Mindfulness Quote
“If it’s out of your hands, it deserves freedom from your mind too.” – Ivan Nuru
Don’t stress about the past, focus on the present!
Mindfulness Activity
Every day take some time to write down what you are grateful for. What does this world make you grateful for? What does your community make you thankful for? How has another person’s experience made you more appreciative of what you have? Listing things that you are grateful for will help you reflect on the positive aspects of your life and make you more aware of what you have and what you can do to help or be mindful of others.
How can you be Mindful?
There are many things you can do to be mindful of yourself and your surroundings. You can come to our Be The Change meetings on Wednesdays before school and during lunch in room A115, or, you can try some of these quick activities at home! To prepare, do the following: sit in a comfortable and quiet place. Turn on some slow, peaceful music if you want, and then close your eyes. Then try out some of these exercises:
- Do a body scan. With your eyes closed, focus on all parts of your body. Start at the top of your head, make sure to relax all of your muscles, and work your way down to your eyebrows, your eyes, your mouth, your shoulders, your stomach, etc. Make sure all of your muscles are relaxed and not being strained.
- Mindful breathing. Take a deep breath in from your nose, hold it for a couple of seconds, and then breathe out slowly through your mouth. Do this a couple of times, let your breathing slow down, and monitor your chest and stomach while doing so.
- Be aware of your surroundings. Use all of your senses to check out what’s happening around you. Listen to people walking around in the hallway, or smell someone cooking in the kitchen. Take a minute to just notice everything around you, calm down, and don’t worry about anything that happened to you during the day, or what might happen to you in the future, just pay attention to the present.
