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“The truth is that often, tiny changes in what you do - whether you feel like doing them or not - can fundamentally alter the way you feel...Taking mindful action helps you to discover which activities most soothe your frantic nerves in moments of crisis.” —Mark Williams & Danny Penman

Week 7 - How Can I Best Take Care of Myself?

This week we....

  • Practiced a 30 minute sitting meditation (Awareness of the Breath & Body -  noticing how we related to our thoughts, feelings and body sensations)

  • Reflected on the home practice for Week 6​​

  • Explored links between activity and mood

  • Planned how best to schedule activities when our mood starts to drop, anxiety rises or stress levels increase. Importantly: rebalancing nourishing and depleting activities, and focusing on masterful and pleasurable activities

  • Practised a 3-Minute Breathing Space

  • Identified actions that might help us to deal with a relapse / recurrence of low mood / anxiety / stress. Started to formulate an action plan

Home Practice

Before starting this week's home practice, please read through the session notes by clicking on the notepad icon below. These notes will provide you with some background information, and some hints and tips to support your home practice. There is also a record sheet that you can print off to keep notes of your experiences of the practices.

This week's home practice:

  • Lay the foundations for a Sustainable Mindfulness Practice: From the various forms of formal mindfulness practice you have explored (body scan, sitting meditations of varying lengths and types, mindful stretching, mindful movement, mindful walking), see if it’s possible to settle on a pattern of practice that you can realistically sustain once the 8 weeks of the program are over. It’s fine to have different daily practices for weekdays and the weekend. The vital thing is that you acknowledge the real constraints on your time while honoring mindfulness practice as a really important source of daily nourishment for you. As best you can, find a pattern of practice you feel comfortable with—there’s no need to force yourself to heroic efforts that are not sustainable. it’s better to plan too little (you can always add more later!) than plan too much (which may lead you to give up altogether)

  • Complete the Action Plan to prepare for times when mood threatens to overwhelm you. Feel free to include others—family or friends—in this planning.

  • Three-Minute Breathing Space: Practice the regular Three-Minute Breathing Space 3 times a day.

  • Responding - plus action: In addition, practice whenever you notice unpleasant thoughts or feelings. Record each time you do the coping breathing space, and any action you decided to take afterwards.

  • You might also like to visit the Resource Page of this website for links to other guided meditations. Click here.

Complete the ‘Practice Record Form’ each time you do any of the practices. Make a note of anything that you notice.

To find out more about why we suggest these practices, follow this link:

 

Pressed for time? Shorter practices are available via the green play buttons. Please see the instructions below.

Session Notes

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Activity & Mood

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Caring for Yourself:

The Action Plan

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The Summer Day:

Mary Oliver

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Bells at 5, 10, 15, 20

and 30 minutes

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Sitting Meditation

(20 minutes)

Sitting Meditation

(40 minutes - breath, body, sounds, thoughts)

Mindful Walking

Working with Difficulty Meditation (25 minutes)

3-Minute Breathing Space

3-Minute Responsive

Breathing Space (Extra Guidance)

Body Scan

(14 minutes)

Mindfulness of Breath and Body

(8 minutes)

Mindful Stretch

(9 minutes)

Experiment by following this practice with the 8 minute mindfulness of breath and body

Sitting Meditation (Breath, Body, Sounds & Thoughts (20 minutes)

Exploring Difficulty Meditation

(10 minutes)

Before starting this practice, settle with the 8 minute mindfulness of breath and body practice.

3 Minute Breathing Space

3 Minute Responsive Breathing Space - Extra Guidance

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