Expanded Awareness Practice

This is a brief 5-minute mindfulness-based practice of expanded awareness infused with the sounds of chakra crystal singing bowls. It is an excerpt from an online class that starts with setting an intention for the practice and then tuning into your senses with curiosity and kindness to cultivate self-compassion and sensory awareness. This short practice can be done by beginners as well as experts to expand present-moment awareness, regulate the nervous system, and feel a sense of calm and embodied presence.

Transcript

And let's place one hand on the belly,

One hand on the heart,

And just take a moment to set an intention for our practice today.

What would you like to get out of this session?

Taking three full deep breaths into the body,

All the way in,

Setting your intention,

Two more,

Feeling the chest and belly expand as you breathe in and contract as you breathe out.

One last one.

When we are practicing mindfulness,

The idea is we're paying attention on purpose to whatever we are noticing,

But we're bringing with it an attitude of curiosity and openness,

As well as being accepting and loving towards whatever we notice.

So we're beginning with kind of looking around the room or the space that we're in,

Noticing the shapes,

The colors,

Being curious as if you are seeing them through fresh eyes,

Like a baby,

Bringing an attitude of openness and kindness,

Looking around you,

Just orienting yourself in the room.

And then let's shift our focus and allow your eyes to just kind of focus either down on the floor or have a soft focus,

And we shift to what we can hear.

So for the next couple of minutes,

Let's focus on all the sounds that we can hear,

The sounds from around us and inside the room,

Including the sound of my voice.

You can also hear sounds from outside the room,

Sounds from your house or wherever you are,

Noticing the furthest sounds that you can hear.

And then we're going to shift our focus once more and listen to our internal sounds.

So see if you can notice the sound of your breathing.

And now that we've shifted our focus a little bit internally,

Let's tune into the sensations in the body.

So let go of the sounds and now only focus on what sensations you can notice in your body,

Whether you're standing or sitting or lying down,

You might notice your clothing against your skin,

The sensation of the air against your skin,

Areas of tension or looseness,

Contraction,

Tingling sensations,

Vibrating sensations.

So just noticing what's here in your body right now.

And then we're going to expand our awareness to also include the sounds that we can hear.

So we're focusing on what's in the body as well as the sounds that we can hear.

And then we're going to expand once more,

Open your eyes and include everything that you can see as well as everything you can hear and what's in the body right now.

So see if you can pay attention to all of it,

Have an expanded awareness.