5 mindfulness exercises for anxiety

The mindfulness we can understand it as "mindfulness" or "full awareness". We could define it as the ability of the human being to be in the present and to "remind us" of being in the present.

That is, the ability to return to the "here and now" when our mind has traveled to the past or the future. Thanks to the ability to stay in the present moment, we can be really aware of where we want to go, what are our goals

If something that is happening right now disgusts us, we can decide not to repeat it. The problem is that most of the time we get lost in a flow of thoughts that correspond to a past that has ceased to exist.

We also terrify ourselves with future thoughts that seek to control what has not yet happened. For the above, It is even more complicated to make decisions about our goals or vital values.

The mindfulness, therefore, it helps us to realize that the only real thing is now. The rest of moments, only exist in our imagination. They are not real. Letting the immediate experience feel, without giving value judgments, simply accepting it with the five senses, frees us from perhaps unnecessary emotions such as guilt or future worry.

Mindfulness, therefore, helps us to focus on the only thing that is real: the now. It is in this context that we only have room to act. The rest is beyond our control, because it is a context that has not yet arrived – the future – or that no longer exists – the past.

Some exercises mindfulness for anxiety

To practice mindfulness it is necessary to design some concrete exercises that we must carry out daily little by little, to turn them into a habit. There are many exercises mindfulness, but in this article we have selected five of them, which will be very useful to manage anxiety.

As we know, anxiety is an emotion that prepares us for a threat. It is a defense mechanism that helps us survive, to make decisions quickly and effectively against possible damages that we may suffer.

It may interest you: What is mindfulness and how it helps healthy life

Therefore, the first thing is to realize that anxiety is not bad. We do not have to judge it this way, if not know its function and try to use it to our benefit. The five mindfulness exercises proposed to manage this anxiety are:

1. Take a shower

The intimate moment of the shower is ideal to achieve full attention. It is enough to concentrate and enjoy the sensations provided by water, soap and other elements.

A good exercise to start practicing mindfulness It could be a shower with attention to what you are doing. The thoughts have to go solely focused on the act of showering.

Concentrate on everything that the shower entails: take the soap, spread it over your body, feel your skin, smell the soap, feel the water, see how the water makes the soap slide and both get lost in the sink …

It's about putting "beginner's mind", as if you had never taken a shower, let yourself be seduced by all the elements of a shower, without wanting to run to finish it, without thinking about what you have to do next, Simply enjoy and savor the shower you are carrying out.

2. Plasticine dolls

This exercise transports us back to childhood. Children are the best teachers of mindfulness. They live continuously in the present, everything surprises them and they seem wonderful.

Try being a child, pick up some colored plasticine and ready to make attractive dolls or whatever you can think of. Think about what you want to create and do it with care, patience, putting all your effort and attention.

Do not get up and do anything else until you finish. Dedicate yourself to your plasticine doll, Letting your thoughts only be about it.

3. Soap bubbles

In addition to being relaxing, making soap bubbles increases the ability to focus attention on a single activity.

With this exercise, in addition to practicing relaxation based on breathing in an alternative way, we also increase the ability to focus attention on a single activity.

Get a pompero and start blowing bubbles. Notice how they are: some smaller, others much more rounded. Feel the light reflect on them and create beautiful colors.

Experience how they explode when they reach a certain height and how others, on the other hand, advance very far.

4. Empty the hard drive

When you feel anxious, you can take paper and a pen and "empty your hard drive". This is, translate all your thoughts on paper. Write them as if they were telegrams. Do not evaluate them, do not reject them and do not judge them. They are only thoughts.

Read also: 7 mental attitudes to be able to practice mindfulness

5. Scrub dishes

What if you take the time to wash the dishes to focus your mind and focus? It is a great opportunity!

Scrubbing dishes is a great exercise to practice mindfulness It is similar to the shower. It is about connecting with all the sensations that the act of scrub involves: cold or hot water, soap and its texture, watching how dirt falls and the plate is getting cleaner …

The key is to focus the mind on the activity itself, seeing the rest of thoughts as simple "noise".

Benefits of mindfulness

Many studies support the benefits of practicing simple exercises of mindfulness. It is an attitude that it helps us to focus on the present and to be more aware of everything that surrounds us here and now.

It gives us the great advantage of distancing ourselves from our ruminations and negative emotions. It helps us not to merge them with our person, in order to continue carrying out those activities that we have marked as valuable goals.

On the other hand, mindfulness moves us away from assessments and judgments based on our deepest beliefs and it gives us great doses of calm and serenity.

Moving away from the trials, we report greater welfare, both with ourselves and with our social environment. Thus, It not only improves our self-esteem, but also our social relationships.