Mindfulness for OCD: How It Works & Techniques to Try

What Is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness refers to both a set of skills and a way of life that promotes present-moment awareness and non-judgmental acceptance. Through mindfulness, individuals are able to ground themselves in the present moment, making space for any thoughts, feelings, or sensations that may arise. Non-judgmental acceptance of these inner experiences allows us to redirect our attention to the present moment.

How Can Mindfulness Help With OCD?

Mindfulness practices are often incorporated in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) treatment. Mindfulness techniques promote awareness of one’s intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors and encourage a person to approach them non-judgmentally. This, in turn, helps individuals with OCD to identify these thoughts as just thoughts that will pass, sit with the discomfort of an urge, and refrain from compulsive behaviors.

Mindfulness is a powerful coping skill for OCD.¹ When experiencing uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, many people try to distract from or avoid these thoughts and feelings, which perpetuates or maintains them. Mindfulness encourages individuals to make space for uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, despite the content, to promote self-awareness and acceptance of thoughts and feelings.

Benefits of mindfulness for OCD include:

• Reduced anxiety: Individuals with OCD often have anxiety around their urges or compulsions that might happen in the future. When people focus on their breath or five senses, they become aware of the present, and their worries about the future dissipate, which helps them calm down.
• Improved emotional regulation: When feeling overwhelmed with intrusive thoughts and urges, individuals may experience difficulties regulating their emotions, such as anxiety and fear. Using mindfulness can improve one’s ability to cope with uncomfortable and distressing emotions and ground oneself in the present moment.
• Greater self-awareness: Mindfulness allows us to look inward, connecting to our observing self with openness and curiosity. This promotes self-awareness of one’s inner world, including intrusive thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Individuals with OCD can benefit from noticing their intrusive thoughts and urges in a non-judgmental way so they can refrain from compulsive behaviors and re-engage with the present moment.
• Increased acceptance: When we practice mindfulness, we are learning how to become more accepting of our experiences, including instances of anxiety and intrusive thoughts.² Acceptance of one’s intrusive thoughts and urges promotes self-compassion and openness, resulting in increased mindfulness
• Practicing non-judgment: Mindfulness focuses on observation of ourselves and the environment around us in a non-judgmental way. Acceptance of our intrusive or uncomfortable thoughts and emotions, despite the content of them, allows us to move through them more freely.
• Decreased avoidance: OCD treatment involves leaning into intrusive thoughts and obsessions rather than using avoidance coping to get rid of them. Practicing mindfulness allows us to notice and make space for our thoughts and feelings.

Mindfulness in OCD Treatment

Mindfulness practices are frequently implemented and practiced within OCD treatment plans. Although mindfulness is not sufficient as a standalone treatment for OCD, research suggests that incorporating mindfulness-based practices in treatment can be an effective strategy for treating OCD symptoms.³ Therapy modalities such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) focus on mindfulness building and may be effectively incorporated into OCD treatment.

How to Practice Mindfulness for OCD

Mindfulness for OCD can be incorporated into daily life in many ways, such as within one’s breathing and daily chores and activities. As we build and practice mindfulness-based skills in a consistent manner, they become more accessible to utilize in times of distress.

Here are seven mindfulness for OCD techniques to try:

1. Mindful Breathing

Mindful breathing can be practiced to cultivate present-moment awareness and reduce OCD symptoms. With mindful breathing, focus and awareness are being drawn to your breath, making a conscious effort to fully embrace the experience of deep breathing. This allows us to reconnect with the “here and now,” including how we feel within our own bodies.

Here is how to practice mindful breathing:

• Close your eyes and find a comfortable, upright position
• Breathe in through your nose for four seconds
• Hold this breath for seven seconds
• Exhale through your mouth for eight seconds
• Repeat this process as many times as needed, noticing the feelings and sensations that arise within your body

2. Focused Meditation

Focused meditation is a mindfulness practice that involves remaining present by focusing on one thing, such as an object or sensation, in the present moment. This type of practice allows us to reconnect to the here and now and draw our attention to what is happening around us.

Here is how to practice a focused meditation:

• First, pick a focal point for your meditation practice – this can be any object, shape, sensation, or imaginal image
• Sit in a comfortable and upright position
• Begin to focus your attention on your body
• Notice areas where you feel tense or stressed
• Practice relaxing these areas and softening the muscles
• Proceed to bring your attention to your thoughts
• Notice these thoughts in a nonjudgmental and curious manner
• Practice focused meditation for about five minutes

3. Mindful Observation

Mindful observation exercises can also assist one in becoming more grounded in the here and now. These types of practices involve focusing on a specific object or sensory experience around you, such as the sounds you hear in the background. Practicing mindful observation exercises can help one remain present and draw attention away from obsessive thoughts and urges.

4. Mindfulness in Daily Activities

Mindfulness exercises can be integrated into everyday activities, making these practices readily accessible and practical. Examples of ways mindfulness can be practiced in our daily lives include mindful eating, walking, or washing our hands.

5. Mindful Journaling

Mindful journaling– which involves reflection on one’s thoughts and feelings with a stance of curiosity and non-judgment– is known to have significant benefits for OCD. This practice encourages a reflective space for individuals to write down their thoughts and feelings, refraining from criticism and judgments. Doing so allows us to become more aware of our thought patterns and inner dialogue.⁴

6. Guided Mindfulness Apps & Resources

There are multiple mindfulness apps and online resources available that can help one struggling with OCD practice mindfulness. Apps such as Headspace and Calm provide a wide variety of guided meditations to practice in your own time. There are also apps that are specifically tailored for individuals with OCD, such as the OCD.app, that guide coping with OCD symptoms.

7. Mindful Grounding Exercises

Grounding exercises can be utilized to cultivate present-moment awareness and mindfulness. Grounding involves reconnecting with your body and the world around you through practices such as meditation, movement, or connection to your senses.

Examples of Mindfulness for OCD

Mindfulness-based practices can be incorporated into daily life to help manage symptoms of OCD. Bringing awareness to our intrusive thoughts and urges allows us to view them with openness and curiosity rather than judgment or contempt. Once we recognize these thoughts for what they are, we are able to disengage with them more readily.

Here are a few examples of how mindfulness can be utilized for OCD:

Mindfulness for Contamination OCD

Treatment for contamination OCD often incorporates mindfulness and awareness of one’s thoughts, obsessions, and urges surrounding germs and illnesses. When overwhelmed, individuals struggling with contamination OCD may experience strong urges to engage in compulsive behaviors, such as compulsive hand-washing or excessive cleaning, that disengage them from the present moment. Compulsive behaviors distract individuals from the here and now and further feed into the cycle of OCD.

By slowing down and noticing our thoughts, feelings, and urges, we are able to practice mindfulness. For example, we can respond to intrusive thoughts and urges from contamination OCD by stating, “I’m noticing the thought that I might have exposed myself to germs,” or “I’m noticing the urge to wash my hands.” From here, we can refocus our attention to one’s bodily sensations and experiences without judgment.

Mindfulness for Harm OCD

Harm OCD is another common subtype of OCD that can benefit from mindfulness-based practices to cope with thoughts and urges to harm oneself or others. Individuals who struggle with harm OCD often struggle to disengage with these thoughts, as thoughts surrounding harm can be uncomfortable or disturbing in nature. Despite the content of these thoughts, individuals are encouraged to sit with the discomfort and allow thoughts and urges to move freely through them. When we identify aggressive or violent intrusive thoughts as just thoughts and not a true trait of one’s inner self, we are more readily able to detach from them.

How to Overcome Challenges in Mindfulness for OCD Practice

Practicing mindfulness when intrusive thoughts and compulsive urges are trying to take control can be challenging at times. An important component of mindfulness is the ability to view these thoughts and feelings in an open and non-judgmental way, regardless of the content, and reconnect with the present moment.

When urges to engage with intrusive thoughts or compulsions arise, it can be helpful to name these thoughts for what they are– just thoughts. Practicing noticing statements such as “I notice I’m having the thought that…” can allow one to re-engage with their observing self.

Mindfulness in Combination With Other OCD Treatment

Mindfulness is widely regarded as a beneficial modality to integrate into other OCD treatment modalities, such as exposure and response prevention and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for OCD. When treating OCD, it is helpful to target the symptoms with a holistic health approach, integrating mindfulness-based practices into pharmacological and therapeutic treatments for OCD.

Effective treatment options for OCD that can be used in combination with mindfulness include:

• Exposure and response prevention (ERP): Exposure and response prevention focuses on gradually exposing individuals to anxiety-provoking stimuli while refraining from engaging in compulsive behaviors. This treatment is widely recognized as one of the most effective treatments for OCD.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): CBT for OCD focuses on the relationship between one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. CBT often involves the implementation of a variety of cognitive restructuring practices and breaking the cycle of obsessive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors.
• Medication: Medication management for OCD is frequently implemented in OCD treatment in collaboration with therapy. SSRIs are commonly prescribed to help individuals struggling with OCD symptoms that are impacting daily functioning and contributing to significant distress. A tailored treatment plan that offers a holistic approach to treating OCD is recommended, including the possibility of medication management in conjunction with psychotherapy services.
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): ACT for OCD is an acceptance-based approach that incorporates mindfulness practices to detangle from obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. Intrusive thoughts and images are viewed in a neutral light, allowing the individual to practice cognitive defusion.
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): EMDR for OCD can also be an effective therapeutic approach in targeting OCD symptoms. EMDR focuses on decreasing anxiety and emotional distress surrounding obsessions and compulsions by exploring distressing memories and experiences surrounding OCD content.
• Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT): MBCT promotes the use of mindfulness-based skills to assist individuals in accepting the presence of intrusive thoughts and compulsive urges in a self-compassionate manner. This, in turn, can result in non-avoidance of intrusive thoughts and urges.¹

When to Seek Professional Support

If you are experiencing symptoms related to OCD that are becoming more difficult to cope with, it may be helpful to seek out professional support. A mental health professional can assist you in targeting OCD and exploring healthy coping skills to manage symptoms. An online therapist directory or online therapy platform can help connect you to a mental health professional who meets your needs and preferences. Medication management is also frequently implemented in the treatment of OCD to help alleviate symptoms. There are many online psychiatrist options to explore that can help in finding a psychiatrist who specializes in OCD treatment.