quietly and focus on your breath for 5 minutes. Write about the thoughts that tried to distract you from focusing on your breath. Do you see any common themes or patterns in these thoughts?

I love that we get to start the week with a mindful exercise!

As a reminder, set a timer on your phone or watch for the 5 minutes, with an alarm, so you’re not having to open your eyes and watch the clock. Inevitably, some people will peek at how much time is left at some point, but that’s ok!! Just remember to write about what you were thinking at the time.

When examining your thoughts or thought patterns after the exercise, note the thought content as well as the process.

- content is what the thoughts actually were

- process is the way they occurred in your brain (fast, jumbled, clear images, etc).

Even if there aren’t patterns or themes, these thoughts are useful to you. The content tells you what’s on your mind even when you try to find some quiet within - how can you directly address the people, situations, emotions that come in when you seek to focus on your breath? The process of how your thoughts made themselves known tells you just how affected you feel by these thoughts.

At some point in the coming weeks, after you’ve had some time to directly address things, try this exercise again and see if thoughts, emotions, content or process have changed for you in noticeable ways.

Photo by Peyman Shojaei on Unsplash