Finding My Fruit: A Group Mindfulness Exercise

Brief Description/Purpose

Mindfulness exercise done in a group that focuses on paying attention, and how little attention we tend to pay to the things around us.

Type

Whole group exercise

Age Appropriate

8 years to adult

Ideal Group Size

8-15 people

Time For Exercise

Ten Minutes

Topic/Subject

Mindfulness, paying attention

Detailed Instructions If Needed

Place some apples or other fruit into a basket or bag in the middle of the group. There should be one per person. Ask each person to choose one.

They should get to know their fruit! Direct participants to take care of it and don’t damage it.

Suggest they look closely at the apple, turn it, examine it for distinctive marks and feel the skin. Then the leader takes the fruit back into the bag and mixes them up.

Place them back on the ground. Ask everyone to look for their kiwi and take it. Are they sure that they claimed the right fruit? How can they tell? Did anyone give their fruit a name?

Here are some debrief questions:

1. What does this exercise tell them about the things they see every day?
2. Think about the things they do every day – are there some things they do automatically without thinking?
3. Are there others that they also take time over and enjoy?
4. What ways do we ruin the enjoyment of every day life by not paying attention?
5. Are their real world situations, let's say on the job, where we might benefit by focusing our attention in a conscious way?

Additional Information if Available

Obviously you can use any object that tends to look like all others.