Mindfulness
What does it mean to be mindful?
Paying attention to what is happening right now, including your thoughts, feelings, body, and surroundings.
What is the goal of using VITALS?
To help you notice unhelpful thoughts/behaviors and make a healthier choice instead of reacting automatically.
What is a request?
Respectfully asking someone for something you want or need.
What does it mean to accept criticism?
Listening to feedback calmly without immediately arguing or becoming defensive.
Name one mindfulness strategy you can use when you're overwhelmed
Deep breathing, grounding, noticing your senses, mindful walking
What does the V in VITALS stand for?
Validate — recognize and accept what you are feeling without judging yourself for it.
You need your teacher to explain an assignment again. What could you say?
Could you please explain that part again? I’m not sure I understand
Someone gives you feedback you disagree with. What should you do first?
Listen and stay calm before responding.
You're angry after losing a game. How could mindfulness help before you respond?
Pause, notice the anger, breathe, and choose what to do instead of reacting immediately.
You're upset because your friend didn't text you back and you think, “They must be mad at me.” How could you use VITALS?
Validate your feelings, notice the thought, and remind yourself there could be other reasons they haven't responded.
A friend keeps interrupting you. Make a respectful request.
“Can you please let me finish what I'm saying before you respond?”
Your teacher says, “You need to participate more.” Give an appropriate response.
Okay, I’ll try to participate more.
Someone sends you an annoying text. What could you do mindfully before texting back?
Pause, notice your feelings, take a breath, and think about the consequences before responding.
Someone criticizes you and your first reaction is to argue. How could VITALS help?
Pause, recognize your feelings and urges, think about whether arguing will help, and choose a more effective response.
ou want to change seats because someone is distracting you. How could you ask your teacher?
“Could I please move seats? I'm having trouble focusing where I'm sitting.”
A friend says, “Sometimes you don't listen when I'm talking.” What could you say?
Thanks for telling me. I’ll work on listening better.”
You're embarrassed because someone corrected you in front of the group. What mindfulness skills could you use?
Notice the embarrassment, breathe, ground yourself, and remind yourself that you can choose how to respond.
You're frustrated with a teacher and want to walk out of class. Walk us through how you could use VITALS before acting.
Validate the frustration, identify your thoughts and urges, consider the consequences, and choose an effective action such as taking a breath, asking for a break, or calmly talking to the teacher.
You asked your parent for something and they said no. How could you respectfully make another request without demanding?
“Can we talk about it later?” or “Could you explain why not?” while accepting that the answer may still be no.
Someone tells you that your joke hurt their feelings, but you didn't mean to hurt them. What should you do?
Listen without arguing about your intention, acknowledge their feelings, apologize if appropriate, and try to do differently next time.