Lezione 1
Introduction To Mindfulness & Anxiety
In this opening session, Cristal introduces the foundation of mindfulness and how it can help ease anxiety. You’ll learn what mindfulness truly means—not about emptying the mind, but about gently returning to the present moment with awareness and kindness. This lesson includes a simple guided breathing practice to help you reconnect with your body and create space from anxious thoughts. No prior experience is needed.
Practice: 3-breath mindfulness
Reflection prompt: What did I notice when I paused to breathe today?
Lezione 2
Observing The Present Moment Through The Senses
In this session, Cristal introduces mindfulness practices from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) that help bring your attention back to the present moment using your five senses. When anxiety pulls you into future worries or past regrets, observing your current experience—without judgment—can help ground and steady you. This practice helps train your mind to stay present and respond with awareness rather than reactivity.
Practice: Five-sense grounding using DBT’s “Observe” and “Participate” skills
Reflection prompt: What did I notice when I really paid attention to my senses today?
Lezione 3
Leaves On A Stream – Practicing Cognitive Defusion
In this lesson, psychotherapist Cristal guides you through Leaves on a Stream — a powerful mindfulness technique from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) designed to help you unhook from anxious thoughts.
When anxiety takes over, thoughts can feel overwhelming and true. But ACT teaches us a new way of relating to those thoughts — not by pushing them away or trying to fix them, but by noticing them with kindness and letting them pass. This practice, known as cognitive defusion, helps create space between you and your thoughts so you can move through anxiety with more calm and clarity.
You’ll learn: – What ACT is and how it supports mental flexibility
– The concept of cognitive defusion
– How to visualize your thoughts as leaves gently floating down a stream
– A guided practice to help shift your relationship with anxiety
Reflection prompt: What kinds of thoughts showed up on your stream? Were you able to let them go, even for a moment?
Lezione 4
Wise Mind Practice - DBT Skill
In this session, Cristal introduces the concept of Wise Mind, a core skill from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Wise Mind is the quiet, centered part of you that integrates both emotion and logic — helping you respond with clarity and balance, even in moments of anxiety or inner conflict.
Through a guided practice, you’ll learn how to recognize the difference between Emotion Mind, Reasonable Mind, and Wise Mind, and begin to access the calm, intuitive space that lives beneath reactive thinking.
Practice: Guided Wise Mind meditation
Reflection prompt: What did my Wise Mind say, show, or feel like today?
Lezione 5
Body Scan Meditation
In this calming session, Cristal guides you through a Body Scan Meditation — a gentle, grounding practice to help relieve anxiety by bringing mindful awareness to physical sensations. Anxiety often shows up not just in the mind, but in the body — through tightness, restlessness, or tension. By noticing these sensations with compassion, the body scan helps soften the stress response and create a deeper sense of safety and presence.
Practice: Guided full-body awareness for calming the nervous system
Reflection prompt: Where do I tend to hold anxiety in my body? And how did it feel to gently notice that part today?
Lezione 6
Becoming The Observer – Exploring Self-As-Context
In this session, Cristal introduces the powerful ACT concept of Self-as-Context — the practice of noticing that you are not your thoughts, emotions, or sensations, but the stable awareness behind them. Through metaphor, reflection, and a gentle guided practice, you will begin to experience yourself as the steady sky behind the passing clouds of inner experience. This shift can open up more clarity, calm, and freedom when facing anxiety and strong emotions.
Practice: Guided noticing practice to strengthen the observer self
Reflection prompt: What did I notice when I became the observer of my thoughts and emotions? How did that shift how I felt?
Lezione 7
Riding The Waves – Practicing Emotion Surfing
In this session, Cristal introduces Emotion Surfing, a skill from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) that teaches you how to stay present with strong emotions without being overwhelmed by them. Instead of fighting, avoiding, or reacting to intense feelings like anxiety or fear, you’ll learn how to ride the natural wave of emotion with steady breath and awareness. Through this guided practice, you’ll begin to experience that emotions rise, crest, and fall — and that you have the capacity to stay grounded through it all.
Practice: Guided Emotion Surfing meditation
Reflection prompt: What did I feel during this practice — and what did I notice about the wave of emotion?
Lezione 8
Steadying Yourself With The Anchor Breath
In this final session, Cristal guides you through the Anchor Breath — a simple and reliable mindfulness practice to help you stay grounded during moments of stress, overwhelm, or emotional turbulence. Just like an anchor holds a boat steady during rough waters, your breath can become a steady point of return when anxiety pulls you off balance. This lesson also reflects on the journey of the entire mindfulness series, celebrating the skills you’ve built and the inner resilience you’ve nurtured along the way.
Practice: Guided Anchor Breath meditation
Reflection prompt: Which practice from this series helped you the most — and why?
