Introduction to Mindfulness_349810_bookemon_ebook.pdf Coaching and Practising Mindfulness | Page 261

Mindfulness Exercises For The Second Week
1. Continue your daily twenty-minute meditation session.
2. In the midst of your regular activities, devote two one-hour periods
during the week to being mindful of your body. During this time,
perhaps using a timer or some other cue to remind yourself,
periodically check in with your body, maybe every five minutes or so.
Notice, in particular, your shoulders, stomach, face, and hands. If you
find tension in any of these places, relax.
3. Devote one meal to eating slowly and mindfully, paying attention
to the tastes, textures, temperature, and other qualities of your food,
and to the experience of your body eating. (When does your body tell
you that have had enough?) If possible, take the meal in silence, with
no other activities to distract you. You might want to put down your
spoon or fork between bites.
Whenever your mind wanders, or whenever you get caught up in
reactions to what is happening, relax and come back to the simplicity
of eating mindfully.
4. Start noticing when, how and by what, your attention becomes
distracted or fragmented. Are there any common themes or patterns
in the kinds of thoughts, feelings, activities, or preoccupations where
your mindfulness disappears? If you discover any, discuss what you
find with somebody: a friend, relative, or colleague.

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