VIVIDMIND.

CLINIC

MINDFULNESS
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YOUR
MINDFULNESS
WORKBOOK.
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For the next five minutes, I want Acceptance: Helps you process an
you to close your eyes and find emotion.  ‘The feeling is already
peace and calm. At the end of 5 here . . . it’s okay . . . let it be.’ Also
minutes, try feeling your breathing and the
emotion together.
Please fill the space below with
the thoughts that ran through your Openness: Helps in modifying your
mind when you were trying to find perspective.What do you think as a
peace. passive observer ? Are my
thoughts real or are they fears?

In the coming pages, we are going

. to learn to be more mindful,
thereby making us more
perceptive and less automatic.

Mindfulness is the act of being

consciously aware of all thoughts You can practise
and acts compassion, curiosity,
acceptance and openness. mindfulness
Awareness: Is the conscious anywhere.
appreciation of your state of mind.
Does your emotion have a position,
Mindfulness
colour or shape? Without meditation is an
awareness, your emotional
response is automatic and activity where you
distressing. make time
Compassion: Helps you in deliberately and
understanding that you’re feeling a
certain emotion. Being nice to consciously for
yourself is of prime importance.
cultivating
Curiosity: Why do you feel this mindfulness
way? What happens to your
emotion with your breathing? Does
it reduce with every breath?
STARTING OFF
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Rajesh is your typical millenial, he Rajesh realized that his anxiety

is married and has two wonderful stemmed from trying to prepare
children. He has a stable job and himself for all possible outcomes
wonderful friends. Yet he finds it of any particular event. He began
difficult to calm down, he always being aware of what was
worries about the future and is happening around him and was
always restless when he has able to make solid well directed
nothing to do. Anxiety has been decisons.
his problem for a long time . . Will
the meeting go well ? . . .Have i Rajesh slowly understood that
done enough ?? . . .How am i going past was over and the future was
to buy that big house?? . . .  What yet to come. The only second he
am i doing with my career ? . . .Is was actually alive, was this one !
my wife happy ?? . . .How do i fix Over a few weeks, he switched to
all this ??. . . Can i fix all this ?? what we can call a "being mode".

Every question was followed by

even more questions. If the
meeting bombs, will i be fired? . . .
If i am fired how i pay my rent ?? . .
What about the kids ?? . . And the
new house ?? . . .Grr, lifes so In the "being mode",
stressful!
we live in the current
Rajesh is in what is called a "doing
mode", something that all of us do
moment, seeing and
predominantly ! appreciating
Doing modes are characterized by thoughts, feelings
thoughts about the past or future,
constant trying to fix things,
and experiences
habitual thoughts and behavior, allowing us to
avoidance of difficult thoughts and
the blind belief that every thought question difficult
we have is real .
thoughts and  and
The problem becomes obvious act purposefully and
now, planning the future based on
thoughts that may not be true is conciously.
obviously not the optimal way to
lead life, yet we do this all the time!

STARTING OFF
GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT
ACCEPTANCE - OPENNESS - CURIOSITY

Acceptance: One of the most important and misinterpreted attitudes

in mindfulness, acceptance is not a passive approval of ones state
It is active acknowledgement. Lets say you need to get to office
from home. Before you can get to your office, u need to accept that
you are currently at home. If you dont accept you are at home, you
are bound to get lost. You may pretend that your office was next
door, or deny that you were at home, but that way you are never
going to get there The same goes with emotions, feeling and
attitudes. Only when you accept that you are feeling sad, or angry
will there be any sense in finding a way out of it.

Openness: Looking at the bigger picture, step back from a

distressing emotion and watch it go by. Like a cloud on a clear sky.
There is no sense in believing every thought that arise to be
true.You dont have to react to every thought. Instead of
suppressing a difficult feeling or emotion, let it go by, watch it as an
objective observer.

Curiosity:Mindfulness comes naturally for children because they’re

naturally questioning things. Being more curious about the world
around you immediately makes you more mindful. Instead of
behaving habitually/automatically, and experiencing life as blur, you
will begin to appreciate life and enjoy the beauty of it all!

THE BASICS
GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT
COMPASSION

Compassion: Kindness to yourself is the key here. When practicing

mindfulness, you learn to be nice to yourself. Whenever you notice
yourself judging yourself or your emotions  in a harsh way,  you are
to be aware of this process and let the judgement go. Treat yourself
like your best friend, console yourself as you are going through
difficult feelings.

Mindfulness is all about being here and now - the present moment,
the only moment that we are actually alive.

Quoting Oogway from Kung Fu Panda

"... You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is
a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a
gift. That is why it is called the present. "

THE BASICS
QUESTIONING
IMPATIENCE

We are always in a hurry, rushing from home to

work, rushing to get work done, rushing to get
back home, rushing to cook, rushing to clean,
rushing to socialize and in all this rush life
becomes nothing but a blur !

The next time you feel restless

or impatient ,I want you to be aware and 
curious. Ask yourself why you are rushing at
that precise moment. More often than not, that
question might not have an exact answer.Dwell 
on that moment for a few seconds and move
on.

After all, it is only in that one moment are we

truly alive!

Being on a tight schedule or multitasking can

lead to impatience. Consider reducing your
work load, delegating some of your tasks and
just saying no more often when people ask for
help. Being too busy is synonymous with
impatience.

Identify triggers that get you feeling impatient

in your life. Make a list of them on the last few
pages of this book. Now reflect on why these
situations make you feel impatient.

What’s the underlying cause of the feeling?

Perhaps you keep thinking ‘I must do more’ or

‘I’m being lazy’. Let go of those underlying
thoughts and experience some freedom from
the feeling of impatience. Who says you have to
be busy all the time? You don’t.
This week, we will learn to be more 3) Close your eyes now.
perceptive. The simplest way to
practice mindfulness and calm 4) Notice and recognize 5 different
your mind is to connect with  your sounds around you, what is their
senses. source? Listen intently to each
sound for as long as you like.
Make sure you will not be
disturbed for as long as you do 5) Repeat the same with smell and
this. Sit or lie down comfortably. touch, you can stop when you feel
like you are done.
1)Breathe in slowly through your
nose and out your mouth allowing Repeat this exercise, twice daily
your lungs to completely fill and for the next one week. There are no
empty as do do so. specific rules or timelines but
avoid doing this within 30 minutes
2) Notice five objects around you, of a meal or when you are in a
their color, shape, texture and all hurry.
the intricate details on them. Record your experience in the next
Appreciate each and every detail. page.

Week 1
 Record

Sight

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day  5
Day 6
Day 7

Sound

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7

Scent

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7

Touch

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7 Week 1
 WEEK 2

ACCEPTANCE 4) Observe your emotion, how fast is

your heart beating ? Does it change
This exercise helps you accept a
with deep breathing ? Does relaxing my
situation, circumstance or sensation
shoulder help?
that you just can’t change.
5)Deepen your curiosity, why am i
1)When  you are faced with a
experiencing this emotion ? Have i felt
distressing thought, write them down.
it before? why? Are these thoughts and
For eg, I am feeling angry.
emotions real ?

2) Repeat to yourself, the distressing

6)Accept the emotion as your own, it is
thought or emotion. eg Yes, I am angry.
your body and your mind that you have
control over. You are angry and being
3) Close your eyes and try locating the
angry feels like this.
emotion in your body, which part of
your body is tense ? Does the emotion
7) Recognize the emotion, greet it with
have a color ? How big is it?
curiosity. Try replacing it with
eg. I feel my shoulder is tight when i
something more acceptable.Try
am angry, i can imagine it is red and
reducing the size of the emotion you
covering my entire shoulder.
are feeling, try relaxing the part of you
that is tense.
 Record your experience here
Continue moving your awareness up your body in this way: upper legs, hips and
pelvis, lower torso, upper torso, upper arms, lower arms, shoulders, neck, head.
‘Feel’ each body part for one full breath cycle (in and out). eg . Today i felt
anxious about my presentation, as i closed my eyes i felt by anxiety as a
tightness around my chest, like a heavy object on my chest. My heart was
beating really fast however it was slightly slowing down during my out breaths.
I was really afraid that people might make fun of my presenting skills and ask
me questions i do not know the answer to. But possibly, i might actually do very
well and people might applaud me !I tried slowing down my breath and my heart
rate! now know that i felt anxious and i know why I felt that way,  all i can do is
to give it my bes in this current moment. And that is what i shall do.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3
 Record your experience here
Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7
We have learnt to be mindful of our  3) Continue moving your
senses and our thoughts. This awareness up your body -lower
week, we will learn to be more legs,  upper legs, hips and pelvis,
mindful of our body. lower torso, upper torso, upper
Make sure you will not be arms, lower arms, shoulders, neck,
disturbed for as long as you do head. ‘Feel’ each body part for five
this. Sit or lie down comfortably. full breath cycles (in and out).

1)Breathe in slowly through your 4)You may notice intruding

nose and out your mouth allowing thoughts, acknowledge with a
your lungs to completely fill and smile and bring your attention
empty as do do so,be aware of back to the body.
every breath.
Once you are done, be aware of the
2) Notice the sensations in your body as a whole, as one unit.
feet during one full in-and-out Continue for 5 breath cycles and
breath. eg . Can you feel the cold slowly open your eyes. Repeat
floor or the warm carpet, dwell in everyday for the next 7 days.
the feeling, are my feet tense, any
pain ?
Week 1
 Record your experience here
eg . As i way lying down on the bed, i could feel my foot gently resting on a
pillow, i could feel the breeze from the fan on my toes, my foot was completely
relaxed with each out breath. There was no pain or tension. . ..  Continue for the
rest of the body.
Record your experience here
Applying Mindfulness. 4) Be thankful for you have,
cherish the happy moments,
We are now going to begin appreciate the beauty of all life.
applying mindfulness to our daily
lives. 5) Be aware of your body, relax
those tense eyebrows, relax your
1) I want you to be mindful of your shoulders, wear a constant smile.
senses, throughout the time you
are awake.

2)Be aware of what is around you,

be inquisitive and curious, notice
the sights and sounds around you.
Appreciate colors, sounds and
smells.
MINDFUL
FOR LIFE !
3)Be aware of every emotion, be
compassionate toward yourself.
Dig deeper, why does the emotion
choose to arise at this moment?
 REMEMBER
WHY YOU
STARTED

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