Microdosed Mindfulness®

As I learned to teach the concepts of mindfulness I learned micro-practices as a way to demonstrate simple ways to practice mindfulness. Short practices, repeated often, were pivotal in my ability to embody the skills I was learning on a regular basis. These powerful tools quickly became important in my own teaching style.

When I began actively teaching I heard from students that what really worked for them were the simpler practices, repeated often until they became a habit. When they repeated the habits they started to do them for longer periods.

• One student told me how the habit of checking in with themselves before a meeting helped them be more attentive to what was most important to them and so she was more likely to speak up and be more focused in her delivery.
   
• Another told me how he’d started to practice a simple loving-kindness meditation and felt less reactive when dealing with customers or others on the sales team.
   
• One executive related how she’s improved relationships with family and co-workers through actively listening.
   
• A single mom who was overwhelmed with home-schooling in a pandemic said she learned how to use a simple pause to slow down reactivity and now her children do so too.
   
• A 1-breath meditation became 3-breaths, then a minute, 5 minutes, 20 minutes, then even a 10-day silent meditation retreat.

I teach these techniques in a variety of online courses, retreats and in-person events as well as offering one-on-one coaching through my company Nearly Mindful. Visit my personal website JanetFouts.com to learn more, subscribe to the newsletter, read more blog posts or listen to podcasts.