Recap and Goals

Mindfulness for Men > 1. Anchoring Our Attention > Recap and Goals

Lesson 1. Anchoring Our Attention ✔

Summarizing Lesson 1. Anchoring Our Attention of our Mindfulness for Men Course, and setting goals for the week.

Putting these skills into practice throughout our week

I kept noticing on the way to work I always started getting lost and worried about tasks to do that day. But now when I’m on my way to work I try to focus on my breathing and know that I can sort things out when I get to work. Instead of 30 minutes of worrying to start every day, I actually enjoy my commute now. It helps me to relax and ease into the day.” – Serge, 26

Summary and Recap

In this first lesson of our Mindfulness for Men course, we explored two key ways of training our ability to anchor our focus and attention on the present. 

  1. Guided practice of breath awareness
    • We learned to keep our attention on an intended focus, noticing when it moved elsewhere and shifting it back to the breath. 
    • In this process of redirecting attention, we also developed response inhibition by training ourselves not to get caught up in thoughts and reactivity that arise during practice.
  2. Finding your ground
    • We practiced using a grounding anchor in everyday life, helping us reconnect to the present moment and decrease reactivity
  3. Mindful eating
    • We practiced mindful eating as a way to incorporate mindfulness into everyday life, through inviting an open curiosity to all five senses as we eat, while cultivating the ability to sustain attention on the moment-by-moment experience of an everyday activity.

Consolidating Skills

Before moving on to Lesson 2, we encourage you to practice breath awareness and mindful eating at least three times each throughout the next week to help establish the skill of anchoring attention in the present.

Our worksheet below can help you to reflect on your experience (or you can use a journal or notebook or notes on your phone).

Preview of PDF

Try to set aside 5-10 minutes each evening to reflect on your mindfulness practice for the day. Use the following prompts to guide your reflection:

  • What did you notice during your mindfulness practice today?
  • What challenges did you encounter?
  • How did you respond to these challenges?
  • What have you noticed about your ability to sustain and redirect attention? How has it changed, if it has?
  • What did you learn from today’s practice? 
  • How might you apply what you learned to future mindfulness practices or daily life?

[we recommend picking three days now to plan your week, which will help you to better stick to your practice]

 

DOWNLOAD LESSON 1. WEEKLY PRACTICE SHEET

In Lesson 2, we will dive deeper into the body and the senses, and learn how developing our body awareness can improve our ability to manage our emotions.

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