One-minute mindfulness time-out

For one minute, use full acceptance, be very honest with yourself, and identify your feelings with a spirit of fascination and self-discovery. Use a partner or a timer to track one minute. Examples: “I am feeling _____; I am also feeling ____; I am noticing _____; Also: ______.”

Remember! If you find yourself thinking, “I just can’t help this feeling”, you are not giving yourself nearly enough credit.

First: before anyone can change their thoughts and emotional state, they need to notice what they are thinking and feeling. Coping skills work! With honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness, anything is possible.

Second: While a person doesn’t always create their situation, and your situation may be entirely unsatisfactory, you will be looking upon reality through your personal filter, and that filter is your creation. That filter or perspective is flexible. For the one-minute mindfulness time-out, consider your feelings and thoughts without personal attachment or judgment and view them objectively from an outside perspective.

Third: Try the mindfulness time-out in a challenging time. Notice that your mind will trend toward weighing options, solutions, pros and cons, defensiveness, rationales. Notice the mental activity and how difficult it is to step back from the specific mental tasks at hand.

Then notice yourself noticing. And realize you consist of far more than what temporarily captivates your attention during short-term situations!