Mindful Senses Exploring. Improve Focus And Concentration

This meditation will help you to improve your focus and concentration by learning to tune in to all your senses. We begin by exploring what your senses notice in the outside world, creating an inner picture in your mind to improve your memory and then explore your inner world. This audio reduces stress and anxiety by introducing a safe place to rest in and reset stressful emotions and feelings. Suitable for at home or for classroom settings in school.

Chrissy Ortner has a background in Educational Psychology and a special interest in storytelling and music.

Transcript

Hello and welcome. My name is Chrissie. This session will help you to listen to all the incredible senses that you have in your body. When we begin to tune in to the messages our senses are giving us, We can become more focused and aware of what is happening all around us and inside of us. Sometimes we become so focused on wanting the things that we don't have, That we forget to notice what is happening right now. There may be many wonderful things happening around you and inside you that you haven't even noticed before. We're going to begin with the things that you can see. So get yourself into a comfortable position and take a deep breath, Allowing yourself to wriggle into the best position for you. I wonder if you can begin to notice what you can see in front of you, Something you can see without moving your head. Begin to notice all the shapes, Colors and textures, What you like about it or what you don't like and then allow your eyes to close. I wonder if you can still see that image in front of you now, What you can remember seeing, The shapes, Textures or colors, As though you're painting a picture in your mind of the things that are really in front of you. Now open your eyes and again keeping your head still, Expand what you can see, Looking to the sides, Looking up and down, Noticing what is all around you. And then close your eyes again and fill in more of that picture in your mind. What do you notice? What needs to be included in the picture this time? Go ahead and place that into your picture and then once more open your eyes and scan what's in front of you, Noticing the things that are still missing from your mind's picture. And when you've focused on what else needs to be added, You could even say their names as you notice them. Then close your eyes and again paint those things or imagine those things in your mind's picture. And now for a moment we're going to add to our picture of the world around us, All the sounds that we can hear. So with your eyes still closed, Notice the sounds around you. Perhaps they're sounds from far away or sounds close to you or even the sounds of your own body. And as you notice the sounds, Perhaps you could become aware of what has created them and what that might look like. Maybe it's a dog barking in the street outside, Sounds of birds, Cars or people talking, The sound of wind or perhaps even the sound of your breath, The sound of your hair as you move slightly. Whatever you notice, Add that to your inner picture, Creating a much bigger picture of the world around you. Creating a much bigger picture of the world around you. So well done, You've learned to focus on the things around you and this will help expand your memory, Help you to remember more and more things and to be mindful of the things that we like, What we don't like and how we can make our world even better. And now we're going to tune into your body and its messages in a new way. You can begin by rubbing your hands together and as you do, Begin to notice a tingling feeling in your fingers and palms and the sound they make as you rub them together. Our hands are busy doing things all day, Often without us really noticing. And this exercise helps you to tune into your body and what it wants you to know about it. So with your eyes still closed, Take a big breath and begin gently stroking the top of your head noticing what that feels like as you exhale deeply. What it feels like to touch your hair, Feeling it on your fingertips and the palms of your hands and the sensation on your skin and hair as you continue stroking allowing that stroking to become slower and slower. Can you hear the sound change as you stroke over your ears? Does the stroking feel relaxing, Calming? How does it make you feel? How does it make you feel? Now gently place your hands over your eyes, Noticing if they feel cool or warm. Take a nice slow deep breath and notice how your eyes are feeling as you begin to relax into that feeling of calm focus. Does any part of your body feel tense as you hold your hands over your eyes? Notice if you feel tension in your arms or shoulders and if you do, Say I'm ready to relax and focus even more. Now gently drop your hands down and place them over your heart. And still with eyes closed, Take a deep breath and notice the movement beneath your hands of your chest. If you pay close attention, You may begin to notice your heartbeat perhaps feeling it beneath your hands or are you just aware of your chest rising and falling? And I wonder if you can become aware of how you're feeling emotionally. Are you feeling happy, Tired, Sad or angry? Frustrated, Calm or energetic? Notice what your energy feels like in your body and where you feel it the strongest. And now take your hands and place them on your tummy. This is the place where we often feel some of our strongest feelings. As you place your hands on your stomach, What do you notice? As you take a nice deep breath, Notice how your tummy moves as you breathe. Notice how your heart beats and how your lungs feel. Notice how your lungs feel as you breathe. As you take a nice deep breath, Notice how your tummy moves as you breathe. And say to yourself, I'm safe in this moment. It's safe to relax. Sometimes our bodies are so busy trying to keep us safe that they forget to relax. Placing your hands on your stomach and saying, I'm safe in this moment. It's safe to relax. Helps to calm your tummy, Your heart, Your emotions, And all the muscles and organs in your body so that you can be healthy. And now you've learned to notice your body, Its sensations and feelings, And how to calm it down. I wonder if you can imagine a wonderful place to be right now. Maybe it's somewhere you've been in nature. Perhaps it's a holiday you've been on. Or somewhere that only exists in your imagination. Wherever it is, It's perfect for you. Because as you imagine yourself in that special place, I wonder if you can begin to notice how your body feels. What you might be sensing on your skin if you were there right now. Noticing if you're moving in any special way or still. And how your heart feels as you think of that place. Notice the sounds you can hear, The temperature of the air, And even what you might be eating in your special place. The tastes, The smells, The smells of nature. And I wonder if it's possible to put all of these senses, All these pictures, Smells, Tastes, Sounds, And feelings into a special container. Perhaps a box, A crystal ball, Or something special to you. And imagine placing that in your heart. You can open that special box and visit your special place whenever you want to feel calm and focused. And now you can take this ability to focus all your senses back into the present by taking a deep breath, Stretching and opening your eyes, Noticing all you can see, And then letting go. Here and sense around you. And you can now use your incredible senses to be the very best that you can be. And each time you do this practice, Either with me or on your own, You'll learn so much more about the world around you and yourself. Thanks for joining me in this practice today. Thank you.