5 Mindfulness Practices You Can Do Anywhere (Including Therapy!)

by Autumn Puffer, tLMFT

I recently completed a training specifically in Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (aka DBT). This wonderful training discusses mindfulness at length, and how it is a central component to using DBT with clients. A link to this training is provided in the References section below!

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the ability to be intentionally present in the current moment, without judgment, distraction, or attempt to change it.

What mindfulness is not

Mindfulness is NOT solely meditation. A lot of people (me included) may picture the Lotus pose when imagining mindfulness. While meditation can be a form of mindfulness, not all mindfulness is meditation. There are a lot more accessible options!

Why use it at all?

Mindfulness is used to challenge and rewire your brain to slow down and keep you from getting swept up in racing thoughts or how busy life gets. It assists in being present and more fully engaged in what you can control.

5 Mindfulness Practices

Whether it’s 3 minutes or 30 minutes, mindfulness takes many shapes.

The goal of all of these practices is to introduce accessible forms of mindfulness

The Name Game

This first mindfulness practice requires a bit of thinking.

To start, name any person you choose (famous or not). It has to be a two named person (not a Cher or Zendaya). For this example, I’m choosing Taylor Swift.

To continue the chain, you name a person whose first name starts with the prior person’s last name. In this case, that would be the “S” in Swift. 

After some thinking, I think of Serena Williams. Now to find someone with a first name that starts with “W”… 

The purpose of this practice is to be hard. It requires short term but intense focus to continue, making it a quick and fast acting mindfulness technique. 

It has no strict rules or set end point.

Stream of Consciousness

This activity is simple. Take a pen, paper, and for three minutes, and write. There are no format or content requirements. Write what comes to mind, whether it goes thought to thought, a list, or a story.

This activity allows you to be present with your thoughts without attempting to control or organize them.

5 Senses

The 5 Senses grounding technique is one of the more well known mindfulness practices out there. It goes as follows:

5 Things You Can Touch

4 Things You Can See

3 Things You Can Hear

2 Things You Can Smell

1 Thing You Can Taste

“Taste” can also be swapped out for “feel” (an emotion) if necessary

It can also be “1 Thing” for each sense, if that is easier. But for more intentional time, the 54321 is more efficient.

This exercise encourages being present in multiple parts of both your body and environment.

Mindful Eating

Choose a small food, like a piece of chocolate or fruit. Imagine you have to describe this food to someone who has never seen or had it before. What color is it? What shape? When you taste it, what words come to mind to describe it?

Mindful eating has been used to treat eating disorders, as it can be used to approach thoughts around food without judgment and increase intention.

Mindful Listening

Pick any song

Whether you use headphones or not, listen to this song intentionally. What instruments or vocals are you following as the song plays? Is there something you hear in it that you’ve never noticed before? What are you feeling in your body through each section?

There are unlimited songs and potential that can be discovered with this activity.

Using Mindfulness in the Therapy Room

Mindfulness can be particularly helpful when the client is exploring their physical and emotional state. In therapy, you can think one way and feel another. Mindfulness assists in separating the two while acknowledging them more equally.

In session, mindfulness can be used to help calm a client’s nervous system and keep them from being swept away by thoughts. Research shows chemical changes in the brain that with consistent use, mindfulness can increase emotional regulation and decrease reactivity to stressors.

Like any treatment or exercise, there can be risk involved depending on personal circumstances. If mindfulness is increasing your stress level, discuss it with your mental health provider.

Mindfulness doesn’t have to mean sitting still, clearing your mind, or adding another item to your to-do list. It can be as simple as noticing what you hear while listening to a favorite song, paying attention to the taste of your lunch, or taking a few minutes to slow down and notice what is happening around you. The goal isn’t to stop your thoughts or change how you feel, it’s to practice being present with whatever is happening in the moment. Try one of these practices and see what works for you. You might be surprised by how much mindfulness can happen in the moments you’re already living.

References:

Acute (2025). 4 Ways Mindfulness Supports Eating Disorder Recovery. Acute Center for EDs and Malnutrition. https://www.acute.org/resources/mindfulness-eating-disorder-recovery

Mulee, A. (2023). DBT Crash Course for Clinicians: 15 Core Techniques to Improve Emotional Regulation, Manage Distress and More. PESI, Inc. https://www.pesi.com/item/the-ultimate-dbt-cbt-act-training-bundle-treat-trauma-anxiety-3-todays-top-therapies-137198

Pagnini, F., & Philips, D. (2015). Being mindful about mindfulness. The Lancet Psychiatry, 2(4), 288-289.