Hello,
This is Angie from Big Sky Mind.
Mindfulness is paying attention to what's happening in the present moment right now.
It can help us notice how we feel and notice the world around us.
Mindfulness can help us calm down when we have a difficult emotion and it can help us feel happy too.
Today we're going to practice mindfulness with our senses.
Do you know what your senses are?
Seeing,
Hearing,
Taste,
Touch and smell.
This is how we make sense of the world.
Our senses give us lots of information about where we are and what we like and don't like.
Just like breathing,
Our senses are there for us to pay attention to and when we do pay attention,
They can help us feel more focused and help us notice pleasant sensations which we may have missed.
So let's practice together.
Find a comfortable place to sit with your feet flat on the ground on a chair.
I'm going to invite you to close your eyes.
If you don't want to close your eyes,
You can just cast your eyes down towards your lap.
Let's take a few big breaths in and out and when you breathe out,
Let the weight of your body sink down through the chair and sink down to the ground through your feet.
Feeling the connection with the earth through our feet and the weight dropping down through the chair.
With each out breath,
Just see if you can let go a little more.
And with the in breath,
Feel how tall and long the spine is and how open and relaxed the body can be.
Let the breath be easy and natural,
No need to change it.
Letting the weight of the body drop with the out breath and feeling tall and open with the in breath.
Begin to turn your attention to the sense of touch.
Firstly,
Through the pressure where you're sitting and the sit bones on the chair and the feet on the floor.
Really notice the contact that you have with these surfaces.
What does it feel like?
The heaviness,
The weight of the body,
The steadiness.
And what does the contact of your skin feel like on your clothes as you breathe in and out?
Does it change?
Do the sensations shift and move as you breathe in and out?
And now begin to pay attention to any smells.
So shift your awareness to the breath coming in through the nose.
Cool as it goes down the throat.
Are there any smells that your sense of smell is picking up?
What can you notice?
And your sense of smell is connected to your sense of taste.
Are there any tastes in your mouth?
Maybe you've just eaten.
Are there any lingering tastes within your mouth?
Just notice.
If your mind begins to wander,
Bring it back to the sense of touch and the weight of the body dropping down through the chair and the feet and the breath as it comes and goes.
And now let's turn our attention to your sense of hearing.
What sounds can you hear?
Sounds nearby,
Sounds far away,
Sounds that are coming and going.
Let your awareness open out to take in all the sounds.
And now with your closed eyes,
Begin to notice the amount of light coming through your eyelids,
The colours and any shapes.
And in a moment,
When I ring the bell to open your eyes,
Just take a moment as you gently open your eyes to take in the room and what's around you,
All the colours and the shapes.
