Acceptance and Mindfulness Toolbox for Children and Adolescents by Gordon Timothy;Borushok Jessica; & Jessica Borushok

Author:Gordon, Timothy;Borushok, Jessica; & Jessica Borushok
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PESI

Exercise

No One Likes Burnt

Popcorn Mindfulness Training

Throughout this chapter, we’ve been approaching mindfulness in a playful and somewhat unorthodox way: focusing on training present-moment attention rather than attempting miraculous feats of relaxation or nonjudgment. This mindfulness exercise is one we typically do in groups; however, we have had great success in individual practice settings due to its evocative and directly applicable nature. Every experience is an opportunity to cultivate the practice of mindfulness.

Materials

We really like to use burnt popcorn because almost no one likes burnt popcorn. Yes, we’re sure a few of you will email us to say you, yourself, or your spouse likes the burnt kernels. That’s fine, but you’re outliers! In the past, we’ve used black licorice because a lot of people have a distaste for it, but it was too frequent that there would be that one child or adolescent in our groups who’d be throwing the black licorice back saying, “Oh I love these.”

We recommend having a small cup with a small handful of popcorn for yourself and each young person you’re working with if you’re doing this exercise in a group.

Instructions

• Have the burnt popcorn already prepared in a small cup.

• Pass out a cup of burnt popcorn to each participant and yourself with the special instruction to leave the cup alone for now.

• Inform your young clients that, in this exercise, you’re going to invite them to smell, touch, and eat the burnt popcorn.

• Pause to notice their reaction and, before responding, ask them to notice if they’re having any thoughts about doing this exercise already.

• Instruct your clients to pay attention to whatever thoughts might be showing up for them, taking stock of how they’re feeling or thinking, and to return to this moment by taking a breath on purpose.

• Invite them to begin by peering into the cup and noticing whatever shows up for them.

• Ask them to go slowly and carefully notice what occurs to them about the way the cup or popcorn looks, asking what stands out to them.

• Encourage them to hold the cup up to their face and smell the popcorn before they eat it.

• Invite intentional pausing and reflecting on whatever may arise, including thoughts such as, “This is weird.” Be reinforcing; the point is that they’re noticing.

• Invite your clients to now pick up a piece of burnt popcorn and to eat it, noticing its flavor on the tongue and any sensations as they bite into it and eat it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.