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Mindfulness Exercises
These easy mindfulness exercises are simple enough for anyone to try, and yet they are
an extraordinarily powerful method for developing self awareness.

Mindfulness is awareness of the present moment. It’s living here and now. Through
mindfulness, you are freed from becoming entangled in thoughts of your past, and you are
freed from worrying about the future.

In the here and now, everything just is...and there is great peace in that.

But how to stay in touch with this moment, especially when your mind keeps running away
from you like it so often does? If mindfulness is a new idea to you, then it might seem a little
daunting to try and keep your attention fixed in the present moment.

These mindfulness techniques are an important part of learning how to practice mindfulness.

Exercise 1: One Minute of Mindfulness

This is an easy mindfulness exercise, and one that you can do anytime throughout the day.
Take a moment right now to try this. Check your watch and note the time. For the next 60
seconds your task is to focus all your attention on your breathing. It’s just for one minute, but
it can seem like an eternity. Leave your eyes open and breathe normally. Be ready to catch
your mind from wandering off (because it will) and return your attention to your breath
whenever it does so.

This mindfulness exercise is far more powerful than most people give it credit for. It takes
some people many years of practice before they are able to complete a single minute of alert,
clear attention.

Keep in mind that this mindfulness exercise is not a contest or a personal challenge. You can’t
fail at this exercise, you can only experience it.

Use this exercise many times throughout the day to restore your mind to the present moment
and to restore your mind to clarity and peace.

Over time, you can gradually extend the duration of this exercise into longer and longer
periods. This exercise is actually the foundation of a correct mindfulness meditation
technique.

You can also use a mindfulness bell to focus your attention on, instead of your breathing. If
you have struggled with mantra meditations or breathing meditation techniques in the past,
then a mindfulness bell recording can really help you to focus your attention in the present
moment and achieve a state of mental stillness.
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Exercise 2: Conscious Observation

Pick up an object that you have lying around. Any mundane everyday object will do...a coffee
cup or a pen for example. Hold it in your hands and allow your attention to be fully absorbed
by the object. Observe it. Don’t assess it or think about it, or study it intellectually. Just
observe it for what it is.

You’ll feel a sense of heightened "nowness" during this exercise. Conscious observation can
really give you a feeling of "being awake". Notice how your mind quickly releases thoughts
of past or future, and how different it feels to be in the moment. Conscious observation is a
form of meditation. It’s subtle, but powerful. Try it...by practicing mindfulness in this way
you’ll really start to sense what mindfulness is all about.

In the book Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond, Ajahn Brahm describes his own personal
experience of conscious observation...

“The mind is like a megawatt searchlight, enabling you to see so much deeper into what you
are gazing at. Ordinary concrete becomes a masterpiece. A blade of grass literally shimmers
with the most delightful and brilliant shades of fluorescent green. ..the pretty becomes
profound and the humdrum becomes heavenly under the sparkling energy of power
mindfulness.”

You can also practice conscious observation with your ears rather than your eyes. Many
people find that mindful listening is a more powerful mindfulness technique than visual
observation.

Exercise 3: The Ten Second Count

This is more of an exercise in practicing concentration than it is in mindfulness, and it is a

simple variation on exercise 1. In this exercise, rather than focussing on your breath, you just
close your eyes and focus your attention on slowly counting to ten. If your concentration
wanders of, start back at number one! For most people, it goes something like this...

“One...two...three...do I have to buy milk today or did John say he’d do it? Oh, whoops, I’m
thinking.”

“One...two...three...four...this isn’t so hard after all... Oh no....that’s a thought! Start again.”

“One...two...three... now I’ve got it. I’m really concentrating now...”

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Exercise 4: Mindfulness Cues

In this exercise you focus your attention on your breathing whenever a specific environmental
cue occurs. For example, whenever you hear the phone ring, you promptly bring your
attention into the present moment and stay focussed on your breath.

Simply choose a cue that works for you. Perhaps you will choose to become mindful every
time you look in the mirror. Perhaps it will be every time your hands touch each other.
Perhaps it will be every time you hear a bird.

Mindfulness cues are an excellent mindfulness technique that are designed to snap you out of
the unconscious “autopilot” state of mind and bring you back into the present moment.

Mindfulness Exercises: Taking it to the Next Level

These mindfulness exercises are designed to develop your ability to stay in the present
moment and they are a great way to improve your ability to concentrate. If you practice these
exercises, you’ll also find it easier to meditate, as you are strengthening all the right mental
muscles in the process.

Ideally, mindfulness is something that you will learn to integrate into all the moments of your
daily life. These easy exercises are a great way to help you experience moments of
mindfulness - brief awakenings so to speak. To really experience the profound benefits of
mindfulness, I encourage you to learn to gradually incorporate mindfulness into everything
you do and ideally, to learn how to practise formal mindfulness meditation.

Take a look at these mindfulness activities and take another step towards a more conscious,
enlightened and peaceful experience of life.

The Difference between Concentration and Mindfulness

It is important to realize that there is a difference between mindfulness and concentration.

Concentration is important. It helps you to focus your attention on one thing or another, and in
this way it helps you to take command of what goes on in your mind. But mindfulness is
another step beyond concentration. Mindfulness is a state of awareness. It is “presence” of
mind.

Concentration is the tool you use to bring your mind into focus and to close the door on
mental chatter, but it’s still up to you to “show up” and be present in the moment.
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Detached Observation Meditation

On-line Instruction with Charles MacInerney

Remember laying on your back as a kid, and watching the clouds without trying to change
them, control them, or pass judgment on them? These are the very same qualities we look for
in the practice of Detached Observation. This was J. Krishnamurti's favorite form of
meditation, and the following description is based upon his work. There are only three rules to
follow:

Let go of control. Let the mind wander where it wants, or let it sit still... it is all the
same.
Pay attention. Do not fall asleep or let the mind wander off by itself.
Do not judge. Whatever the mind is doing is real. Accept it dispassionately, neither
take credit for good thoughts or blame for bad thoughts. Watch the mind carefully, as
if from a distance, like a child watching clouds.

This practice will give you insights into the inner workings of your own mind. Let the mind
wander where it will, without any interference, but stay with it always, watching from a
distance. This practice will encourage a creative, spontaneous and "alive" mind whose spirit is
unbroken.

Between each thought is a pause... a drop of silence. See if you can become aware of these
moments of silence between thoughts and then focus on them. Gradually these moments of
silence will become longer pauses, and come more frequently until you learn to tap into the
silent source of all thoughts at will.

This technique is slower than some, and harder, but worth the extra time and trouble. It is like
breaking a horse gently with love by winning it's trust, rather than breaking it's spirit with
force until it submits to your will (Quicker but violent). *Note - this form of meditation can be
done anywhere, at any time, with the eyes open or closed.

Think about the qualities you would look for in an ideal friend or lover. Imagine someone
who allows you the freedom to be yourself, who pays attention to you, and does not judge
you, but rather accepts you unconditionally. In the presence of such a person can you not see
that you would flourish and do well, as opposed to someone who tried to control you, or did
not pay attention to you, or judged you?

Now think about your relationship to your own mind! Do you try to control it? Do you ignore
it often slipping into semiconscious? Do you judge it as good or bad? If you answer yes to any
of these questions then you have a less than the ideal relationship to your own mind. Detached
observation teaches you to become your own best friend. It gives you the key to knowing
yourself. It creates a healthy relationship between the observer and the observed in the realm
of your own mind and leads to healing and illumination.

Of all of the forms of meditation I have studied, Detached Observation Meditation is my

favorite... and the best part is, you cannot do it wrong! After all, wrong implies there is a right
way to do it and requires judgment which is not part of the exercise. If you find yourself
judging yourself during this meditation, and realize it, do not try to stop judging yourself, as
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that is an act of control, which is not part of this exercise. If you are unable to stop yourself
from controlling yourself so as not to judge yourself, do not judge yourself for your inability
to control your judgment.... And so it goes, round and round chasing its own tail until the
mind collapses exhausted, and catches a glimpse of itself in the mirror of self-awareness.

There is a simple formula for spiritual growth... Awareness and acceptance. Through
acceptance of reality we become more aware, which requires additional acceptance which
permits more awareness to flow through the iris of the 'I'. This is a positive spiral of
illumination.

If you do not accept reality, then you reject it! And if you reject reality, are you not rejecting
God? If you reject reality, what is left? Illusion! This is the choice, to live in a world of
illusion and self delusion, or to move out into the world of awareness through continuing
acceptance.

This is the same formula as detached observation... awareness of one's own mind, and
acceptance, leading to greater awareness and in turn demanding more acceptance... as we
slowly learn to love ourselves and the universe around us.