Just a quick post tonight, but thought I’d share an exercise from my mindfulness course that I’ve found to be pretty effective.

Basically, you try and concentrate on your breathing for five minutes. Of course, most people immediately daydream or start worrying about something or imagining what they’re having for dinner. And forget about focusing on how the breath feels going in and out of the body.

So every time you lose focus on the breath and start thinking of something, just make a note of whether the thought belongs to the past, present or future. So if you’re thinking about a fight you had this morning, just say “past” to yourself and try and come back to your breath. If you start thinking about the fight again, just repeat “past”, and refocus on the breath. Same as if you are being distracted by feeling cold, think “present”. You get the idea.

It’s really simple, but a helpful way of staying in the present, but just for a limited time so the thought doesn’t feel too daunting. I also find it helps me get back to sleep after one of the kids has woken me up and my adrenaline is on overdrive.

Worth a try if you tend to live in your head.