Be Mindful and Stress Less: 50 Ways to Deal with Your (Crazy) Life

Simple mindfulness practices for teens that build self-esteem, grow compassion, and reduce stress.

This accessible, user-friendly toolbox for teens introduces them to mindfulness practice and shows them how it can ease their fears and anxieties, reduce their impulsivity, help them develop a more measured response to the stressors around them, and build strong relationships. In fifty very short activity chapters, mindfulness teacher and family therapist Gina Biegel offers meditations, breathing and thought exercises, and stress-reducing solutions that can be done as an ongoing practice or in the moment.

The book is divided into three parts. Part One introduces mindfulness and builds an understanding and foundation for going forward. It invites the reader to begin to integrate mindfulness into their life in quick and easy ways. Part Two offers activities for teens to build mindful relationships with themselves and with others. This section focuses on compassion, acceptance, respect, and self-esteem–qualities that are tremendously important for teens to learn as early as possible. Planting these seeds will allow teens to flourish and build more balanced relationships. Part Three includes activities that focus on the cognitive aspect of mindfulness. Teens learn how to use mindfulness to manage difficulties they have in thinking (judgments, negative coping) and reactivity. Self-regulation is an important skill for teens to learn, and mindfulness is a first step to responding consciously rather than reacting automatically.