2024 - Why Struggle? - Week 49 - Meditation And Mindfulness
Barbara J. Faison shares ideas, insights, and simple practices to live an intentional life and thrive. Enjoy meditations, affirmations, and practices along with musings from daily living. This is an episode about how to use mindfulness and meditation to struggle less and enjoy life more. Leave a comment, observation or reflection after listening.
Transcript
Greetings and welcome to the Why Struggle Podcast.
I'm your host,
Barbara J.
Faison,
And my intention with this podcast is to offer ideas,
Insights,
And inspirations so you can live life better.
Greetings and welcome to 2024 Week 49,
Meditation and Mindfulness.
If you're new to the podcast,
Welcome,
And if you listen regularly,
Thank you.
This is an episode about how to use mindfulness and meditation to struggle less and enjoy life more.
I've shared how the first M,
Music,
Changes your brain chemistry and the power of the words we think and speak out loud using our mouth,
The second M.
The third M is actually two,
Well,
Sort of,
Meditation and mindfulness.
What's the difference between those two?
I like this description from an article I read recently stating one of the differences is meditation is a practice,
And through this practice,
One can develop different qualities,
Including mindfulness.
As a practice,
You can also focus on an object,
Thought,
Or activity to train your awareness.
Mindfulness is a type of meditation,
And per Jon Kabat-Zinn,
It is the awareness that arises through paying attention on purpose in the present moment,
Non-judgmentally.
Let's jump into the excerpt from Five Mindful Ways to Struggle Less and Enjoy Life More.
So,
How did you do with your mouth?
It's just practice,
So keep practicing those affirmations.
Let's start with an affirmation so we can keep our minds open today.
I am willing to open my mind to new concepts and ideas.
We have two M's today,
Meditation and mindfulness.
My intention for this session is to offer simple ways to cultivate mindfulness and meditation into your daily life.
My meditation practice started because I kept hearing I needed to be still.
So,
I decided to try the practice of meditation.
This was back in the mid-1990s.
At that time,
There weren't that many resources available for meditation.
Honestly,
It was very challenging for me.
I kept at it and just continued sitting in the practice as much as I could.
I remember in 1996,
After I had done about 10 minutes of my morning meditation practice,
I had clear guidance not to go to work that day.
I had a conversation with myself as I got dressed to go to work.
How do I not go to work today?
What do I call and tell my boss?
I ignored my guidance.
Keep in mind,
In the 1990s,
Taking a mental health day was not a thing.
As I drove out of my apartment complex,
I had an accident.
My car was totaled and I was sore and eventually had some back issues because of the accident.
When I reflected back on that,
I remember thinking to myself,
I had the nicest boss in the world at the time.
Instead of calling out,
I had to call my boss to tell him I had a car accident and wouldn't be coming into work.
So,
I still didn't go to work that day.
I reflected on that choice I made to ignore my guidance and that really helped me consistently stay in my practice.
I continued meditation and practicing and in 2017,
I discovered mindfulness meditation and added that to my practice.
I love the simplicity of tuning into your senses and being fully present to your breath and your body without judgment.
Now,
That is the part right there,
Non-judgment.
So,
For today's practice,
We're going to do both of these.
We will start with the meditation practice focusing on our breath.
It is called five-part breathing and then we will move into my original mindfulness practice that I call SHITS.
SHITS means we're going to connect with our sight,
Smell,
Hearing,
Taste,
Touch,
And sensations.
See,
I told you I'd make it easy for you to remember.
These practices can be done anytime and almost anywhere without people knowing what you're doing.
I love that too.
So,
Let's settle in.
As long as you're not driving or operating equipment that could be hazardous to your health,
Let's get to meditating and being mindful.
Take a moment to settle in wherever you are.
You may have your eyes opened or closed for the practice.
You decide.
I prefer to close my eyes to lessen any visual distractions and let's take a moment to just wiggle our bodies to settle in and just stretch your arms wide and then relax them.
Place one hand over your heart and the other hand over your navel.
Begin by simply noticing your breath.
Notice where the breath comes in through the nose and goes down your chest to your belly.
Take a few rounds of breathing at your own rate,
Pace,
And rhythm.
I will count to five and indicate the in-breath through the nose and then I'll count to five to indicate the out-breath through the nose.
We will do this breathing pattern for about one to two minutes and then we will move into the mindfulness practice called shits.
Ready?
Our five-part breathing practice begins now.
Breathe in two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe out two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe in two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe out two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe in two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe out two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe in two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe out two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe in two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe out two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe in two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe out two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe in two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe out two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe in two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe out two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe in two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe out two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe in two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe out two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Excellent practice.
Now take a moment to return to your regular breathing.
Notice how you feel in your body right now.
Let's move into our mindfulness practice by looking in front of you and noticing what you see with curiosity and no judgment.
Now shift your gaze and turn your head to the right and look up and down,
Again noticing what you see.
And you're just breathing at your own pace,
Rate,
And rhythm.
Turn and look behind you and notice what's behind you.
Move your gaze over to the left side of where you are and again,
Look up and down and notice what you see.
Allow your eyes to settle down and look below you.
Breathing in and out and noticing what you see.
Let's take one last look up above us and notice what's there.
Bring your eyes and your head down to your normal position and now change your focus to breathe in and notice any smells,
Aromas,
Scents,
Or fragrances where you are.
You're welcome to close your eyes or leave your eyes open as you take in the smells,
Scents,
Aromas,
And fragrances where you are.
Tuning in to what may be present.
Perhaps you've had something to eat or maybe there's a scent in the air from aromatherapy or just daily living.
Continue breathing as you normally would breathe.
Next,
Move over to your sense of hearing.
Bring your focus to any sounds where you are.
Notice if the sounds are close by or farther away and continue breathing as you notice the sounds where you are.
Our next focus will be your sense of taste.
Take a moment to notice if you have any taste lingering in your mouth from something you may have had to eat or drink recently.
Now take a moment to run your tongue around your mouth,
Perhaps run your tongue over your teeth,
And just notice the texture on the enamel of your teeth.
And,
Of course,
You continue to breathe at your own pace,
Rate,
And rhythm.
Touch is the next sense you will tune into.
Wherever your hands are on your body,
Give your body a little love squeeze,
Or you may also do a gentle soft massage where your hands are.
And just notice how the sense of touch impacts how you feel in your body.
No judgment,
Only curiosity,
And,
Of course,
Breathing.
Continue breathing and remind yourself of what you saw,
Smelled,
Heard,
Tasted,
Touched,
And connect with any sensations that come up right now in your body.
Be present to whatever may be arising in this moment.
Breathe and be with your feelings,
Sensations,
And emotions right now.
I'm going to go quiet for just a few seconds for you to be fully present to your sensations and all of your senses.
Lovely job practicing today.
Let's end your practice by rubbing your hands together and placing them in your heart space.
Taking a deep breath in through the nose with the loud exhale through your mouth.
Your mindful practice has ended and you may open your eyes and relax your hands.
Give yourself a big hug,
Wrap yourself in your own arms,
And pat yourself on the back for completing your mindfulness and meditation practices.
End of excerpt.
How did you enjoy the breathing practice and Schutz practice?
Leave a comment,
Observation,
Or reflection where you're listening to this podcast.
