DBT Skill of the Week: Mindfulness

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DBT Skill of the Week Mindfulness CBT DBT
Associates
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What do you think of when you hear the word
mindfulness? You might imagine someone sitting
cross-legged and chanting Om to themselves. Or
maybe you think of taking deep breaths and
clearing your mind while soft piano music plays
in the background. For most people, meditation is
the first thing that comes to mind when they
think about mindfulness, and while meditation is
a great way to practice mindfulness, its not the
only way! Many people have the misconception
that mindfulness means doing nothing that you
have to be sitting still with your eyes closed,
resisting all your distracting thoughts and
feelings, in order to practice mindfulness. But
mindfulness is so much more! You can be mindful
while doing anything, from eating or drinking a
cup of coffee to taking a walk or even riding the
subway.
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At its core, mindfulness is simply about
awareness. Youre tuning into whats going on
around you or within you at the present moment,
without judging or evaluating any of it. One
simple way to practice mindfulness is to enjoy a
meal without any distractions. Most of us are
always preoccupied even while we eat we scroll
through Instagram or Twitter as we robotically
shove our salads into our mouths, we order
takeout and enjoy it with a side of Netflix, or
we grab the quickest food option we can find and
eat at our desks as we continue replying to
emails. But when was the last time you sat down
to have a meal by yourself, without your phone,
laptop, or TV? No music. No books. No
distractions. Just you and your food.
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Interested in trying it? Here are some guidelines
for eating mindfully

• Before you start eating, take a few moments to
  notice how your food looks and smells. You can
  also check in with your body and ask yourself how
  hungry you are.
• As you take a bite of your food, observe the
  flavors, textures, and temperature of the food.
  Chew slowly. Set your fork or spoon down in
  between bites and allow yourself to slow down.
• Notice if there are any differences from one bite
  to the next.
• Check in with yourself as you start to get full.
  See if you feel different from when you began
  eating.

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If the idea of eating an entire meal without your
phone intimidates you, start small! Challenge
yourself to at least start your meal without any
distractions, taking about five minutes to eat
without your phone or computer. This can also be
a practice that you build on over time,
increasing the length of your distraction-free
time as you become more comfortable with
this. Eating is just one of many ways to
incorporate mindfulness into your life. You can
bring mindfulness into so many different aspects
of your life, and as you continue this practice,
youll become more present to your life and
experience life as it really is. Mindfulness is
one of the core skills that clients learn in DBT
skills groups, along with interpersonal
effectiveness and emotion regulation. For more
information about our DBT groups, click here or
contact us at 212-546-9200.
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Contact Us
501 Madison Ave. Suite 303 New York, NY 10022
Email Us intake_at_cbtdbtassocs.com
Phone no 646-679-5767
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