Intermediate Mindfulness Exercises

Written by Tele Demetrious

Updated:

PhysioAdvisor’s Mindfulness Series

Intermediate Mindfulness Exercises‘ is the sixth article in our mindful series.

We strongly recommend reading our Mindfulness articles systematically to strengthen your mindfulness knowledge and practise. Begin with the first article in our series – ‘What is Mindfulness‘.

Intermediate Mindfulness Exercises - Mindful Seeing in Nature


Intermediate Mindfulness Exercises

Intermediate mindfulness practitioners should aim to practise at least one mindfulness exercise, 1 – 2 times per day for around 5 – 20 minutes (daily total), on all or most days of the week.

Ideally practise first thing in the morning and at the end of the day. Use a timer to let you know when your practise period is complete.

Let your intuition guide your choice of mindfulness exercise during each practise session. Also begin to incorporate mindfulness into everyday life, giving your complete attention (via heightened sensory awareness) to simple things like:

Remember, the more time you spend being mindful, the less time you spend in default mode (i.e. ‘lost in thought’). This strengthens mindfulness neural pathways in the brain and erodes default mode pathways. This makes it easier to enter a mindful state over time. It also allows us to realise the long list of health benefits of mindfulness practise including feeling joyfully alive, alert and at peace right now. To review these scientifically proven health benefits, see our article What is Mindfulness?

Below are our intermediate mindfulness exercises.


Mindful Walking

Choose a quiet area (ideally where you won’t be disturbed) either inside or outside. It could be a small area like a hallway, around the block, somewhere in nature or during every day walking. Walk very slowly paying careful attention to the feeling of your feet touching the ground. Notice with openness and curiosity, 4 distinct phases:

  1. The feeling in your heel as it comes into contact with the ground
  2. Your whole foot in touch with the ground, midway through stance phase.
  3. The feeling of your weight rising onto your toes before toe off
  4. Your foot moving through the air during the swing phase of walking

Begin by practising for 3 – 10 minutes in each session and repeat 1 – 3 times per day.

Mindful walking can be practised at any pace, but slower is often better (to help slow your mind and settle into this moment). Walking slowly reduces the tendency we often have to rush from one thing (the present moment) to the next (future moment). It can also sometimes be helpful when starting the walking practise to think the following with each step:

Listen to Thich Nhat Hanh (Zen Buddhist Master) talk about mindful walking in this 7 minute YouTube Video.


Mindful Seeing

This exercise is usually practised looking through a window with a view, although if unavailable, could be practised looking at a picture, in nature, or somewhere inside.

Practise for about 3 – 10 minutes in each session and repeat 1 – 3 times per day.


Mindful Hearing

This intermediate mindfulness exercise can be practised in virtually any position or environment, but usually is best performed in sitting or lying in optimal posture.

Practise for about 3 – 10 minutes in each session and repeat 1 – 3 times per day.


Learn More About Mindfulness

PhysioAdvisor’s mindfulness articles are designed to strengthen your mindfulness practise and knowledge. We’ve deliberately written them as a progressive series designed to deepen your practise. Intermediate mindfulness exercises is the sixth article in our series.

View the next article in our series:


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