Using The Five Senses To Explore The Present Moment

This 10-minute mindfulness excerise uses five senses, hearing, touch, sight, smell and taste to help bring your attention back to the present moment. Great for beginners. Rather than trying to stop your thoughts or clear your mind, this practises encourages you to gently unhook, notice what's happening in your immediate environment using your curiousity and senses without judgemetn.

We begin with a brief check-in of the mind, take some calming breaths, and move through each sense to reconnect to the here and now. If your mind wanders (which it will), you will simply be guided back to the present moment with kindness.

This practice may be helpful if you're experiencing stress, anxiety, overwhelm, racing thoughts, emotional distress, or simply need a moment to pause and reset during your day, and want to build mindfulness skills.

Transcript

Welcome to today's practice. We're going to be doing a grounding exercise and we're going to be using our senses to ground us in the environment around us today. So before we begin, I want you to find a place where you can get comfortable and you're not going to be interrupted for the next 10 minutes. Whether you want to be seated on a chair with your back supported, Sitting on the ground or lying down. You choose. And know that at any point you can change your position if you think that would be helpful. Once you're comfortable, I want to invite you to either close your eyes, Or if that doesn't feel right for you, Keep them open and just find a spot to gently fixate your attention towards, Knowing that at any point you can change this, Or you can even disengage from the practice altogether. You're in complete control. So before we delve into our senses, We're just going to take a quick moment to see what our mind is doing right now. Often we're so busy throughout the day that our minds are on autopilot and we don't really know what they're thinking. Doing or telling us or what they're saying. And if this is new to you and it feels a bit foreign, That's okay. There's no wrongs or rights here, It's just an opportunity to connect with what's coming up in your mind in the present moment. Just gonna, Just for a moment, Just get present. Do you notice that your mind's feeling busy right now? Are there lots of thoughts coming in? About your day, About your week, Things coming up. There's reports due at work or lots of to-dos to do this weekend. Sometimes there's worry on our mind about the people around us or things going on in our lives. Perhaps our mind is quiet and tired. Maybe it doesn't have a lot happening. Maybe it's somewhere in between. Maybe you're not really sure and that's okay too. Just take a quick moment just to check in. How's your mind? Sometimes the mind might take us to sensations in the body. If we have pain there or there's tightness there, That's normal as well. Okay. We're going to move now to the breath just to get us a bit more present. And we're just going to take a few gentle breaths to help just bring us into the present moment a bit. I'm just going to guide you through them. So we're going to breathe in. And out. In And out. And one more in and out Just take a few seconds to focus on how you're feeling after those breaths. Okay. We're going to move towards using our first sense today, Which is our hearing. So I want you to bring your attention to sounds. What sounds can you notice right now? You don't need to say it out loud, Or you can if you're on your own. For what's around you. Perhaps you can hear. An aircon going off. Some birds chirping outside. Perhaps you can hear the absence of sound, The sound of nothing. Maybe there's some construction across the road. What sounds are you hearing? Just simply noticing each sound as it comes and goes. We don't need to judge it or change it. Sometimes we might notice our body doesn't like a sound. That's okay too, That's allowed to be here. But just be present with whatever sounds are coming up. You might notice your mind wanders at times. You might be struggling to keep your mind on the sounds and labelling them. That's okay, It's really normal. When you notice that your mind has wandered. Just gently bring your attention back to the sense that you're focusing on. Sometimes we can even just choose a sound. So if you're focusing on a lot of sounds, You might want to just choose one and just pay attention to it. That's the anchor. Okay. We're gonna move now to our next sense, Which is our sensation of touch and feeling. So moving away from sounds, I want us to bring our attention to our body. And what's making contact with our body right now. Can you notice how your feet feel in your shoes on the floor? Is it heavy? Feel grounded. Or can you feel the chair that you're sitting on right now? Or the clothes against your skin. Or the temperature of the air on your skin that's exposed at the moment. Or what's going on in your hands. What are they feeling right now? Just focusing on being present with whatever you can feel. Knowing if your mind wanders that's okay, Just gently bringing it back the moment you've noticed to the sensation that you're feeling or you've chosen to be with. Okay, We're going to be moving now to using our eyes for seeing. So you're welcome to gently open your eyes if that feels right, But you also can keep them closed if you want to. So with your eyes open. Or even sharp. What can you notice right now with your vision? What objects are in front of you? Can you gently label them to yourself? Are there any shapes here? Shadows, Colours. If your eyes are closed, Can you notice the light or darkness behind your eyelids? If you've had your eyes open, You're welcome to shut them again. We're going to be moving to our sense of smell at the moment. Can you just notice any smells right now? Maybe there's a scent in the room that you haven't picked up on yet. Often our smell is the first to kind of dissipate when we're in a new environment. Can you smell fresh air? Or perhaps there's not really a strong scent at all here. Maybe you can smell your own deodorant. Knowing whatever you notice is okay, Just being present. Okay. We're finally going to move our attention to our sense of taste. Can you notice any taste in your mouth right now? Sometimes we can taste our last meal, Toothpaste, A drink. Or maybe there's no taste at all. Now we're just about to finish up but I want to see if you can notice all your senses together, Just for a moment. Just noticing how your body's being supported. The sounds around you. What you can see if you want to open your eyes. Any smells, Any tastes, And then just your breath moving gently in and out. Just take a moment to notice what it's like to be here right now. And when you're ready, You can gently bring your attention back into the room. Maybe wiggling your fingers and toes. Doing a stretch if that feels good and then open your eyes if they were closed. Thank yourself for taking the time to slow down and just ground yourself using your senses. Thank you for practicing.