Can You Be One-Minded?
Looking to increase joy and peace, decrease personal stress, and feel more fulfillment? In DBT, we move toward these valuable goals by using the WHAT and HOW skills. WHAT skills include observing, describing, and participating in the present moment intentionally and in a particular way. HOW skills tell us HOW to use the WHAT skills in a meaningful way. The One Mindfully Skill (a DBT HOW Skill) can support you on this journey.
One-mindfully is being fully present in this particular moment in time while paying attention to one (and only one) thing at a time. In other words, you intentionally focus on doing and experiencing with awareness.
Let’s practice one-mindfulness together. Are you ready?
Pick an activity you enjoy doing (Such as drawing, cooking, writing, exercising, or whatever your heart desires)
Set a timer for 2 minutes (or whatever feels comfortable to you)
Focus all of your attention on this activity AND ONLY this activity until the timer goes off. That means - no electronics. Not to worry, it is only for a few minutes. It also means that when your mind starts to make lists, think of what’s for dinner or other things… gently bring your mind back to the activity you’re doing.
Ding, Ding, Ding (that’s the timer going off). Now ask yourself… What feelings came up for you? What does my body feel like?
Voilá - you’ve just completed your first DBT HOW Skill!!!!!
**Challenge: Do this one time per day for three whole days! You can do it!!!
Did you know that multitasking isn’t actually possible? Our human brains can only focus on one thing at a time. A study found that only 2.5% of people are able to multitask effectively. Studies show that accuracy and efficacy go significantly down when our brains constantly switch from activity to activity. It’s easy to believe that doing several things at once means we are more productive. However, this is generally not true. Engaging in activities one-mindfully helps you to be more effective, engaged, and present.
And when you slow things down, you have easier access to your Wise Mind (Don’t worry, you’ll learn all about Wise Mind with your DBT therapist!). You also give yourself a front-row seat to the potential beauty of the small moments in life. Such as, a loved one’s voice, the crunch of your favorite chip, the sound of cicadas during a Chicago summer. We spend so much of our time living in the past (which is already gone) or in the future (which is not here yet) that we can forget to be in the present!
Being one-minded is one of the hardest things to do these days. We understand how NOT EASY it is. However, we also know that you value living your life and fully engaging in it. So here are few extra activities that you can do to get even better at One-Mindfulness.
When on your computer, close all your tabs but one (did your mind just explode?).
Put your phone in another room and keep the TV off when eating dinner.
Remind yourself, “What am I doing right now, right at this moment.”
Do only ONE thing at a time when eating out. Put your phone completely away and fully attend to the person talking (so tough!).
One-Mindfully is an effort to help us focus our attention on the here and now. Although the skill is quite simple, it can be uncomfortable to get used to in the beginning (as with anything new). Remember, be patient and non-judgmental with yourself. <3
For more information on living mindfully and using other DBT skills with the help of a therapist, reach out to us at hello@mindchicago.com.
Authored by Mind Chicago DBT and ACT therapist Fatima Sakrani, LSW
