Mindfulness for Teens: How Being Present Can Help You Feel Better

By: Amira Noyes

Being a teenager can feel intense- there’s demands at school, pressure to figure out who you are, decisions to make about your future, social pressures (in person and online)- it’s a lot. Mindfulness is a simple, yet effective way to turn down the volume on the noise and chaos of a demanding life.

In DBT, we focus on mindfulness skills in two ways: becoming aware of the present (e.g., what you see, feel, hear, taste, smell), and focusing our attention on only one thing at a time. With practice, mindfulness skills help us to pause, take a breath, describe what’s happening, and then take our next step intentionally.

Three Mindfulness ‘How’ Skills:

  1. Non-judgment: we all find ourselves using judgements sometimes, it’s part of being human, and judgements can be unhelpful and increase the intensity of our emotions. Noticing the present moment without judgement, describing things as they are, can help us gain more control over our feelings;

    1. Notice and describe things as they are;
    1. For example, instead of “I’m such an idiot for feeling like this”, notice and describe the emotion you’re having, such as “I’m feeling embarrassed”

  2. One-mindfully: Stop multitasking, and do one thing with your full attention;

    1. For example, eat breakfast without scrolling on your phone;
    1. Go for a walk outside and notice the feeling of your feet touching the ground with each step

  3. Be Effective: focus on doing what works in the situation, not what you wish would happen;
    1. Try to put intense emotions to the side for the moment
    1. Be as skillful as you can to reach your goal;
    1. For example, you feel anxious about a class presentation and want to skip; instead, you distract yourself by talking to your friends about weekend plans before class, take some deep breaths, and tell yourself “I’ll get through this”. You focus your attention on your notes, do the presentation, and notice that your anxiety did not get worse.

TL;DR – Mindfulness is simple and can be done anywhere, and it can help develop:

  • Better emotional control
  • Increased attention
  • Enjoyment of your life
  • Better stress management