Some Mindfulness Practices
Mindfulness Meditation
Follow your breath in and out. When you find yourself lost in a thought, gently notice it and let it go, returning to your breath.
Walking Meditation
As you walk, follow your breath in and out. Feel the ground below you. When you find yourself lost in a thought, gently notice it, and let it go.
Loving-Kindness Meditation
Imagine an aura or positive energy around yourself (some tangible form of self-love or compassion towards yourself). Sit with this. Then think about someone close to you (family or friend) and send them positive thoughts and compassion – imagine this aura or energy expanding. Continue this for other friends, family, and community members.
Body Scan
Think about each part of your body, to notice without judgement, how each body part feels in the moment. As you scan your body, notice each sensation or feeling and then let it go.
Sounds Meditation
Listen to the sounds, or lack thereof, around you. Notice them and then let them go.
Mindful Eating
As you eat, focus on what you are eating. Notice and reflect on the taste, texture, smell, feeling when you eat.
3-minute Breathing Space
For the first minute: Become Aware
Begin by sitting or standing up. Close your eyes. What is your experience right now? Consider what thoughts are going through your mind, what feelings, what body sensations?
For the second minute: Gather
Redirect your focus on the physical sensations of your breath breathing itself. Follow the breath all the way in and all the way out, consider the feelings as your belly expands and falls.
For the third minute: Expand
Expand the field of your awareness around your breathing so that in addition to the sensations of your breath, you are recognizing the sensations of your body as a whole: posture, facial expression. If you feel discomfort, tension or resistance, breath into each of these feelings and as you do, repeat a mantra such as “It’s okay…whatever it is, it’s already here. Recognize it and let it go”
Simple Moments of Mindfulness
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Making your bed in the morning and taking a few minutes to recognize how you are feeling
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Taking deep breaths or 1-3minute pauses in your day for reflection
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Before you go to sleep let go of today and tomorrow, take some slow breaths

Compiled by Emily Wright-Magoon with resources from The Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society at UMass Medical
School, “The Mindful Way Through Depression” by Williams, Segal, Teasdale, Kabat-Zinn, and Benson Henry Institute for Mind/Body Medicine in
Boston