Mindfulness is the act of focusing your brain in a relaxed manner and allowing yourself to notice sensory experiences as a means of reaching a state of peace in your own head. This is particularly useful for people who are prone to stress and negative thinking, but not everyone can access mindfulness in the traditional meditative way. Here we examine the concept of openness, which is the first step to creating mindful practices, through a creative speaking exercise. It’s an important stage, where we need to learn to permit ourselves room for mindfulness in everyday life and remove any negative stigma that we might feel about our own creativity levels.

The Theory

There are two elements to this exercise: what you say, and how you say it.

The theory behind what you say comes from the realms of positivity training and the now quite old-fashioned idea of the positive mental attitude. Some call it accepting, allowing, or affirmation, but here I’ll call it openness for our purposes. The lines that you say during your speaking exercise will have a positive meaning to them, dispelling any negativity or self-doubt that you might have when you’re starting this process. By making these affirmations aloud, you will hear the promises that you make to yourself. The more you do this, the easier it is to believe in them.

The importance of doing this speaking exercise out loud may not be apparent at first, but it’s actually your first step towards a mindful activity. The act of speech (as opposed to internal thought) requires you to use your lungs and mouth as well as your brain. The control of breath and the airflow in and out of our lungs affects the oxygen levels present in our blood, which in turn strongly affects mood, nerves, and even brain function.

The Activity

The first step is to take a pen and paper and write two short lists. The first is a selection of positive things that you’d like to get out of trying creative mindfulness, for example, ‘To take a peaceful break from my working day’, or ‘To try something new’. Then, in the second list, write down some doubts or criticisms about mindfulness, either that you believe now or have heard other people say. Try to make five points on each list if you can.

From here, alter your lists. On the positive side, change your wishes into ‘I will’ statements, for example ‘I will try something new today.' On the negative side, change those negatives into positives, for example from ‘Mindfulness is a waste of my time,’ to ‘Mindfulness is not a waste of my time.’ Once you have your new list, stand or sit up straight so that your lungs are able to fully expand. Make each statement once, and be sure to take a big breath in before you speak for every one of the ten new lines.

Reflection

Once this activity is completed, you will have made a deliberate moment in your day to practice mindfulness, the first of many on your journey to a more peaceful way of life. This activity proves that you do actually have time to breathe in your busy life and that even five minutes of thinking about self-care and positivity can make a world of difference to the rest of your day. In the future, you could adapt this technique as a daily start-up, perhaps at the bathroom mirror in the morning, or whilst you’re taking a shower. Thinking of the day ahead, you can make those ‘I will’ statements for the things you need to accomplish that day, and turn any doubts you have about the events of the day into positive statements instead.