The Mindful Check-In

The Mindful Check-In is a simple mindfulness practice for pausing, noticing and reconnecting with the present moment. Rather than trying to change how you feel, you'll be gently guided to check in with your body, your breathing and your mind before choosing a single word that captures your experience. Whether you're feeling calm, overwhelmed or somewhere in between, this short guided meditation helps you develop greater self-awareness, emotional regulation and grounded presence so you can respond to the moments ahead with greater clarity, steadiness and self-understanding.

This practice is suitable for beginners and experienced meditators interested in mindfulness, mindful check-ins, present-moment awareness, emotional regulation, self-awareness, body awareness, grounding, stress reduction, anxiety management, resilience, attention training and everyday mindfulness..

Transcript

The basic mindful check-in. Hello, I'm Chris Walsh and this is the soundtrack to guide the basic mindful check-in. If you are just beginning this practice, You may want to sit in a comfortable chair. Once you are happy with where you are, You can begin your mindful check-in. Beginning by deciding whether to keep your eyes open with your gaze resting on a neutral place in front of you. Or instead allowing your eyes to close so that you can take your awareness inside more easily. Bringing your awareness now to your feet and their contact with the ground. And if you're sitting, Feeling the contact of your bottom with the seat. And feeling the breath without trying to change it. Noticing the quality of your breathing. Whether it is deep or shallow. Tight or relaxed. Smooth or bumpy. Fast or slow. Just allowing it to be however it is. Just noticing. And in the quiet moments, Noticing what your mind does. If it stays with the breathing or wanders off. If it seems to be clear and alert or drowsy and foggy. Calm or agitated. Quiet, Or going off on little narratives and stories. And if it is going off into thoughts Noticing if there seems to be one particular theme that predominates. Whether there is something that is particularly occupying your mind. So when you notice that your mind has wandered off, And where it has wandered to. You can come back to the breath each time. Now that you have checked in and noticed how your body is and how your mind is. Finding a word or phrase that describes how you are within yourself right now. With that word, You can move into the moments ahead of you with awareness of how you are. If your eyes are closed, You can open them. Allowing yourself to look around. You can now re-enter the environment around you in a mindful way.