Introduction to Mindfulness_349810_bookemon_ebook.pdf Coaching and Practising Mindfulness | Page 100

If we are guiding a client through this process we then ask them to
notice:
 The exact physical sensation in the body,
 It’s quality:
o Whether it is tight or loose
o It’s temperature whether it is hot or cold.
 The location of the sensation,
 It’s exact borders
 Whether these borders are well defined and firm like the edge of a
football or soft and fuzzy like cotton wool.
 How these qualities vary with the respiratory cycle.
We need to watch it for at least five cycles of breathing to get a sense
if it.. Does it get larger or smaller, more or less intense or does the
quality of it change?
When we find our mind turning to thoughts, notice the thoughts and
come back to the physical sensations of the urge.

Opportunistically Teaching Urge Surfing
Sometimes when talking to a client an urge arises spontaneously.
Sometimes it can be spotted as a subtle smile on the face as the client
fondly remembers using the drug. At this point, the therapist can say
to the client: “It looks like you might be having an urge to use right
now.”
If the client agrees to this, then the therapist can ask them: “How
does this urge feel in your body? Whereabouts is it in your body?”
Then slowly guide the client through the questions that define the
sensations or the urge in the body.
At first there will be a resistance and a desire to go into the story
about the urges. It is then helpful to explain to the client that we can
go into the story later. We can explain: ““It would be v