28 Oct Daily Inventories Using Mindfulness

This blog post was written by Recovery Help Now’s, Elana Clark-Faler, LCSW, CSAT-S, CGP.

A daily inventory is an opportunity to scan the beginning to the end of your day to identify behaviors that supported or hurt your daily growth.  In order to observe yourself, it’s important not judge or criticize yourself.  How do you observe and take an inventory without judgment?  Many individuals have no idea to observe themselves without judgment.

I think the best skill to support making observations without judgment is mindfulness.  Mindfulness is the act of being aware.  This means you are actively using skills to practice observing yourself and your environment.

There is a what and how to the practice of mindfulness.  According to Marsha Linehan (who created Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), ‘what skills’ include Observe, Describe and Participation Skills.  Observation skills teach you how to see your thoughts, emotions, and senses as if they are objects.  They are things you experience, but aren’t you.  It’s your perception, but not necessarily the ‘truth,’ opinions.