Your Mindfulness T-shirt

The other day I found myself sitting in a circle with 50 Bridgeport middle school students. These student leaders had been chosen to serve as Social Emotional Learning Ambassadors. When I asked them what that meant, they said they were responsible for helping to create the kind of school climate that kids would want to be a part of. Specifically, they wanted kids to feel happy, relaxed, safe and accepted at school. Many of the students at the workshop, like young people everywhere these days, expressed feeling high levels of anxiety.

We were there to share some mindfulness skills to support a sense of resilience. Ideally, the students would find the tools helpful and be able to share them with peers, creating a strong network effect. The students had already gone through several hours of training, and ours was the last session of the day. There are few things I find as daunting as facing a room full of teenagers! How were we going to keep them engaged and interested during our time together?

In preparing for the workshop, I reflected on what keeps people from using mindfulness to support their well-being. One of the greatest obstacles is a sense that it has to be done a certain way. Mostly, there is the idea that it has to take the form of a 30-minute, cross-legged banishment of all thoughts. That’s a tough sell and a tall order for many (all?) of us!

Add to that the fact that teenagers have a strong need for autonomy. It’s probably fair to say we all do since there is an angsty, emo teen lurking inside all of us, isn’t there?.

So we offered four different practices and then asked the students which they preferred. All of the practices were grounded in science, but differed slightly in their approach. All of them involved the key elements of mindfulness: paying attention in the present moment with curiosity and kindness and with a connection to what’s going on in the body.

Overwhelmingly, the students preferred a practice that can be called “5-4-3-2-1”. They shared that it met their need for a short practice that would disrupt looping thought, could be done anywhere with their eyes open and without anyone noticing.

So here is the “5-4-3-2-1” practice for you to try on for yourself:

Wherever you are, take a look around.

Find 5 things that you can see that share a particular characteristic. For example, five things that are purple, or five things that hang on the wall, or five things that have some connection to nature. Try to pick things from different areas of the space that you can see, some near and some far. There is no rush.

Next, notice 4 things that you can feel. Notice what it feels like to feel each of them.

Next, notice 3 things that you can hear. You can explore finding the closest thing you can hear, and the furthest away thing, and something in between. Allow yourself to hear each thing for as long as you like. You might play around with noticing the beginnings, middles and ends of the sounds.

Next notice 2 things you can smell. If you can’t identify 2 things right away, be patient for a breath or two. Sometimes smells become more noticeable.

Finally, notice 1 thing you can taste.

When you’re done, if it feels good, take a nice deep breath in and out, noticing what it feels like to be in your body, breathing.

Finding the mindfulness practice that works for you is like trying on t-shirts in a store: some will feel good when you try them on, and others won’t. Different people will like different t-shirts, and we might like one t-shirt today, and another one at a different time.

What mindfulness practice feels just right for you? What needs of yours does it meet? We’d love to know. We’re really curious!

If you’d like to support CMP’s work, please consider making a donation at www.CommunityMindfulnessProject.org. Your support means we can continue working with organizations and communities who want to build mindfulness skills.