Home » Wellness » Meditation » 11+ DBT Mindfulness Exercises (list)

11+ DBT Mindfulness Exercises (list)

By OptimistMinds
Page last updated: 08/30/2022 | Next review date: 08/30/2024

As a BetterHelp affiliate, we may receive compensation from BetterHelp if you purchase products or services through the links provided.

close

Author bio

The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter.  The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.


OptimistMinds
View More north_east

This blog explains mentions some DBT mindfulness exercises.

DBT Mindfulness Exercises

Here are 7 helpful mindfulness exercises in DBT, or Dialectical Behavior Therapy that help you practise mindfulness:

  • Listen to your favorite music
  • Watching People and trying to understand them
  • Mindful Eating: Paying attention to what you eat.
  • Practicing compassion towards self and others
  • Mindful Walking: Being Mindful of where you go and how you do it
  • Mindfulness Breathing: Deep breathing and paying attention
  • Using your non-dominant hand to write

What is DBT?

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy ( DBT) is a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy and mindfulness is a key skill that DBT provides as it allows patients to increase awareness about their own thoughts and emotions.

Simple DBT mindfulness exercises have expanded to include a number of different patients, including those with severe anxiety.

Exercises will show people how to slow down their emotions, identify them for what they are – just emotions – and sharpen their concentration.

It also helps to resolve their anxiety disorders in a specific way and therefore cure them rather than just cover them. 

DBT’s “What” and “How” Skills

The ‘What’ skills helped patients learn how to actually perceive their experience; describe this experience using verbal terms, and be completely present at the moment and in their actions without feeling self-conscious.

Such skills make it possible for the patient to be conscious of what is happening to them and of their role in their own experience.

Getting more conscious of their own feelings and more rooted in the moment lays the groundwork for another set of ‘how’ skills. 

The ‘How’ skills teach people how to interpret, explain, and express their own knowledge.

These skills help us to learn how to have experiences in a non-evaluative and non-assessment way; to focus on one thing at a time and to learn how to bring their attention back to the goal when they’re off course; and to keep their focus on their goals regardless of their current state of mind.

Clients have been introduced to a variety of mindfulness exercises, including mindful breathing, body scanning, and other simple awareness practices.

Several of these exercises are listed below and have been shown to be of great benefit.

1. Observe a Leaf for Five Minutes

This exercise requires nothing but a leaf and your attention. Pick up your leaf, keep it in your palm, and give it your full attention for five minutes. Notice the colors, the shape, the texture, and the pattern.

This will put you into the moment and match your views with your current experience.

2. Mindful Eating for Four Minutes

As with the raisin exercise mentioned above, this exercise includes careful feeding.  Pay attention to what you’re holding, feel it in your mouth.

When you’ve recognized the shape, weight, color, etc., put your mind to the smell. By the end of the day, move back to sleep, but do so slowly and with focused attention.

Note your taste and its feel on your tongue. This exercise can help you to explore new experiences with familiar foods. This exercise can be downloaded from here.

3. Observe Your Thoughts for 15 Minutes

This practice is the cornerstone of mindfulness, built simply to increase the knowledge of your own thoughts.

To start, sit, or lie down in a comfortable position and try to dissipate all the tension in your body.

First, concentrate on your breathing, then transfer your mind to what it feels like to be in your body, and then transfer on to your feelings.

Be aware of what comes into your head, but resist the urge to label or judge those thoughts. Think of them as a passing cloud in your mind’s sky.

If your mind wanders in search of thought, remember whatever it was that took your attention and gently direct your attention back to your thoughts.

Side Note: I have tried and tested various products and services to help with my anxiety and depression. See my top recommendations here, as well as a full list of all products and services our team has tested for various mental health conditions and general wellness.

4. Mindfulness Bell Exercise for Five Minutes

For this exercise, you begin by closing your eyes and listening to the cue. When you hear it, your goal is to concentrate your attention on the sound and to continue your concentration until it fades completely.

This exercise allows you to stay firmly rooted at the moment.

5. Stare at the Center

The goal is simple: to concentrate your attention on the center of the changing color pattern.

You can let your mind wander freely, acknowledging any thoughts coming into your brain, but remaining in the moment.

This experience is close to the well-known phenomenon of quiet fixation that results from gazing at a candle or a campfire.

This exercise will bring the same concentration and reflective thinking to you but be careful not to lose yourself in thinking, and just remain present with the moment and let your thoughts pass by.

The following is a list of some of the best books on DBT mindfulness. These books are a great source of learning how to practice DBT mindfulness.

All of these books are easily available on the internet.

Just click the book you wish to study and you will be redirected to the page from where you can access it.

What are some mindfulness exercises?

Some mindfulness exercises include yawning and stretching for 10 seconds in every hr, breathing deeply for three times, stroking your hands, eating mindfully, practicing loving-kindness meditation, and so forth.

What are the 4 modules of DBT?

The four modules of DBT consist of core mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.

What is mindfulness DBT?

Mindfulness is at the heart of Dialectical Behavior Therapy DBT, a CBT treatment for issues with prevalent emotion regulation.

In the very heart, consciousness or in other words, mindfulness, is clearly present.

It ensures you pay heed to what’s going on right now. Without any judgment. By talking about it.

What are DBT techniques?

Dialectical behavioral therapy ( DBT) is an extremely effective form of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) that was originally utilized to combat borderline personality disorder.

DBT provides four types of coping strategies to clients: mindfulness; acceptance to distress; cognitive effectiveness; and control of emotions.

Do mindfulness activities really work?

New findings have found that the development of the stress hormone cortisone, through carefulness activities in everyday life, decreases symptoms of fear and exhaustion.

Trying only a couple of these strategies during the day could also help you achieve a more productive work-life balance.

What are the four main points of dialectical behavior therapy?

The 4 Modules of Dialectical Behavior Therapy include mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance, and emotion regulation. 

How do I stay mindful?

Some ways to stay mindful include practicing mindfulness, letting your mind wander and think about things optimistically, keeping things short, learning to meditate, and so forth.

This blog explained in detail the concept of DBt mindfulness and mentioned some of the most effective DBt mindfulness exercises.

If you have any questions or queries regarding this blog, let us know in the comments section. We will be glad to assist you.

Your suggestions and reviews about the blog will also be appreciated.

References 

22 Mindfulness Exercises, Techniques & Activities For Adults (+ PDF’s) by Courtney E. Ackerman (2020)

DBT Mindfulness Exercises by Janette Grant (2018)

Amazon.com 

Unsplash.com