Mindfulness exercises do more than bring you into the present moment. Your mind is a powerful tool, capable of improving your mental and physical well-being. In fact, studies show practicing mindfulness techniques can:
- Address symptoms of depression and anxiety
- Manage stress and even lower your blood pressure
- Relieve chronic pain
- Improve your overall quality of life
Mindfulness practices are accessible to everyone, regardless of their experience. Set aside 5 to 10 minutes of your day to ground yourself in the present moment. Here are 10 simple but powerful tools you can add to your daily self-care routine to improve your well-being.
1. Body Scan Meditation
Body scanning requires focusing your attention on specific parts of your body. It brings awareness to sensations and how your muscles feel at a particular moment. As you scan through different areas, you might feel tension or stress you didn’t notice before. Relaxing your clenched jaw or tight back muscles helps relieve aches and pains.
To start your body scan, find a comfortable position while sitting or lying down. After focusing on your breathing, start at your feet and scan your body. How do your feet and legs feel? What sensations do you notice? Does your back feel tight or slouched? Are your arms and hands fully relaxed? Bring your attention back to your breath and end your body scan with one last round of breathing exercises.
2. Mindful Breathing
A popular mindfulness activity is to practice breathing exercises. Nothing brings you more in tune with your body and the present than feeling the air entering and leaving your lungs.
Many people count throughout mindful breathing exercises for anxiety to anchor themselves. For example, try breathing deeply through your nose for 3 seconds. Hold your breath for 2 seconds, then exhale through your mouth for 4 seconds. Repeat this exercise as many times as you’d like.
“Mindful breathing can really help when you're feeling anxious or panicky. It lets you focus on your breathing instead of all the overwhelming thoughts or feelings in your body. Just taking a few deep breaths can calm you down and make you feel more in control.”
- Talkspace therapist, Famous Erwin, LMHC
3. 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Exercise
Counting items in your immediate surroundings is an excellent way to create mindfulness and focus on the present moment. The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise focuses your senses on what is physically around you at an exact moment.
Start by bringing attention to your breathing. Inhale deeply through your nose, hold it, and exhale through your mouth. Once you’ve found a steady rhythm, start feeling your surroundings and take a mental note of:
- 5 things you can see around you, like a car passing by or a glass of water on your desk
- 4 things you can reach out and touch, like the fabric of your shirt or the wind on your face
- 3 things you can hear, such as music or the sound of your own breathing
- 2 things you can smell, like brewing coffee or hand lotion
- 1 thing you can taste, for example, a piece of gum or what you had for lunch
4. Loving-Kindness Meditation
The loving-kindness meditation brings attention to your connection with other people around you. This includes close friends and loved ones, and strangers you encounter in your everyday life. By directing your focus and mindfulness on others, you take the focus away from yourself to enter the present.
Mental health experts from the Greater Good in Action (GGIA) at the University of California, Berkeley offer a great walkthrough of the loving-kindness meditation. This process involves:
- Thinking of someone who has extended kindness and supports you with your best interests in mind
- Focusing on the gratitude and happiness they extend to you brings positivity and mindfulness.
- Letting this person go in your mind and extend the warmth and happiness out to others in your life
- Noting the sensations in your body and mind that arise when you think about joy and happiness
Exercising your capacity for love and kindness not only improves your mindfulness, but it can also help manage anxiety and depression.
5. Mindful Walking
Most of us walk from one place to another throughout the day, often distracted or lost in thought. Mindful walking is a mindfulness technique that brings you back to the “here and now.” It focuses attention on your internal senses and external surroundings in one exercise as you move.
Mindful walking isn’t about reaching a destination. It’s about taking yourself on a certain path and focusing on yourself throughout the journey. The GGIA explains how to practice mindful walking in your everyday life. Pay special attention to your breathing and movements throughout the exercise. Take note of your surroundings, including any sights and sounds, during your walk.
Practicing a mindfulness exercise, such as mindful walking, for even 10 minutes a day can help improve your stress levels.
6. Mindful Eating
Like walking, eating is a part of everyday life that we usually rush through. Bringing attention to these tasks helps us practice mindfulness throughout our busy day. Mindful eating highlights the sensations you experience as you see, chew, taste, and swallow food. Pause during every step while eating to notice:
- What your food looks like, examining it from every angle to look at the shape, color, and texture
- How your food feels in your hand or your mouth
- Any memories you associate with the particular food
- How hungry you are
- What the food tastes like as you chew
- How it feels to swallow the food and feel it travel to your stomach
7. Gratitude Reflection
We often take the good things we have in life for granted. Mindfulness practices like gratitude reflections help you not only notice how grateful you are, but they also let you experience the emotion of gratitude. Adding a moment to reflect on your gratitude for your daily meditation practice may build extra positivity.
“Gratitude helps one focus on the good things in life instead of always thinking about what’s going wrong. It can break negative thought patterns and remind you that not everything is bad. Over time, it helps you feel stronger and more hopeful, even when things get tough."
- Talkspace therapist, Famous Erwin, LMHC
Gratitude can extend from the smallest parts of life that make your days easier. The ability to hear your favorite song, eat a snack, and drink clean water are all things to be grateful for. Friends, family, pets, and coworkers also enrich your life and bring happiness you can appreciate.
8. Single-Tasking
Many of us believe we can multitask and juggle multiple tasks simultaneously. However, studies show that only 2% of the population can multitask effectively. Single-tasking is the polar opposite of multitasking. Forcing yourself to mindfully focus on one task at a time eliminates distractions that contribute to stress and errors.
Try practicing single-tasking throughout your day whenever possible. For example, when making dinner:
- Focus on chopping vegetables, cooking, and making a delicious meal.
- Avoid answering text messages or phone calls while you’re cooking.
- Leave emptying the dishwasher until after you’ve finished eating.
You’ll find more enjoyment in the quality time you spend cooking. You’re also less likely to make mistakes and feel a sense of accomplishment.
9. Journaling with Awareness
Journaling organizes the thoughts and feelings swirling around in your head onto paper. Many people use journaling as a way to process their experiences and emotions without judgment.
As you sit down and write, pay attention to your senses and emotions. Feel the paper underneath you, the pen in your hand, and what you’re experiencing at the moment. Adding other mindfulness techniques can bring awareness that makes your journaling even more impactful.
10. Visualization Practice
Visualization is a mindfulness exercise that involves creating mental images to refocus your attention. Most people choose to think of relaxing images that bring them peace. Examples include beaches, forests, or even a person.
When visualizing a picture or scene, focus on specific details. Maybe you’re picturing waves crashing over a white sand beach. You feel a warm breeze on your face, and you hear the tide coming in and out.
Strengthening Mindfulness for Lasting Mental Well-Being
Many mindfulness exercises can be completed in just 10 minutes of your day. While it doesn’t seem like much, the time adds up. Practicing these mindfulness techniques and exercises can create long-term positive changes in your focus, stress management, and emotional resilience. Feel free to incorporate one or two mindfulness techniques into your daily routine. Journaling at the end of each day or starting every morning with a body scan brings intention to your mindfulness practices.
While these activities are valuable tools, professional therapy can provide deeper support for your mental health challenges. The licensed therapists at Talkspace can offer expert guidance along with other mindfulness exercises. Online therapy offers those with busy schedules the opportunity to learn and grow in their mindfulness and address other issues at hand. Practice gratitude, mindfulness, and awareness with the help of Talkspace.
Sources:
- Goldberg SB, Tucker RP, Greene PA, et al. Mindfulness-based interventions for psychiatrist disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev. 2017;59:52-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.10.011
- Intarakamhang U, Macaskill A, Prasittichok P. Mindfulness interventions reduce blood pressure in patients with non-communicable diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Heliyon. 2020;6(4):e03834. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03834
- Hilton L, Hempel S, Ewing BA, et al. Mindfulness meditation for chronic pain: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Behav Med. 2017;51(2):199-213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-016-9844-2
- Body scan meditation. Greater Good in Action. Accessed April 13, 2025. https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/body_scan_meditation
- Mindful breathing. Greater Good in Action. Accessed April 13, 2025. https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/mindful_breathing
- 5-4-3-2-1 coping technique for anxiety. University of Rochester Medical Center. Published April 10, 2018. Accessed April 13, 2025. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/behavioral-health-partners/bhp-blog/april-2018/5-4-3-2-1-coping-technique-for-anxiety
- Loving-kindness meditation. Greater Good in Action. Accessed April 13, 2025. https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/loving_kindness_meditation
- Walking meditation. Greater Good in Action. Accessed April 13, 2025. https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/walking_meditation
- Mindful eating exercise. Duke Integrative Medicine. Accessed April 13, 2025. https://dhwblog.dukehealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mindful-Eating-Transcript.pdf
- Gratitude meditation. Greater Good in Action. Accessed April 13, 2025. https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/gratitude_meditation
- Single-tasking. Center for Brain Health. Published May 15, 2024. Accessed April 13, 2025. https://centerforbrainhealth.org/article/single-tasking
- Why single-tasking is better than multitasking. Trauma Research UK. Published August 26, 2024. Accessed April 13, 2025. https://traumaresearchuk.org/blog/why-single-tasking-is-better-than-multitasking/
- Mind/body awareness writing exercises. UW Integrative Medicine. Accessed April 13, 2025. https://www.fammed.wisc.edu/files/webfm-uploads/documents/outreach/im/handout_mbs_workbook.pdf
- Visualization. American Psychological Association. Updated November 15, 2023. Accessed April 13, 2025. https://dictionary.apa.org/visualization
