Five minute mindfulness

Is lockdown getting you down? Really worried about the current situation with covid19? Mindfulness, (or keeping our minds in the current moment) can really help. It stops that chattering that minds do, racing on and making up outcomes which can worry and unsettle us but aren't really real.

Here's a simple little exercise that's quick to do whenever you want to unwind your mind and get back to what is, and not what your mind starts imagining what might come to be.

Listen to a piece of music, but not in the way you usually do. Usually we let the melody run by us as a continuous thing. But actually it's really only a series of individual notes.

Try listening to the individual notes. Concentrate hard on each one and don't be swept away by the tune.

It's best to use a tune without words and one that has a slower tempo, so that you have time to identify every single note.

Don't make it too long a piece, as it's harder than you might think to focus in this way for too long.

Why not give it a try and see if it helps?