Mindfulness
What & How Skills Practice
Review how you applied the What skills—Observe, Describe, Participate—and the How skills—Non-judgmentally, One-mindfully, Effectively—in a specific moment.
Tip: jot notes below, then print or “Save as PDF.”
How to practice it
Move through each step slowly. Notice what the skill asks for and how you can experiment in real life.
1
Observe
Recall the situation you are reviewing. Notice if you used your senses to stay present with the experience or if you drifted into autopilot.
2
Describe
Identify whether you named what you noticed without judgments. Replace labels like “awful” with factual statements such as “my chest tightened.”
3
Participate
Consider how fully you engaged. Did you throw yourself into the moment, or did self-conscious thoughts pull you out?
4
Non-judgmentally
Rate how well you removed “should,” “good,” or “bad” from the experience. Translate judgments into observations.
5
One-mindfully & Effectively
Assess whether you focused on one thing at a time and chose actions that moved you toward your goal.
Real-world examples
Try spotting moments like these in your week. Notice how the skill changes the ripple effect of a tough situation.
Morning commute
You replayed yesterday’s argument instead of noticing the drive. When you spotted the loop, you named “thinking about yesterday,” returned to observing the road, and shifted into effective planning for today’s meeting.
Leading a team meeting
You noticed your face heating up when challenged. You silently labeled “anxiety,” breathed, and restated your point calmly—staying one-mindful and effective.
Practice Activity
Pick one situation from today. Rate each What/How skill (0 = not used, 5 = used consistently) and plan a refinement.
What situation are you reviewing?
How did you Observe, Describe, and Participate? Include a rating for each.
Where did judgments or multitasking creep in?
What effective adjustment will you try next time?
Want to practice mindfulness with the WithMarsha app?
WithMarsha guides you through this skill in real time, keeps track of your practice, and helps you build your DBT toolkit day by day.
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