Title: Mindful Reflection on Communication and Relationships

Review the Week 8 Quiz Section Slides posted to the Week 8 Lesson Module homepage. 
Please engage in the following Mindfulness Exercise and reflect on your experience. 
This mindfulness exercise is an “observe” activity. Grab something you can eat and set a timer for 2 minutes. Engage in “mindful eating” by eating the food you selected for 2 minds, using all 5 senses to observe your piece food. Use your “how” skills to notice any judgments or distractions that may come into your mind and let them go to bring yourself back to your practice non-judgmentally, one-mindfully, and effectively.  After your practice, write a half page reflection debriefing your practice by responding to the following prompts:
Which of the “how” skills was most challenging? Which came more naturally? Why? 
What thoughts, emotions, or physical sensations did you observe as you were engaging in this activity? How did you use your “how” skills to bring your focus back to your practice of observing your mindful eating? 
How did this “mindful eating” practice differ from the way you might typically eat? What did you notice about your food while you were being one-mindfully focused on observing it through all 5 senses? 
3. Review slide 6 titled “Four Corners, Four Horsemen” and follow the prompts to visit the Google documentLinks to an external site. created by your peers. Review the examples of the 4 Horsemen and their antidotes that your peers brainstormed during quiz section. For each of the 4 Horsemen (criticism, defensiveness, contempt, and stonewalling), describe a situation in which you used the negative communication style (4 situations total). Include direct quotes of what you might have said that reflected criticism, defensiveness, contempt, and stonewalling. For each example situation, rewrite the dialogue using the corresponding positive “antidote” to the horseman used in that situation. Include direct quotes. This section should be at least a page. 
4. Review Slide 7 also titled “”Four Corners, Four Horsemen.” Write a half page reflection addressing the following prompts on the slide (and listed below): 
How do these 4 horsemen show up across your different relationships? What factors make you vulnerable to using them more often?
What 215/216 skills did you use to stop your horsemen? How did the skills help make your communication more effective?
How could using these skills support you in improving or strengthening your relationships?
Please submit your 2 page reflection by Monday at 11 PM. Please remember that your homework post is also due on Canvas at that time. Partial credit is not available for make-up assignments.