Mindfulness and guided meditation

In this activity, you’ll use meditation to practise mindfulness.

You can do this on your own or with your team.

Mindfulness is a state awareness where you focus your attention on:

It aims to make you aware of your feelings, thoughts and the environment without judging or being negative.

What you’ll need

If you’re together physically, you’ll need somewhere to meet.

If your team is working remotely, you’ll need a phone or videoconferencing tool

Set up your meeting at a time where you’ll get the best results.

This means to think about the diverse needs of each of your team members.

Think of things like this:

Do some people work better earlier or later in the day?
Does anyone have kids or caring responsibilities that mean they need to start late or leave early?
Is there a time to avoid due to other work commitments?

If you’re doing this as a team, get someone to gently read out these steps to the group.

Or find a video online that is like this guide that you can all follow.

Sit in a chair so your body is upright, balanced and relaxed and close your eyes.

Be aware of your body and its connection with the chair.
Feel your feet on the floor.
If you notice your feet are tense, relax them.
Be aware of legs and relax them too.
Gently relax each part of the body from the stomach, hands, arms, shoulders, neck and face.
If you still feel tension or discomfort, make note of these feelings without judgment or negative thoughts.

Take a slow and deep breath through the nose and slowly and gently breath out through your mouth. Do this 2 more times.
Let your breathing settle into its own natural rhythm without you having to control it.
If you feel like you still want to control your breathing, make note of this without judgement or negative thoughts.
Be mindful of your breath as the air flows in and out of your nose.
If thoughts come to your awareness, let them come and go without judgement and focus on your breathing.

After a time, focus your attention on listening.
Hear whatever sounds you hear without analysing the sounds.
If thoughts come, let them pass.
If you become distracted, take note of them and return to the sounds as a gently way of returning to the present moment.

At the end of this activity, be aware of the body again and slowly let your eyes open.