MBSR exercises

When you're ready to practise, we suggest you do:

• a 20-minute body scan each morning
• a 20-minute sitting meditation each evening
• a stretch and breathe exercise 1 or 2 times each week (after about 4 weeks)

All the exercises follow a 3-stage process called hourglass meditation. We encourage you to take some time to understand this first.

Getting started

To begin, sit comfortably upright in a chair or lie down.

The recordings make some suggestions about your posture at the start of each exercise.

Avoid drinks that contain caffeine (such as coffee or energy drinks), alcohol, and medicines that make you sleepy (such as sleeping tablets) before the exercises. They can make MBSR more difficult to do and make it less effective.

The MBSR exercises can be divided into 4 groups:

1. Body scanning

This is a mindfulness exercise, where you pay attention to the sensations in the different parts of your body. You can usually do the exercise lying down or sitting up. 

2. Sitting meditations

The purpose of this exercise is to observe the mind wandering away from something that you focus on, such as your breathing. You can then gently bring your mind back to the breath. Repeat this exercise for as many times as you notice your attention wandering.

3. Mindful movements

This exercise is about accepting and observing the sensations in your body as it moves slowly and stretches. The exercise takes 35 minutes, and you'll need to be able to balance on 1 leg and move on the floor.

We recommend that you try the exercises you feel comfortable doing, and leave any you cannot do or feel uncomfortable doing.

4. Mindful tasks

This means noticing the physical sensations of a task, such as walking or eating. There is a mindful walking exercise in the recordings.

Hourglass meditation

All of the exercises follow a 3-stage process. 

1. Being aware of sensations in your body created by your environment.
2. Observing the natural movements in your stomach created by the breath.
3. Noticing what you experience within the whole body.

This 3-stage process is often called ‘hourglass’ meditation. You first expand your awareness outwards to the body, then draw your focus inwards, before expanding it out to your body again. 

For 1 to 3 minutes

Sit still on a chair or lie on a bed. Be aware of sensations from:

• the floor
• the chair or bed
• clothes
• air against your skin
• any thoughts or worries

For 1 to 2 minutes

Notice the movements of your breath in your lower stomach. If your mind wanders away to other thoughts, keep bringing it gently back to the breathing in your tummy. Repeat whenever there are any distractions.

For 10 to 40 minutes

Turn your attention from the breathing towards the whole body. You can do this by scanning through the body from your feet to your head. Otherwise, be aware of the body as a whole and try to accept it the way it is at the moment. Avoid judging, analysing or interpreting the body’s sensations or how it feels.

Again, if your mind wanders off to other thoughts, gently bring it back to the sensations in your body. It is normal for the mind to wander and this is OK. Just gently focus again on the body when this happens.