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Presenceby Mark Henick
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Exercises

Practice the skill, not just the idea.

Breathing, grounding, attention, body awareness, compassion, and reflection exercises made for ordinary moments.

9 exercises

Settle the body

Breathing, grounding, movement, and release practices for moments when the body needs a clearer signal of safety.

Grounding 2 min

The Fresh Start Trigger

Use a small physical reset: stand up, sit down, take a breath: to mark a genuine new beginning.

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Grounding 3 min

The Drop It Rehearsal

Hold an object, clench, then release it deliberately. Encodes a motor pattern for letting go.

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Grounding 5 min

5-4-3-2-1 Grounding

Use your five senses to anchor yourself to the present moment when your mind is spinning.

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Breathing 5 min

Box Breathing (4-4-4-4)

A powerful breathing technique used by Navy SEALs to calm the nervous system in minutes.

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Breathing 5 min

The Pendulum Breath

Inhale toward the discomfort, exhale toward a neutral sensation. Builds tolerance and flexibility under pressure.

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Progressive Relaxation 8 min

Progressive Muscle Release

Tense a muscle group for 5 seconds, release for 10, and notice the contrast. Pairs physical letting go with a cognitive anchor.

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Progressive Relaxation 10 min

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Systematically tense and release muscle groups to release stored physical tension and anxiety.

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Body Scan 15 min

Body Scan for Sleep

A progressive body awareness exercise that systematically releases tension from head to toe.

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Mindful Movement 15 min

Mindful Walking

Transform an ordinary walk into a meditation. Pay attention to each step, each breath, each moment.

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10 exercises

Widen perspective

Exercises that make room for another interpretation, another person, or a larger frame.

Cognitive 2 min

The Maybe I'm Wrong Loop

Repeat 'Maybe I'm wrong' silently for 30 seconds: not as self-criticism, but as an opening. Counters overconfidence.

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Cognitive 3 min

The Before/After Anchor

Ask what you thought before this happened, and what you might think once it settles. Reduces emotional over-weighting.

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Cognitive 3 min

The Norm Flip

Ask what most people would actually do here, then compare it to what you think they do. Targets distorted social norms.

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Cognitive 3 min

The Opposite Spotlight

When you feel watched or judged, spend 2 minutes acting as if everyone is focused on themselves.

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Cognitive 3 min

The Situation Swap

Ask if the other person's behaviour makes sense given their context: tired, stressed, rushed. Retrains attribution error.

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Cognitive 4 min

The Alternate Story Drill

Write one explanation for what happened. Then write two that contradict it. Counters attribution error.

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Cognitive 4 min

The Anti-Halo Check

For someone you strongly like or dislike, list 3 traits that don't fit that impression. Targets the halo effect.

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Cognitive 4 min

The Outsider Lens

Ask how you'd advise a friend facing the exact same situation. Distance sharpens thinking.

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Cognitive 4 min

The Single Story Check

If reacting strongly to one person, imagine 100 people in the same situation. Would you feel the same? Counters the identifiable victim effect.

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Cognitive 7 min

The Steelman Exercise

Take a view you disagree with and argue it as strongly as possible. Builds depth and reduces naive realism.

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12 exercises

Test a thought

Practical ways to separate evidence from assumption and make uncertainty easier to hold.

Cognitive 2 min

The 51% Rule

Instead of asking if something is true, ask what the chance is that it's wrong. Above 49%? Treat it as uncertain.

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Cognitive 2 min

The Coin Flip Reality Check

When something feels certain, imagine flipping a coin and ask if it's really more certain than that.

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Cognitive 3 min

Say It Plain

Train precision by rewriting vague, sweeping thoughts into concrete, specific language.

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Cognitive 3 min

The Flashlight Shift

When stuck on one thought or threat, deliberately move attention through sight, body, and sound.

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Cognitive 3 min

The Headline Test

Compress your belief to 5 words, then expand to 20. If the meaning changes, your thinking was vague.

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Cognitive 3 min

The Missing Data Prompt

Ask what you'd need to know to be certain. Builds intellectual humility and epistemic precision.

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Cognitive 3 min

The Percent Guess

Put a number on your certainty (0: 100), then ask why it's not 100. Opens space for doubt and nuance.

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Cognitive 3 min

The Reverse Cause Test

Ask if the direction of causality could be flipped. Simple but interrupts false conclusions.

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Cognitive 4 min

The Contradiction Finder

Ask what would have to be true for your belief to be false. Exposes weak or unfalsifiable reasoning.

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Cognitive 4 min

The If: Then Check

Turn your belief into a logical structure: if this is true, then what follows? Expose broken logic.

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Cognitive 5 min

The Chain Builder

List 6 possible causes for one outcome. Breaks single-cause thinking and attribution bias.

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Cognitive 5 min

The Courtroom Drill

Put your thought on trial. Argue both sides like a lawyer. Practice balanced evaluation.

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16 exercises

Choose a next step

Decision, planning, and flexibility exercises that turn reflection into something you can try.

Cognitive 2 min

The 10% Wider Frame

Ask what you're not noticing. Force yourself to name one missing factor. Counters bounded awareness.

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Cognitive 2 min

The Default Breaker

Before going with the default option, ask: would I choose this if it wasn't already set? Targets status quo bias.

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Cognitive 2 min

The Range Instead of Point

Replace single-point predictions with honest ranges. Trains against the planning fallacy.

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Cognitive 2 min

The Slow It Down Cue

Say 'This deserves one more minute' and wait. Most cognitive errors come from speed, not ignorance.

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Cognitive 2 min

The Small Step Contract

Define the smallest possible next action: under 2 minutes. Bypasses choice overload and planning paralysis.

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Cognitive 2 min

The Streak Break Permission

After missing a habit, say 'one miss is data, not failure' and continue immediately. Counters all-or-nothing thinking.

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Cognitive 3 min

The Category Break

When you find yourself in either/or thinking, deliberately add a third option. There's almost always one.

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Cognitive 3 min

The Future Replay

Project yourself one week forward and ask what will matter then. Counters present bias and emotional over-weighting.

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Cognitive 3 min

The Long Game Flip

Ask whether this is a short-term or long-term win. If they differ, choose deliberately.

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Cognitive 4 min

The Base Rate Reset

Ask how often this thing happens generally, before applying it to your specific case. Counters small-sample distortion.

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Cognitive 4 min

The Flip-It Drill

State your belief, then argue the opposite for 60 seconds. Trains mental agility, not indecision.

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Cognitive 4 min

The Second Option Rule

Force yourself to generate a second plan, even when the first seems obvious. Better thinking needs contrast.

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Cognitive 4 min

The Survivor Scan

Ask who failed that you're not seeing. Name at least one invisible case. Counters survivorship bias.

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Cognitive 5 min

The Advice Mirror

Give advice to an imaginary friend in your exact situation: then follow it yourself.

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Cognitive 5 min

The Opposite Action Rep

Once you identify a bias, do one small opposite act. Afraid to lose? Take a small loss. Avoiding info? Look directly.

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Cognitive 6 min

The Pre-Mortem

Before acting, imagine it went badly and list 3 reasons why. Uses negative thinking as a planning tool.

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9 exercises

Reflect and grow

Journaling, gratitude, self-awareness, and compassion practices for learning from experience.

Cognitive 2 min

The Thinking About Thinking Pause

Name the mode of thinking you're in right now: emotional, defensive, or curious. Naming it changes it.

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Cognitive 3 min

The Absolute Swap

Replace always, never, everyone with often, sometimes, a few. Notice how your emotional reaction shifts.

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Cognitive 3 min

The Bias Tagging Game

When something feels off, lightly label it: 'loss aversion', 'recency bias'. Naming builds distance from the pattern.

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Cognitive 4 min

The Past Self Interview

Ask what you believed about this a year ago, and what future you might believe. Breaks the illusion of certainty.

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Cognitive 4 min

The Source Check

Ask where you learned a belief: experience, assumption, or repetition? Targets inherited thinking.

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Cognitive 5 min

The Label Removal Test

Replace a loaded label like 'failure' with observable facts only. Labels compress thinking: removing them expands it.

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Gratitude 10 min

Gratitude Journaling Prompts

A structured journaling exercise to shift your perspective toward what's going right.

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Visualization 12 min

Safe Place Visualization

Create a vivid mental sanctuary you can return to whenever you need to feel safe and grounded.

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Journaling 15 min

The Anxiety Letter

Write a compassionate letter to your anxiety: not to fight it, but to understand it.

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