Welcome to this short awareness practice.
This is Ann Baker from Essence Health.
From managing your stress or anxiety to self-realization,
It all starts with awareness.
When we learn to become aware of our thoughts,
Emotions,
And belief systems,
We can begin to not identify with them and open to new ways of being.
We will practice awareness of the breath,
Sounds,
And sights in this short meditation.
I invite you to settle comfortably in a chair with your back straight,
Chin tucked in slightly,
And resting the tongue gently on the roof of the mouth.
You can rest your hands in your lap.
Close your eyes and begin to turn within.
Take a few slower,
Deeper breaths as you release tension in your body.
Feel your feet on the floor,
Your bum in the chair.
Allow your jaw and shoulders to relax.
And we will begin by observing the breath as it is without changing it.
Notice the air entering your nose,
Moving all the way down to your belly and out again.
Notice how the next inhale starts naturally.
The breath is really breathing you without any effort or thinking on your part.
You can tell yourself there's nothing to do right now,
No problems to solve,
Just allowing yourself to bring your full attention to observing your breath.
You may allow your awareness to rest at the tip of your nose if you wish,
Or at the belly.
And if the mind wanders,
Which it will,
Just simply bring your attention back to the breath.
Thoughts,
Body sensations,
Or emotions may arise.
And just simply bring gentle,
Open awareness to whatever is rising.
And bring your attention back to the breath,
The inhale and the exhale.
I now invite you to focus all of your attention on sound,
The sound of my voice,
The different sounds in your room,
Or maybe your outside.
See if you can maintain that calm breath while you're aware of the sounds.
And if the mind wanders,
Bring it back to the sounds.
I invite you now to gently open your eyes.
Open your eyes.
Just spend a minute with your eyes open,
Maintaining your awareness on the breath and the sounds.
And allow the sights to come to you.
Place all your awareness on seeing colors,
Light,
Shape,
And if the mind and the thoughts begin to take off,
With the eyes open,
It's a good practice to keep your eyes open and just bring that attention back to the breath,
Back to the body,
And back to the sights that you are enjoying.
You can practice this mindfulness exercise in short bursts throughout your day while waiting at a red light or at the grocery store.
Building the awareness month is a great way to get your awareness back to the body.
Thank you for listening.
This is Anne Baker from Essence Health.
