A Mindful Moment in 5 Steps
For those new to practicing mindfulness in daily life, I hope this serves as a helpful guide for returning to the present moment—and embracing whatever you find when you get there.
Think of mindfulness like strength training for your mind; just like building a muscle, it requires time, consistency, and practice. If you find it challenging or notice your mind constantly wandering, don’t be discouraged—that’s completely normal. In fact, recognizing distraction is a sign that you’re on the right path. With patience and persistence, you’ll cultivate greater presence, focus, and a deeper sense of calm in your everyday life.
Step 1: Notice
Let’s say you’re going into a meeting with your executive leadership and you feel ill- prepared - you are nervous of how the conversation will go. In its simplest form, notice what’s around you with your senses non-judgmentally and also what’s happening inside the body. Is your stomach growling? Chest tight? Heart beating faster than normal? Slight headache? Sweaty armpits? Racing thoughts of how it might go? Simply notice with curiosity; if you find yourself judging your mind or surroundings, notice that too! Congratulate yourself for noticing - you’ve broken the cycle and returned to the present moment.
Step 2: Name
Name the feeling or sensation if you can. “I am anxious, excited, nervous, frustrated, annoyed, bored, etc” - whatever arises without judgment or trying to control or change the sensation and emotion.
Naming validates the emotion and can actually help to process it rather than letting it build over time. You’re letting the brain know that it’s bearable and ok to feel this way. Writing it down also works! Try writing down emotions as they arise throughout the workday in a small notebook. Look back over them one week later and you’ll be reminded of the temporary and often fleeting nature of our emotions and thoughts. Note that sometimes, Noticing and Naming are enough for bringing you into presence and Releasing (Step 5).
Step 3: Feel + Accept
Feel it as best you can - accept the feeling. “Accept” does not mean being passive to your circumstances and accepting an unpleasant reality. It means that you are feeling ____ in this moment while ____ is happening and we’re accepting what is, remembering that feelings and thoughts are temporary.
Do your best to feel the primary emotion without advancing to a secondary emotion. For example, have you ever felt anxious about feeling anxious? Or felt guilty for feeling annoyed with someone? Or felt ashamed for feeling nervous before a presentation? The key is to stick with the first emotion that comes up instead of spiraling into others.
Step 4: Breathe
Too often we forget to breathe, which in and of itself is incredibly healing and therapeutic, a universal anchor to bring us back into the present moment.
Diaphragmatic breathing helps lower blood pressure and heart rate, decreases cortisol level (stress hormone) and can help improve concentration; simply place one hand on your belly and one on your chest. Let the belly balloon out with each in-breath and fall with each out-breath. Your chest should remain flat; it should not rise and fall.
Step 5: Release
This step often happens unconsciously in the “Accept” phase - a thought or feeling will disintegrate once we let ourselves know that it’s “ok” to be feeling it. On the other hand, sometimes it’s very difficult to release lingering thoughts/emotions from an experience; therefore, there is no expected timeline for this step, only to recognize that our thoughts and emotions are temporary. Turning your attention to the present moment will oftentimes naturally allow you to move on and let go. Note that when we skip Step 3 (Feeling and Accepting) it becomes very difficult (if not impossible) to fully Release and achieve mindfulness.