Mindfulness is one of the foundational skills of DBT. Mindfulness is a great tool because you can practice it anywhere!
Gentle reminder: Like all skills, it takes practice! Don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t “get” it right away. Remember, there’s no such thing as doing DBT “wrong” or “bad”! Those are judgements and a core belief of mindfulness is to get rid of judgemental words!
What is Mindfulness?
Simply explained, mindfulness is the intentional awareness on the present moment, without judgment, rejection, or attachment to the moment. The main focus of mindfulness is to learn to be present in our own lives, instead of doing things automatically out of habit. The crucial aspect is to let go of placing judgment or losing focus of what is happening in the present. Mindfulness also teaches us to fully experience each moment by letting go of the past and accepting that the future is not in our control. The only moment we have is the present
Learning to be more aware of feelings and internal states is a valuable therapeutic process in DBT and mindfulness. These skills are taught through the “what” skills of mindfulness: observe, describe, and participate.
What are Mindfulness What Skills?
Observe:
The first skill is where we observe or attend to thoughts, feelings, events, and behaviors without trying to change them. Notice what’s going on around you.
Describe:
After we become aware through observation, we want to describe our experience. The more accurately and richly we describe our experience, without judgement, the more empathy and self control we can access. It is important to separate the experience from reality and understand that feelings and thoughts are not facts.
Participating:
Participating is quite simply to throw yourself into the present moment, without fear. To participate, we are fully present in the moment. We try to become more present in each moment of our lives.
Remember that Mindfulness What skills refer to what you will be practicing throughout your mindfulness journey!
The second aspect of mindfulness are the “how” skills. The What skills teach you what to do to practice mindfulness, while the How skills give you a guide for how you do them.
What are Mindfulness How skills?
Non-judgmentally:
Non-judgmentally means taking a non-evaluative approach, judging something as neither good nor bad. Instead of judging events, DBT teaches looking at consequences of behaviors and events.
One-Mindfully:
One-mindfully is a way to help focus on the task at hand. We practice controlling our attention and focusing on one thing in the moment. One-mindfully is the opposite of multi-tasking.
Effectively:
Effectively is understanding and acting according to a goal rather than acting according to what we deem as “right or fair”. It empowers us to act from our goals and objectives vs judgments.
How can we practice mindfulness?
- Take a long walk and notice everything you pass by: plants, animals, people, buildings. As you notice these, pay attention to one thing about each. What is the person wearing? What color is the dog who walked by? Is the building made of brick?
- Move your body in a way that feels good to you. Focus only on the sensations in your body while you do this.
- Observe don’t analyze: notice the experience you are present in without getting caught up in your reactions to it. Simply see what is happening around you.
- Say to yourself “A judgmental thought just came to mind” or “that thought was a judgment, not an observation.”
- Practice awareness while washing dishes.
- Notice and examine your feelings
Overall, DBT and mindfulness helps us to develop awareness, understanding, communication, and focus to navigate life and challenging situations. Remember, mindfulness is a skill that takes a lot of practice. Fortunately, the more you practice using these mindfulness skills, the easier they will become!
“Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experiences.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
