Mindfulness Audios Download: Doing An Unpleasant Chore

Daily Mindfulness Practice: Free Audio Download

by Monica A. Frank, Ph.D.

The following is part of a series of audios to teach how to practice mindfulness. Developing your ability to focus on the present moment can reduce distress and improve well-being.

Doing An Unpleasant Chore

Index for Mindfulness Audios

Additional reading:

Some tips for using these audios:

Start with the Understanding Mindfulness audios to learn about mindfulness.
These short practice exercises are to help train your brain to be more mindful when engaged in daily activities.
The audio format is just for convenience to help learn the material. You can also read the transcript. When you practice, however, you should engage in the behavior mindfully without listening to the audio.
The best way to train your brain to be more mindful is to practice in short sessions throughout the day while engaged in your normal activities.
The descriptions are an artificial way to help you get started. Eventually, the practice of mindfulness is being aware of what is described without using an inner verbal description.
This exercise is to focus fully on doing an unpleasant chore and noticing how it changes as you improve your mindfulness skills.
This exercise is excellent training for learning to tolerate discomfort or unpleasant situations. You may want to start with a less unpleasant chore and increase the unpleasantness of the chore as you learn to be more neutral and present-focused in your approach.

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Transcript of Audio: Doing An Unpleasant Chore

Choose an unpleasant chore and allow yourself to approach the chore without judgment. Instead of focusing on the unpleasant aspects of the chore, let yourself experience the chore neutrally. What does it feel like to do the chore? How does your body feel? How do you need to focus on the chore. Let yourself be fully aware of the chore and focus completely on doing it. If your mind wanders, allow yourself to gently bring your focus back to the chore. As you approach the chore neutrally, does the nature of the experience change? Is the level of unpleasantness or the discomfort the same? Or does it seem more tolerable?