Mindful March: Day 27 to 29

Day 27

Stretch the body
Even if we exercise regularly, we can neglect the body as we go through the day. Today we’re going to do some gentle mindful movement. We suggest you try this in the afternoon – perhaps when you’re starting to feel a bit sleepy.

How to do it
Why not offer your body a little gentle stretching? Follow this video and move mindfully. Listen to your body and remember not to do anything that might hurt it. Notice how the stretches feel, and how your body feels afterwards.

Reflection
● What was it like to do a bit of gentle stretching in the middle of the day?
● How did your body feel afterwards?
● How did you feel to do something short and simple?
● Was there a temptation to do something more vigorous or extreme?

Day 28

Connect with nature
Nature is all round us – whether we live in the country or not. Give yourself 10 minutes today to spend time outdoors and connecting with nature. It might be a short walk noticing the trees, flowers, foliage around you; even in the city, there is usually some greenery around. If the weather is really too bad to go out in, then you could try one of these relaxing visualisations instead:
For the Trip to the Beach audio
Landscape Visualisation audio

Reflection
● What was it like to connect with nature today?
● How did it make you feel?

Day 29

Give the phone the boot
See if you can spend one day digitally detoxing. If necessary, let people know that you won’t be connecting, and spend the day without your phone or accessing social media. It might be challenging, so be prepared for that. If you do get urges to pick up the phone and connect, spend a bit of time noticing what it’s like not to give in, perhaps noticing where in the body you feel urges. What happens if you don’t give in straight away? Do the urges subside? Notice how you feel at the end of the day of not being tethered to your phone.

Reflection:
● What was that like?
● How did you feel at the end of the day?
● Did you find other things to do with your time?
● Did anything surprise you?

Find out more about Mindful March.