Take five

The benefits of mindfulness are well established, but building a regular habit can be a struggle. What if there was a set of simple prompts that could serve as a reminder?

The train carriage is packed. Every seat is full. A cacophony of other people’s noise swirls and mixes with the smell of fast food. Juggling bags, a drink and your phone, you try to check your emails. If you can manage to fish your headphones from a pocket, there’s a podcast you’ve been meaning to listen to. Now that you think about it, you might have time to finish that food order you started earlier before the train pulls into your stop.

How often have you found yourself with a natural break in your day, but rather than take a moment to breathe, you cram it full of distractions? Using your lunch hour to research a holiday. Scrolling social media while watching a TV show. The irony is that unless you’ve spent time establishing mindfulness as a regular habit, the idea of learning to be more present in moments like these can feel exhausting.

This is where the Five Rs of Mindfulness come in. Pioneered by researchers at Michigan State University (MSU), they’re a set of simple prompts – Recognise, Relax, Review, Respond and Return – that can act as a gentle reminder to bring you back to the present moment, become more aware and accepting of your thoughts and feelings and respond to situations as they arise with a greater sense of calm and clarity. What’s more, they’re easy to remember and could be stored on your phone or as a sticky note on your screen, mirror or fridge (use the box we’ve created, overleaf), so you have them to hand when needed. Keeping the Five Rs in mind can be a more readily accessible way to return to or remain grounded.