The six steps to mindfulness For those of you who’d like to try this at home, here’s what the mindfulness classes involved: “(a) sitting in an upright posture with legs crossed and gaze lowered, (b) distinguishing between naturally arising thoughts and elaborated thinking, (c) minimizing the distracting quality of past and future concerns by reframing them as mental projections occurring in the present, (d) using the breath as an anchor for attention during meditation, (e) repeatedly counting up to 21 consecutive exhalations (f ) allowing the mind to rest naturally rather than trying to suppress the occurrence of thoughts.”