To do the Alphabet Mini, all you need to know is the alphabet! As with all relaxation techniques, the first step for the Alphabet Mini is to be aware that you are experiencing stress. Once you are aware, you can decide to take action and refocus your mind away from your worries.
For this technique, you will quickly and silently move through the alphabet from A to Z. For each letter, you will quickly think of a fruit or vegetable that starts with that letter. Move quickly from one letter to the next–if you get stuck, don’t stress! Just move on to the next letter.
If your mind starts to wander, just notice that it has wandered and say to yourself, “oh well!”. Then, you can either pick up where you left off with the alphabet, or if you don’t remember what letter you stopped on, just start back at the beginning. It’s not a contest to see how many letters you can finish.
You can repeat this exercise as many times as you need. To make it more challenging, try doing only fruits on one round, and then only vegetables on the next round. Really, you can use any category you want as long as there are more than enough items that start with different letters of the alphabet.