5-Awareness Meditation

The 5-Awareness Practice allows us to sit at the centre of our experience, anchoring ourselves into the present moment, bringing awareness to our internal and external worlds. This 5 step meditation begins with the breath, then moves to body sensations, then sounds, then thoughts, then emotions. This meditation is used by students in the second half of my Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course, so there is plenty of space to practice by yourself, with silent spaces of up to a minute.

Transcript

Welcome to this 40 minute meditation.

The five awareness practice gives us the opportunity to sit at the center of our experience,

Bringing ourselves into the present moment,

Becoming aware of our internal and external worlds.

Now our intention today is to remain present with our sensory experiences as they move,

Change,

Appear and disappear into awareness.

So we'll begin by placing our attention on the breath,

We'll then move to body sensations and to sounds and thoughts and we'll end the meditation by placing our attention on our emotions.

Each time we get distracted with thoughts of the past or the future,

Which we will over and over,

We bring our awareness back to our present experience and if we notice any unpleasant or difficult experiences and we stay with those experiences only for as long as it feels manageable,

Knowing it's okay to shift our attention away from the discomfort at any time.

As the meditation goes on,

I'll be allowing plenty of space for you to practice by yourself.

So there will be silence for up to a minute and it will be very likely that whenever you hear my voice,

I'll be interrupting a train of thought.

So as we practice,

We remember to bring an attitude of patience and acceptance with whatever happens and we practice being kind to ourselves.

So we don't beat ourselves up or give ourselves a hard time when we get distracted or if we notice difficult or challenging thoughts,

Sensations or emotions.

So kindness and self-acceptance are the key attitudes that we bring to our practice today.

So let's begin the meditation by finding a comfortable position,

Sitting in an alert and relaxed posture,

Knowing that it's okay to move or shift positions at any time during this meditation.

I invite you now to close the eyes or you're welcome to leave the eyes open.

If you are going to keep the eyes open,

Just making sure that we have a soft focus a few feet in front of us on the floor.

If you are keeping the eyes closed,

Still making sure that we have a soft focus with the eyes closed and with the eyes relaxed.

And let's just have a quick check in with what's going on inside the mind and in the body and in particular noticing whether or not we're here,

Whether or not we're present.

Are we focused on today's practice or have we maybe got other things running through our mind,

Stresses of the day or worries about the week ahead perhaps.

Not that it matters but we do want to be aware of where our mind is.

So if we're feeling calm and present,

We bring awareness to our calmness.

If our mind is somewhere else,

We bring awareness to the fact that our mind is elsewhere.

So I invite you now to join me becoming aware of the breath,

Noticing the inhale and noticing the exhale.

And without trying to change anything about the breath,

We're simply noticing how the body's naturally breathing.

The body knows what to do and we might find that there's an urge to direct the breath,

To control the breath.

And if you do notice that urge,

Just see if you can do simply that,

Just notice the urge.

There's a tendency for many of us to want to take control,

So to take control of the breath.

So see what it's like to just allow the body to breathe itself.

Is the body breathing deeply?

Is it a shallow breath?

Is the breath going into the chest or is it going into the stomach?

Is the exhale longer than the inhale or is the inhale longer than the exhale?

We're just noticing.

Noticing that we don't have to do anything or make any effort to breathe.

The body knows exactly what to do.

So just pause for a moment and notice that the body can breathe by itself without any effort from you.

We're not so much watching the breath,

We're experiencing the breath,

We're feeling the breath.

So what does it feel like to breathe?

Perhaps we can feel the cool air coming in through the nostrils as we breathe in,

As the lungs and the chest and the stomach expand.

And then we might notice a short pause as the breath changes direction and then the warm air leaving the nostrils as we breathe out,

As the body softens and relaxes and sinks deeper into the chair or into the cushion.

We breathe in and the body expands and we breathe out as the body softens and relaxes and sinks deeper.

And if we notice that the mind is elsewhere,

Perhaps we're thinking about the past or worrying about the future.

Could be planning or fixing or strategizing,

Going over to-do lists.

That's perfectly normal,

It's what the mind is designed to do.

It's designed to look into the past and think about everything that went wrong and then plan for the future so that those mistakes never happen again.

But as soon as we realize that we're caught up in that train of thought,

Then that's a moment of mindfulness and it's at that moment that we have that choice to make and we can choose to gently bring our awareness back to the present moment,

Back to the breath.

So without giving ourselves a hard time,

We practice that kindness and that self-acceptance.

It's what the mind does,

It's okay.

So we're kind to ourselves as we gently bring our awareness back to the breath.

And in the next few breaths,

Whenever we're ready,

We now choose to redirect our attention to awareness of the body as a whole and to the different sensations that we can feel in and around the body.

Perhaps there are subtle sensations like tingling or pulsing or coolness or warmth or maybe there are more uncomfortable sensations like pain or tension or itching.

So we're simply staying curious and open to whatever's happening right now.

So what sensations are happening in and around the body?

What can we feel in the body?

Each time a sensation arises,

We make a conscious effort to observe it,

Taking a moment to hold it in our awareness with interest,

Being curious about exactly what this sensation feels like.

We don't have to go searching out sensations,

We simply notice them when they arise,

When they appear.

Are we adding our own stories and commentaries to our sensations and if we notice that we are telling ourselves stories or narrating our experience,

Noticing that those are just thoughts just like any other and we can allow those thoughts to pass and we can direct our attention back to sensations,

Back to feeling that raw sensation inside the body,

That tingle,

That pulse,

That warm feeling,

That cool feeling.

And if the mind is elsewhere,

Gently bringing the mind back without giving ourselves a hard time,

Just kindly and patiently bringing awareness back to sensations,

Back to the body.

If we notice unpleasant sensations coming up,

Then we have a couple of options.

So the first option is for us to allow the sensation to be without giving it any power so we can observe the sensation,

Maybe even label the sensation,

We can investigate the raw sensation and then we can allow the sensation to be.

And then when we have uncomfortable situations come up for us during the day,

Then this technique makes us practice that not being so reactive,

Not so emotional.

However,

If the sensation is too unpleasant or difficult to hold an awareness,

Then we can always shift position or shift our posture or scratch that itch or we can even move our awareness from the uncomfortable or painful sensation and back to the breath.

So the breath is always there for us as an anchor to the present moment.

So our second option is to move away from the discomfort kindly and patiently and come back to the breath,

Breathing in and breathing out.

And gently now releasing our awareness of sensations,

Allowing awareness of sensations to move into the background of our awareness and gathering our attention back onto the breath,

Feeling that next inhale as the body expands and feeling that next exhale as the body softens and relaxes.

And allowing our attention now to shift from the breath and letting our attention move into the realm of sound,

Our sense of hearing.

And we're seeing sounds now not as distractions but instead we're bringing awareness to the sounds themselves.

And we're not seeking out sounds but rather we're opening up our senses to receive whatever sounds are out there.

Notice how awareness receives sounds without making any effort.

The sounds are just there,

We don't have to seek them out.

Each time a sound arises we make a conscious effort to observe it,

Taking a moment to hold it in our awareness with interest,

Being curious about the sound.

Noticing that sound might be clear or muffled,

Sounds might be loud or soft,

There are sounds inside the room,

Outside the room and if we listen very closely we might even be able to hear sounds coming from inside the body.

We're listening for the soft sounds,

The subtle sounds,

The silence between the sounds,

Even listening for the silence.

If there is no sound,

What does silence sound like?

Noticing that we often have opinions about sounds,

We might find some sounds pleasant and others unpleasant,

Other sounds we might find neutral.

So noticing this tendency to judge sounds and it doesn't matter what the exact sound is,

There's no need to label the sound or question why it's there,

It's the awareness of the sound that's important.

So it might be challenging at first not to have an opinion about a sound because we're so used to labelling and judging things as good or bad,

Right or wrong,

Pleasant or unpleasant.

So it takes time to coax the mind out of this habit but it's a skill that we can build with practice.

So practicing that skill right now,

So without judgment just listening to the sound,

Just allowing the sounds to come to us.

You And if we notice that the mind gets distracted,

Which it will,

It's what the mind does.

When we do notice that we have been carried away on a train of thought,

Maybe thinking about the day or planning the week ahead,

We gently and we quietly come back to the awareness of sound.

Without giving ourselves a hard time,

We patiently come back to the soundscape and we pick up where we left off.

So,

We're now in the background of our awareness and gathering our awareness back onto the breath,

Noticing that next inhale,

Noticing that next exhale.

Allowing our attention to now shift from the breath and moving our awareness towards thinking and thoughts.

So we're seeing thoughts today not as distractions but instead we're bringing our awareness to the thinking process itself.

Our thoughts appear out of nowhere,

They're a creation of a mind that wants to be kept busy at all times.

So today we're practicing stepping back and looking at our thoughts rather than from our thoughts.

Each time a thought arises we're making a conscious effort to observe it.

So taking a moment to hold it in our awareness with interest,

Being curious about the thought.

And we don't need to go searching out for thoughts,

We simply notice them when they appear.

So if there are no thoughts in the mind,

Great,

We can just pay attention to the silent mind.

If there are lots of thoughts in the mind then that's great too.

We can become aware of those thoughts and we can observe those thoughts as they pop into our consciousness and then they leave.

Our thoughts are often memories of the past or their thoughts about the future.

And often by labeling the thoughts we can reduce the temptation to get carried away by them.

So perhaps choosing to acknowledge the thought by silently saying in our minds thinking,

Planning,

Fantasizing,

Worrying.

Then once we've labeled the thought we can gently and quietly come back to the anchor of the breath while we simply wait to see what thought comes along next.

And we can notice perhaps if the thoughts are happy or sad or maybe even neutral.

Again we're not trying to do anything with the thoughts,

We don't really have a goal.

If anything the goal is simply to notice the thought with curiosity and interest.

So when we have thoughts coming into our head during the day then this technique makes us better at not reacting in an emotional way to those thoughts.

However if the thought is too unpleasant or it's too difficult to hold in awareness then we always have the breath to come back to.

The breath is always there for us as an anchor to the present moment.

So our second option is to kindly and patiently come back to the breath.

And the mind will get distracted,

It's what the mind does and even when we're bringing our awareness to thoughts,

Sometimes those thoughts can be so engaging that we get carried away on that train of thought.

So if that happens that's perfectly fine.

As soon as we realize that we've been carried away on the train of thought without giving ourselves a hard time,

We just accept that's what the mind does and we patiently bring our awareness back to thoughts and looking at thoughts rather than from our thoughts.

So we're now in the background of our awareness and gathering our attention back onto the breath,

Back onto the next inhale as the body expands and the next exhale as the body softens and relaxes.

Noticing that in-breath and noticing that out-breath.

And allowing our attention to now shift from the breath and letting our attention move to our emotions.

As we sit here,

As we meditate,

We might notice emotions coming into our awareness.

Much like thoughts,

We're practicing stepping back and looking at our emotions rather than from our emotions.

So what emotions can we feel right now?

Maybe there's anger or joy or happiness or sadness,

There could be fear,

Confusion,

Calm,

Contentment,

Excitement,

Whatever's present in the body right now,

No matter how subtle,

We're just bringing that into our awareness.

Each time an emotion arises,

We're making a conscious effort to observe it.

We're taking a moment to hold it in our awareness with curiosity.

What is this emotion doing inside the mind and in the body?

And noticing as well that emotions are always felt somewhere in the body.

So where in the body can we feel this emotion?

So perhaps we can feel the emotion in the chest,

Maybe there's a heaviness or a tightness or tingling or warmth or perhaps it's in the stomach,

Maybe a churning or a fluttering sensation or maybe tightness or pulsing in the hands or it could be in the head or the face or temples,

Heat burning,

Tingling.

So maybe asking ourselves what am I feeling right now?

We're experimenting with relating in a different way to emotions,

Both pleasant and unpleasant emotions.

So what's it like to observe an unpleasant emotion without trying to push it away?

And what's it like to observe a pleasant emotion without grabbing onto it and trying to get more of it?

Just noticing whatever comes up without grabbing and without pushing away.

If we do notice unpleasant emotions coming up,

We have a couple of options.

So the first option is for us to allow the emotion to be without giving it any power and we can observe the emotion almost from a distance,

Label the emotion,

Investigate the raw sensations of the emotion,

Locate the emotion inside the body.

Now practicing this technique makes us better at not getting carried away in that emotional spiral when uncomfortable emotions come up for us during the day.

But if the emotion is too unpleasant or difficult to hold in awareness,

Then as always we have the breath to come back to.

The breath is always there for us as an anchor into that present moment.

So our second option is to kindly and patiently come back to the breath.

You Now allowing our awareness of emotions to move into the background of our awareness and gathering our attention back onto the breath.

Noticing how the body's breathing without trying to change anything about the breath.

What does the breath feel like right now?

Is it a slow breath?

Is it a deep breath?

Is our exhale longer than our inhale or inhale longer than our exhale?

Really noticing what it feels like to breathe,

The sensations of breathing.

And now for the last minute of this meditation,

I invite you to let go of all effort.

So don't even try and pay attention and just see what it's like to to sit here in awareness without making any effort at all.

You And as this meditation comes to an end,

Choosing to bring our attention now back to the body.

Feeling the body connected to the ground or connected to the chair.

Noticing where you're making contact with the floor or the cushion and noticing how the body's feeling right now.

Does it feel differently in any way to the start of the meditation?

Just noticing.

Keeping our eyes closed,

Bringing our attention now to sounds inside the room,

Sounds outside the room,

Possibly even sounds coming from our own bodies.

Gently wiggling our fingers and toes.

And whenever we're ready,

Slowly opening the eyes in our own time,

Having a little stretch if we need to.

And congratulating ourselves for taking some time to look after our mind and our body.

Have a great day and I'll see you in the next session.

Reviews

Your voice is so calming and your meditations help me to sink into my body and just be. An extraordinary experience for me as the owner of a very busy mind.

Excellent, beautifully paced and such a soothing voice

Wonderful!

I really loved that meditation so much 😌💕 What a voice Chibs has...so comforting. xx

I love his voice!

Super Guidance!
J ai déjà hâte à demain matin 😌 pour poursuivre l expérience de cette méditation.
Merci 🙏🏽

Thank you. Very thorough.

So calm, kind, inviting and encouraging.

Calm and grounding practice. Thank you 🙏

Wow. That was wonderfull. The thought that kept coming back to me is that everybody should learn this as a child about their awareness, thoughts, emotions.
Relaxation, food for thought and more feeling of balance for me. Thank you so much.

Stunningly beautiful. Thank you for this gift. Namaste.

Beautiful! Your voice is calming. That was a FAST 40 minutes 🙏🏼✨