Mindfulness is about being fully present and awake. In this one moment. There are three specific what skills that you can use.
They are called the what skills because they teach you what to do when you practice being mindful.
The first what skill is called observe, observing is simply just noticing. It is paying attention to the information that comes through our senses.
In this one present moment, we can observe sights, sounds, tastes, touch, smells, and sensations, as well as thoughts or feelings.
Observing is just noticing the sensory information without adding words on or trying to change or add anything to it. Just notice, you can try this by noticing what sensations you are experiencing. now.
Stop, take a breath and observe the sensations of your body, warmth, coolness, tightness, pressure movement, you can practice observe for a few seconds at a time or for many minutes.
The second what skills describe this is to describe what you have observed by putting words to the experience without adding judgments or interpretations, or anything other than what you observed at the level of sensation, we say that you cannot describe what you haven't observed.
So if you were to describe the sensations of your body, you might say, tightness in chest, nostrils, constricting, abdomen expanding. On the surface, this might sound pretty straightforward, yet it's extremely difficult. From a very young age, most of us are taught to judge experiences as good or bad, right? or not, right? The described skills intended to get us away from all that because we can't directly observe the mental concept of goodness, so therefore, we can't describe it. Instead, what you can observe and describe is the thought that this is bad has gone through my mind.
One potential pitfall occurs when we attempt to describe our own emotions and thoughts while adding on to what we actually observe. For example, when you experience feelings of sadness, you might tell yourself, this is the worst you've ever felt and it will never get better. If you wanted to shift that using describe, you could instead say you notice sensations of heaviness in your chest, and you are having the thought that it will get better in this moment. See if you notice a difference in your own reactions when you practice this skill.
The third what skill is participate, participate is throwing yourself into whatever you are doing in this one moment and becoming one with the experience. It is the opposite of multitasking or trying to do many different things at the same time. It involves letting go of self consciousness, criticism, and worry about what you should be doing, and instead being completely in the moment. For example, to be fully participating in a conversation with someone would mean putting away all distractions like phones, and just being with the other person in the conversation.
Participating means throwing yourself into this one moment without planning what you're going to say next, or worrying about something that happened earlier.
Participating involves writing out urges to do anything else refocusing on this one moment.
When you are practicing the what skills Remember that you can only do one one skill at a time.
The what skills are best learned through practice and will help you take a hold of your mind.
