The Positive Vibes Icebreaker is a free 15-minute mindfulness training activity in which participants pair up and share positive attributes about themselves. It helps participants build rapport, develop positive self-awareness, and create a calm, supportive atmosphere at the start of a mindfulness workshop.
What does this mindfulness activity do?
- Helps participants mix and build rapport early in a session
- Boosts awareness of positive personal attributes
- Requires minimal materials (just prompt list)
- Works for ~15 mins including icebreaker + discussion
- Flexible: works for small or larger groups
What is the purpose of the Positive Vibes Icebreaker?
This free mindfulness training activity below is an incredibly simple, easy, and cost-effective game to run, and it instantly tends to create a very positive atmosphere in the training room. If you are looking for short mindfulness exercises that also help build emotional awareness, this is a great activity.
This activity is based on positive psychology, and you can use it in a wide range of training programs.
For mindfulness, this activity is especially good because you can use it to start your training session off by generating a very positive vibe within the training room.
If you’d like to understand how activities like this support workplace wellbeing, explore the 7 big benefits of mindfulness training in the workplace.
The participants will work in pairs and change partners through the activity as they tell others about their positive traits.
This free mindfulness training activity thus acts as one of the best fun and easy-to-run icebreakers for wellbeing, but also fits perfectly into creating positive energy for courses such as an Introduction to Mindfulness, where we are seeking to include positive thinking.
What objectives does this activity achieve?
- Help participants mix and get to know each other while building a positive atmosphere at the start of the session.
- This is great for group cohesion and inclusiveness, particularly when used in a work environment.
- Help participants recognize the positive attributes they bring to the group.
How do you run this free mindfulness activity in 4 steps?
To start using this free mindfulness training activity, just follow the stages below:
1. When and how long should you run it?
You can vary the length of this activity according to the number of people in the training session, but I recommend making this a 15-minute icebreaker.
2. What materials/equipment are required?
For this free mindfulness activity, you will need only one thing, and that is the list of 50 positive statements.
You can either show this on a PowerPoint slide or provide a printout for each participant.
You will not need anything else.
3. How should you set up the room and participants?
i) Make the positive vibes prompts list available on a handout or on screen for the participants.
ii) Inform the participants that this task will go on for 10 minutes and that they should use this as an opportunity to get to know their fellow participants.
iii) Ask participants to chat with one other person and to take turns explaining to the other a positive vibe about themselves. They should then chat about the positive vibe each of them tells the other.
iv) If there is an odd number of participants, then you, as the trainer, can pair up with one person on each cycle of this activity.
v) After 3 minutes, ask participants to pair up with another person that they have not yet talked to, and to choose another positive vibe about themselves (from the list or one they can think of), and chat about each other’s positive vibe choice.
vi) During the 9 minutes, they will do this task 3 times.
vii) After the task above, you will run a training room discussion as detailed below.
4. How do you debrief and reflect after the game?
Having a group discussion at the end of the exercise for 5 to 6 minutes can also be worth considering. Ask participants, for example:
- How did you find the exercise, and what did you learn?
- What did you find most interesting about other people’s responses?
- Do you tend to spend time reflecting on your own positive traits enough? Any thoughts?
- How could this type of positive vibes game be used more in the workplace?
You may also wish to explore how this activity touches on ideas of self-esteem and self-worth — particularly how affirming our strengths can affect the way we show up in the workplace.
(For additional short and effective activities like this one, see our list of 12 mindfulness exercises for busy professionals.)
Need Full Mindfulness Training Materials?
Want to go beyond this activity? Save time with our complete Mindfulness Training Materials — ideal for trainers, HR professionals, and facilitators.
Positive Vibes Prompts List
Note: As part of this free mindfulness training activity, here is a list to give a prompt to the participants. They can make up their own positive vibes ideas, or they can select vibes from the list of 50 ideas below.
>> Download the PDF: 50 Positive Vibes Icebreaker Prompts.
- I am a great listener.
- I am a very loyal friend.
- I am a confident person.
- I like to try new challenges.
- I am open-minded and love trying new things.
- I am a generous person who loves giving to others.
- I am a very self-disciplined person.
- I am a very loving and caring person.
- I am not afraid to make mistakes, and I learn from them.
- I always try my best, but I am a good loser, i.e. do not take things personally.
- I am good at thinking outside the box.
- I am great under pressure.
- I am a great problem solver.
- I am outgoing and good at starting conversations with others.
- I am willing to take risks.
- I love who I am.
- I always start the day feeling positive.
- I love meeting new people.
- I am always laughing and having fun.
- I am a great communicator.
- I am a great team player.
- I am very good at using my own initiative.
- I am very calm under pressure.
- I am a good person.
- I am a good friend.
- I am dependable and reliable.
- I am a great timekeeper.
- I do voluntary work.
- I am a carer and give time helping others.
- I am a patient person.
- I have positive energy in me.
- I am always grateful for the small things in life.
- I am always open to learning new things.
- I am a funny person.
- I am hard-working.
- I am a genuine and authentic person.
- I am a creative person.
- I am a critical thinker and try to see things from all perspectives.
- I am sensible with money.
- I am an honest person.
- I am very accepting of other people who are different from me.
- I am a good handy person i.e. good at fixing things.
- I am trustworthy.
- I am a very supportive person.
- I am humble and modest (and do not normally talk about my best traits)
- I am a very forgiving person.
- Optimism is my middle name.
- I am a decisive individual who is good at making decisions.
- I feel that I am an articulate person.
- I am an imaginative person with lots of great ideas.
Related Activities & Resources
For more handy ideas for supporting employee wellbeing, explore our workplace wellness guides for trainers and HR professionals.
If you’d like to build on this activity by helping participants set meaningful personal or professional goals, try one of our goal-setting activities for workplace training. These pair well with mindfulness in the workplace sessions focused on self-awareness and reflection.
If you are designing longer courses or want fully editable materials, check out our full Training Materials Catalogue here.
