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Rhea Plosker MC MASc RSW RP
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I am a certified Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) facilitator and faculty member at the Centre for Mindfulness Studies in Toronto. I have a particular interest in facilitating online groups online.
If you are interested in mindfulness, but don't feel that sitting and meditating make sense for you right now, there are many options! For example, one of my favourite practices is something I call Mindful Treating. You can take a piece of dried fruit, or chocolate, a cup of tea or coffee or even a glass of wine and spend a minute or two or three examining it with all of your senses. Hold it, look at it, smell it, taste it, and even listen to it if that's possible. You can also practice mindfulness just by walking while paying attention to all your senses, or by spending time with someone you care for, or a loved pet, while really paying attention to your experience.
For those who already have a meditation practice, feel free to use my recordings and written instructions below. If mindfulness is not your thing, don't worry about it! There are many other ways to care for yourself.
If you are interested in mindfulness, but don't feel that sitting and meditating make sense for you right now, there are many options! For example, one of my favourite practices is something I call Mindful Treating. You can take a piece of dried fruit, or chocolate, a cup of tea or coffee or even a glass of wine and spend a minute or two or three examining it with all of your senses. Hold it, look at it, smell it, taste it, and even listen to it if that's possible. You can also practice mindfulness just by walking while paying attention to all your senses, or by spending time with someone you care for, or a loved pet, while really paying attention to your experience.
For those who already have a meditation practice, feel free to use my recordings and written instructions below. If mindfulness is not your thing, don't worry about it! There are many other ways to care for yourself.
Body Scan
The body scan practice can be done either lying down or sitting. The task is noticing whatever sensations are present (or not present!) as the guidance directs you to each part of the body in turn. Sometimes, we have an idea that meditation is supposed to be relaxing or calming. You may notice that in the body scan, or you might even notice tension or restlessness. Your goal is to just notice what's present, and you don't have to change anything or achieve anything. You will definitely notice the "wandering mind" appearing in this practice. This is also part of the practice and perfectly normal. See if it's possible to let go of judgements about whether or not you like the practice or think you are doing it well. It's also perfectly ok to take care of yourself by taking a break from the practice, or stopping early.
| Body Scan 30 Min |
Awareness of Breathing
This 10 minute meditation practice focuses your attention on breathing, and also on noticing when your attention moves away from breathing to something else. If you are new to meditation, you might start here. The 20 minute practice includes body sensations as well as breathing.
| Breathing Meditation 10 minutes |
| Breathing Meditation 20 minutes |
Three Minute Breathing Space
This very short practice is designed to bring meditation practice into real life. It uses a three-step choreography with each step approximately one minute long.
Step 1: Check in with your experience (thoughts, emotions, and body sensations) and become aware of what's going on as opposed to reacting on automatic pilot.
Step 2: Focus attention and anchor yourself by bringing attention to breathing in the lower belly.
Step 3: Expand your attention outwards and move on with your day.
This practice can be used during calmer times as a way of learning to check in with yourself, building resilience, or during stormier times as a way of creating space for yourself before deciding what to do next.
Step 1: Check in with your experience (thoughts, emotions, and body sensations) and become aware of what's going on as opposed to reacting on automatic pilot.
Step 2: Focus attention and anchor yourself by bringing attention to breathing in the lower belly.
Step 3: Expand your attention outwards and move on with your day.
This practice can be used during calmer times as a way of learning to check in with yourself, building resilience, or during stormier times as a way of creating space for yourself before deciding what to do next.
| 3-minute breathing space (with instruction) |
Breath, Body, Sounds, Thoughts, and Emotions Meditation
This longer practice starts with a breathing meditation, then asks you to move your attention to sensations in the body, then sounds, then thoughts. This is a longer meditation practice so you should get some practice with shorter meditations first.
| Breath Body Sounds Thoughts Open Awareness 30 minutes |
Mountain Meditation
The mountain meditation practice is a visualization practice intended to help us access our inner strength and stability during challenging times, in the same way the strength and stability of a mountain helps it to weather nature's storms.
| Mountain Meditation |
This short “Dropping Anchor” grounding meditation helps us during times of stress, stormy emotions, or when challenging thoughts, memories, or worries are present. This practice is not intended to fix anything or to make the emotional storm or pain go away. Like an anchor on a boat, this practice is intended to hold you steady until the storm passes in its own time. This practice is practical and short and can be used anywhere. The Dropping Anchor practice is also accessible to those not comfortable with breathing meditations. It focuses on the five senses of sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste, and can easily be modified according to your location, and your personal needs. You don’t have to wait for a moment of stress or difficulty to Drop Anchor. You can do this at any time during your day as a way of staying grounded.
| Dropping_Anchor_Introduction.mp3 |
| Dropping_Anchor_Recording |
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is particularly helpful for those living with anxiety or stress. In PMR, we systematically tense and release different muscle groups in the body with the purpose of:
- Noticing tension and cues for tension in the body. PMR helps us to build mindful awareness of what is happening in the body.
- Progressive muscle relaxation also provides an approach for releasing tension in the body in a systematic way.
| Progressive_Muscle_Relaxation_Introduction.mp3 |
| Progressive_Muscle_Relaxation_Recording.mp3 |