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Mindfulness card games are a great way to practice mindfulness exercises, alone or with other people. Because of the “card” medium, they have to be concise, and you can draw cards randomly or sort them to create a more exciting and efficient practice path.
So how many mindfulness card games for adults are available? There are 10 mindfulness card games currently available. I particularly recommend 7 of them, in two categories:
- Mindfulness games such as Mindfulness Matters by Play Therapy Supply
- Meditation oriented mindfulness games such as Mindfulness Cards by Allura & Arcia
- Self-care & therapy-oriented games such as Stress Less Cards by Sunny Present
Mindfulness Card Games
Mindfulness Matters (Play Therapy Supply)
★★★★★
Players: 2-4 | Price $$
Mindfulness Matters
includes 58 cards (action and reflection cards), instructions and tips. The game can be played alone or played together with a competitive rule (2-4 players).
The cards are divided into two groups:
- Mastery cards teach various mindfulness techniques and tips to use in daily life
- Moments cards require an explanation or an opinion
I highly recommend “Mindfulness Matters” as it is very practical and engaging – it’s easy to start conversations and have participants open up and answer the questions. The “competitive rule” adds some dynamics to the game and makes it more enjoyable than standard “mindfulness exercise” cards.
The principle of the competitive rule is the following: Players draw cards and respond to them. When a player responds correctly to the card, it is placed upside down so everyone can see letters on the back. The first player that completes the word “Mindful” wins.
Examples of Moments cards:
- What does it mean to “stop and smell the roses?”
- How can you tell if someone is really listening to you?
Example of Mastery card:
- Imagine your mind being full of many thoughts. How does it feel to think about too many things at once?
Growing Mindful (PESI Publishing)
★★★☆☆
Players: 1+ | Price $$ | Author: Christopher Willard and Mitch Abblett
Growing Mindful consists of 50 cards to nurture kindness, be curious and aware of the present moment. The cards have simple instructions (without explanations about the background of the activities).
I recommend “Growing Mindful” for people who have already some basic understanding of mindfulness or for groups where one of the participants has. Here are some example of activities:
- Zoom / Wide – Focus on one object in your surroundings. Then expand your field of vision to take in everything.
- The Space Between – See if you can find the space of stillness when the in-breath turns into the out-breath, the out-breath turns into the in-breath. Rest your attention there for the next few breaths.
- The Three R’s – Rest your awareness on the breath. Recognize when and where it wanders. Return your awareness to the breath. Repeat.
Caveat: the game’s card quality is not very good, it required laminating if used frequently.
Other Games
Mindful Living includes 56 practices that teach how to feel calm and live a balanced life without looking back into the past. The cards feature simple practices to focus and relax that can be done individually or with others. The card deck comes with 6 bonus meditations for relaxation, joy and better focus.
Meditation and Self-Care Card Games
Meditation and self-care go hand in hand with mindfulness. Learning how to breathe and to accept themselves without judgment is a way to live a mindful life. That is why I think meditation and self-care games are also important for children.
Mindfulness Cards (Allura & Arcia)
★★★★★
Mindfulness Cards deck includes relaxation and meditation exercises that help people release negative feelings. I highly recommend “Mindfulness Cards” as the cards are really autonomous: each exercise is fully described, and an objective is mentioned as well.
The deck includes 52 cards divided into 5 categories:
- Creating Balance
- Developing Insight, e.g.
- A pleasant experience
- Objective: Noticing how a pleasant experience makes you feel
- Think of something happy or pleasant the occurred in the past
- How did this experience make you feel? Happy, elated, hopeful?
- …
- Body Awareness, e.g.
- The Big Smile
- Objective: Turning into positive energy
- Relax your mind and body and bring a big smile to your face.
- Take a deep breath in and slowly exhale.
- Feel the energy of gratitude flowing through you.
- Notice how much different you feel with a big smile.
- Beginners Mind
- Kindness, Love and Compassion
Mindfulness On The Go
★★★☆☆
Players: 1+ | Price $$ | Author: Jan Chozen Bays, MD & Zen master
The Mindfulness on the Go Cards deck includes 52 simple meditation activities to practice anywhere. Each activity has a detailed explanation on how it will help you live a mindful life. The cards are good for self-reflection but groups can use them in their discussions.
Meditation Mindfulness Enlightment Cards Deck (Enlightened Anonymous)
★★★☆☆
Players: 1+ | Price $$
The Meditation Mindfulness Enlightenment Cards Deck includes 104 insights and activities on 52 cards (the cards are printed on both sides) inspired by Yoga practices. The cards are organized by chakra colors (red, yellow, blue, purple, orange, green and indigo). The insights are extremely short, without any explanations, so consider them as prompts – the game should be used by someone who already has some experience or knowledge of Yoga.
Other Meditation and Self-Care Card Games
Mindfulness Cards: Simple Practices for Everyday Life include 50+ mindfulness and meditation exercises. One side of each card includes inspirational quote while the other includes a mindfulness exercise.
Paws Meditation Cards includes 52 cute and inspirational cards with images of dogs and cats. This is a really original idea and will really resonate with you if you love pets.
Self-Care Card Games
Stress Less Cards (Sunny Present)
★★★★☆
Players: 1+ | Price $$ | Author: Sanna Wikström
The Stress Less Cards deck includes 50 exercises to release negative feelings, deal with sleep disorder, stress and anxiety.
I recommend “Stress Less Cards” because the exercises are simple, effective and they help you to learn how to focus on present moment and relax. The activities are based on Mindfulness, Yoga and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) techniques and are very practical so they can be practiced easily.
The text on each card is rather dense, and the instructions and explanations are not clearly separated. So you will sometimes have to read the cards first and extract what is relevant.
Sample card: Give Yourself Mind Candy: Give yourself a thought treat – just like you would a piece of cake at a party. What is the most delicious, happy thought you can think of? What thought makes you smile? Bring that thought into your mind and bathe in it for 5-10 minutes. The body reacts to positive thoughts with good hormones, which help your body relax.
The DBT Deck for Clients and Therapists
★★★☆☆
Players: 1+ | Price $$ | Author: Lane Pederson, Dialectical Behavior Therapy Specialist
The DBT Deck for Clients and Therapists is a card deck by PESI Publishing that includes 101 mindful practices. Children aged 15 and adults can find this card game helpful as it offers a lot of tips and ideas for daily life and activities they can practice to be able to live a more mindful life. The deck includes coping strategies, tips on how to have more self-respect and to manage a conflict.
Can Adults Use Games Recommended for Teens?
Do not hesitate to check the Edudingo blog post “8 Mindfulness Card Games for Teens and Middle School” – some of those games (for example “The Mindfulness Game” by Innericons) are perfect for adults as well.
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Good Morning,
I have read through the resources you have available and would like your recommendation. As we are now currently in a lock down and teaching on line, do you have any resources that could be used electronically?
For example, if l was to start my class with a simple exercise and have each student do their mindfulness exercise at the beginning of it at home. Then it would have a calming and clarifying benefit.
Thanking you in advance,
High School Teacher
Hi Nadya,
Thank you for your comment.
If you are using a tool such as Zoom at the beginning of your class, you have the possibility to share your screen.
Before the exercise, I would take a picture of each of the mindfulness activity cards that I want to use during the exercise.
Then, during the Zoom session, I would share the activity cards one card at a time.
They generally require reading them aloud and possibly explaining something (or answering the questions that the students might have).
It is better than “showing cards to the webcam” (in which case the cards might be very blurry, plus you might tremble a little, which would make the cards hard to read, not to mention that if you show the cards to the camera you do not see them).
Kind regards
François