Psycho-social Occupational Therapy

Mindfulness,
Thought Record &
Sensory Diet
Prepared by:
Md. Yeasir Arafat Alve
Lecturer in Occupational Therapy
MDM(BRACU); BSOT(DU);
Department of Occupational Therapy
Bangladesh Health Professions Institute (BHPI)
Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP)
CRP-Chapain, Savar, Dhaka- 1343.
Email: alve.ot.bd@outlook.com
5/16/2017 BHPI/OT/PsychosocialOT/@lve/2015 1

Support …
…WHO will support your efforts
–Treatment Counselors
–Therapist
–Psychiatrist
–Self-help
–Family/friends

• Mindfulness is a state of active, open
attention on the present. When
you're mindful, you observe your thoughts
and feelings from a distance, without
judging them good or bad. Instead of letting
your life pass you by, mindfulness means
living in the moment and awakening to
experience.
Mindfulness = Becoming More Aware More Often

Mindfulness can:
• Mindfulness can:
–help relieve stress
–treat heart disease
–lower blood pressure
–reduce chronic pain
–improve sleep
–alleviate gastrointestinal difficulties

Mindfulness improves mental health:
• In recent years, psychotherapists have turned
to mindfulness meditation as an important
element in the treatment of a number of
problems, including:
– depression
– substance abuse
– eating disorders
– couples’ conflicts
– anxiety disorders
– obsessive-compulsive disorder

Mindfulness improves well being:
• Increasing your capacity for mindfulness supports
many attitudes that contribute to a satisfied life.
• Being mindful makes it easier to enjoy the
pleasures in life as they occur, helps you become
fully engaged in activities, and creates a greater
capacity to deal with adverse events.
• By focusing on the here and now, many people
who practice mindfulness find that they are less
likely to get caught up in worries about the future
or regrets over the past, are less preoccupied
with concerns about success and self-esteem,
and are better able to form deep connections
with others.

Mindful Breathing exercise
• The purpose of this exercise is to simply
notice, accept and be aware of your
breath – it is not about relaxation or
stress reduction, although this may well
occur. Breathing is something we all do –
if you have a pulse then you breathe.

Exercise 1: The Stimulating Breath
• (also called the Bellows Breath)
The Stimulating Breath is adapted from a yogic breathing
technique. Its aim is to raise vital energy and increase
alertness.
• Inhale and exhale rapidly through your nose, keeping
your mouth closed but relaxed. Your breaths in and out
should be equal in duration, but as short as possible. This
is a noisy breathing exercise.
• Try for three in-and-out breath cycles per second. This
produces a quick movement of the diaphragm,
suggesting a bellows. Breathe normally after each cycle.
• Do not do for more than 15 seconds on your first try.

Exercise 2: The 4-7-8 (or Relaxing Breath) Exercise
• Exhale completely through your mouth, making
a whoosh sound.
• Close your mouth and inhale quietly through
your nose to a mental count of four.
• Hold your breath for a count of seven.
• Exhale completely through your mouth, making
a whoosh sound to a count of eight.
• This is one breath. Now inhale again and repeat
the cycle three more times for a total of four
breaths.

Mindful eating
• Mindful eating is an
ancient mindfulness
practice with
profound modern
implications and
applications for
resolving this
troubled love-hate
relationship with
food.

A pieces of chocolate
• This can be a wonderful exercise to
practice with children who tend to
really enjoy a good piece of chocolate.
Our household favorite is individually
wrapped ‘chocolate coins’ from a local
shop.
• Below are a few useful tips on how to
eat & savor it mindfully-

1) Before you pick up the chocolate take a
couple of deep breaths, in through the nose
and out through the mouth, just to allow the
body and mind to settle a bit and to be
present with this activity.
2) Take a moment to appreciate this piece of
chocolate. Where has it come from? What’s in
it? Try and imagine the different ingredients in
their natural growing environment
A pieces of chocolate cont…

3) Before you begin to eat it, take pause to notice
if there’s any feeling of impatience, of
impulsively wanting to eat it as quickly as
possible. Notice if there are also any feelings of
pleasure and excitement, or feelings of guilt and
unease, about the idea of eating the chocolate.
4) Slowly unwrap the piece of chocolate and then
take a good minute or so to explore it with your
eyes, nose and hands. Look at it closely, smell it
carefully and then touch it to see how it feels.

• 5) By now you’ll be more than ready to taste it.
Take a small bite (or alternatively put the whole
thing in your mouth), but try to resist chewing
the chocolate. Notice how it feels in the mouth,
the temperature and the texture. Also become
aware of the taste — whether it’s sweet, bitter,
creamy etc. Try to allow the chocolate to melt in
the mouth by gently moving it around with your
tongue, rather than chewing it. Slowly swallow
the chocolate and simply enjoy the lingering
‘aftertaste’ of the moment.

Progressive muscular relaxation
• Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique
for learning to monitor and control the state
of muscular tension. It was developed by
American physician Edmund Jacobson in the
early 1920s.

• Hand (clench your fist)
• Entire right arm (tighten your biceps by drawing
your forearm up towards your shoulder and “make a
muscle”, while clenching fist) (Repeat on other side
of body)
• Buttocks (tighten by pulling your buttocks together)
• Stomach (suck your stomach in)
• Chest (tighten by taking a deep breath)
• Neck and shoulders (raise your shoulders up to
touch your ears)
• Mouth (open your mouth wide enough to stretch
the hinges of your jaw)
• Eyes (clench your eyelids tightly shut)
• Forehead (raise your eyebrows as far as you can)5/16/2017 BHPI/OT/PsychosocialOT/@lve/2015 17

Visualization relaxations
• Visualization relaxation is an effective way to
relax the mind and body by picturing a
relaxing scene, such as a beach, garden,
meadow, or any other peaceful place.
• Beach Visualization:
Visualization relaxation is an effective way to
relax the mind and body by picturing a
relaxing scene. This script guides you to
imagine relaxing on a beautiful beach. The
beach is one of the most popular visualization
scripts.

Forest Visualization
This Forest Visualization is a guided imagery
relaxation script in which you imagine walking
through a beautiful forest in the mountains.
Candle Visualization Relaxation
This candle relaxation is a guided imagery script
in which I'll guide you to imagine relaxing while
looking at a candle. You can relax your body and
mind by focusing on the candle.
Floating on a Cloud
This relaxation script is a calming visualization
that will guide you to imagine floating on a
cloud.5/16/2017 BHPI/OT/PsychosocialOT/@lve/2015 19

• Peaceful Place
This script will allow you to relax your mind
and imagine your own safe, peaceful place.
This place will be an imaginary area that you
can visualize to help calm and relax your mind
when you are feeling stressed. This is one of
the top visualization scripts for using your own
imagination.
Visualization relaxations

Loving-Kindness Meditation
• Loving-kindness, or metta, as it in called in the
Pali language, is unconditional, inclusive love,
a love with wisdom. It has no conditions; it
does not depend on whether one “deserves”
it or not; it is not restricted to friends and
family; it extends out from personal categories
to include all living beings. There are no
expectations of anything in return.

• Continuing to breathe in and out, use either these
traditional phrases or ones you choose yourself. Say or
think them several times.
• May I be free from inner and outer harm and danger.
May I be safe and protected.
• May I be free of mental suffering or distress.
• May I be happy.
• May I be free of physical pain and suffering.
• May I be healthy and strong.
• May I be able to live in this world happily, peacefully,
joyfully, with ease.
Loving-Kindness Meditation

Thought record sheet
Situation Emotion/ Moods
(Rate 0-100)
Physical
sensation
Unhelpful
thought
Alternative/Realistic
thought /more
balanced perspective
What I could do/
Defusing
technique/ What is
the best response?

Sensory Diet
• "The daily total of sensorimotor experiences
needed by a person to adaptively interact with
the environment.”
• A sensory diet is the strategic use of sensory
activities. While most of us use sensory
strategies without really thinking about it
(drinking coffee to stay alert, listening to
soothing music to unwind, jogging to release
tension, etc.)

Psycho-social Occupational Therapy

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