Last time I detailed the “What” skills, what we do to practice Mindfulness.  Now, I have HOW to do that, and again, there are three parts:

Non-judgmentally
One minded
Effectively

The first goes along with Observe and Describe – it’s all about the facts. No judgments.  Here is a list of instructions we were given…

• Accept each moment.
• Don’t think in terms of good or bad, just IS
• Acknowledge the difference between helpful and harmful, but don’t judge them.
• Acknowledge the difference between safe and dangerous, but don’t judge them.
• Acknowledge your values and wishes without judging them.
• Acknowledge your emotional reactions without judging them.
• When you find yourself judging any of these, don’t judge yourself for judging!

One-mindfully is to be completely present in the moment. No thought of before or after. No thought of multitasking. No wishing you were elsewhere – mindfulness is being present NOW. There was a list in our DBT handouts…

• When you are eating, eat.
• When you are walking, walk.
• When you are worrying, worry.
• When you are planning, plan.
• When you are remembering, remember.

This can be especially helpful if there’s something distressing, something to worry about.  One of the instructors, said, “It’s normal to worry. It’s human to worry.  With mindfulness, you can take time to worry, spend a little time thinking about the situation, what might happen because of it. After worrying about it a little, move on.  Then do the next thing mindfully without worrying.”

The third part, Effectively, is a combination of advice that helps do the three parts of WHAT and the other two parts of HOW…well, effectively.

• Be mindful of your goals.
• Focus on what works.
• Play by the rules.
• Do what is needed for the current situation.
• Stop sitting on your hands.

Below is a great layout of how mindfulness works “in the moment.”  It’s about situations on the job, but I think it can apply to many other situations.