This is an attention exercise.
In this meditation,
I invite you to stand if that is available to you.
Feel the connection of your feet on the earth.
If you have shoes on,
Go ahead and take those off.
And if you're inside,
Perhaps you'd like to move outside into nature.
The place where our attention is most easily directed when we work our attention muscle and when we know what our attention muscle is.
Strengthening that attention muscle is what our intention is here today with this meditation.
What we put our attention on is what we make real in our lives.
So what are we making real?
Something that's very real is our connection to being a human.
And the way that we can stay really grounded in that connection is through our senses.
Let's review our senses for a moment.
As you stand,
I invite you to bring some movement into your body side to side.
Maybe you want to flop forward.
Maybe you want to open your chest.
Wiggling your arms and legs.
Finding your body,
Which is where our senses are available to us.
First,
Place your attention on all the things you can see from where you are.
Seeing beings and inanimate objects,
Colors,
Shadows.
Let yourself be curious as you look around.
Now shift your attention to what you can hear.
How the sound vibrations kiss your skin.
And on your physical body.
I invite you to shift your attention to what you can smell.
And as you smell deeply,
I encourage you to bring some length to your breath.
Breathing in and out of your nose.
Seeing your attention to what you can taste in your mouth.
Perhaps running your tongue along your teeth.
Looking your lips,
Tasting yourself in this moment.
Now softly shift your attention to what you can touch.
The way that the air softly touches your skin.
How your feet feel rooted on the earth.
Perhaps you even run your thumb along your fingertips to feel the sensation.
Bringing you right here into your body,
Present.
As we ground into our attention exercise,
Let's invite some gratitude in for our senses.
The ability to see if that is present for us.
To hear the sounds of music and of voices and of vibration.
To smell and to taste.
And to touch.
Now we know if any of these senses are taken away,
It can be extremely difficult and challenging.
So being grateful for them is so important.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And now let's begin what we have in this moment.
As you stand and ground,
I'd like for you to find the direction of the east.
The way that the sun rises.
Now go ahead and orient yourself so that you are facing the rising sun.
It's okay if you're a little confused.
Which way is that?
Take your time.
But it's important that we learn the directions and that we start being able to orient ourselves in nature.
So as we face east,
I encourage you to soften and just feel that direction fully.
And I'd like for you to scan the east with your whole body.
Seeing,
Hearing,
Tasting,
Smelling,
Touching.
Notice all that there is to notice facing this direction.
And I'd like for you to scan your attention with your eyes and place your attention on something that you hadn't quite noticed before in this direction.
Do your best to find something that looks new.
Perhaps it's a leaf or a shadow or a chip of paint in the wall.
And let your attention rest there for a while.
Once you've found something,
I encourage you to let your attention rest there.
Now shift your attention to the south and move so that your body is facing south.
Feel the south with your whole body.
Maybe you want to bring your feet so that they're hip width and wider apart.
Feeling a bit feeling this direction.
And scan with your whole body,
The south,
With your senses feeling this direction fully.
Now using your visual field,
I invite you to scan the south with your attention muscle and let your attention fall on something that you hadn't quite noticed before in this exact way.
Once you've found that object,
Just let your attention rest there as you breathe in and out slowly through your nose.
Now please face the west.
Let your body feel the direction where the sun sets.
Every day the sun sets towards the west.
Notice the nuances of the way that this direction feels.
Scan the west and notice something that you hadn't quite noticed before.
Let your attention rest on that place.
Let your attention rest on the west.
Rest your attention now to the north,
Letting your body face that direction,
Letting yourself scan the north and letting your attention fall on something that you hadn't quite noticed before.
Please look up towards the sky.
Let yourself be creative and imaginative here and find something that you hadn't quite noticed before.
Let your attention rest on this,
Taking a few breaths.
Please shift your attention to the ground,
Scanning the ground and the floor,
Letting your attention find something that you hadn't noticed before.
Now I'd like for you to please face east again and place your attention back on the ground.
Let your eyes and body feel this direction,
Noticing what you found before.
Keep looking towards the east and shift your attention to the south.
So look at the east but let your attention move to the south.
Notice that experience.
Take a few deep breaths here.
Please now shift yourself so that you are facing the south.
Find what you found in the south.
Keep looking and facing the south and shift your attention to the west.
Notice what it's like in your body to be looking one direction and shifting your attention to another.
Let's move here.
Great.
Now face the west.
Find what you found with your attention and then shift your attention while still facing the west.
Shift your attention to the north.
Notice what this is like.
Notice if there's a part of your body that is working to look one way and shift your attention another.
Without judgment,
Just simply noticing with childlike curiosity.
Great.
Now I'd like for you to please face east again and during this next part,
This final piece,
I invite you to feel what happens in your body,
What happens in your heart,
What happens in your shoulders,
In your mind,
All over your body.
Just notice what happens.
So as you face east,
Find what you found,
Letting your attention rest there and then remaining looking east,
I'd like for you to shift your attention to the south,
To the west,
To the north,
To the sky,
And to the ground at the same time.
Breathing here.
What do you notice in your body as you have your attention in all of these different places and you try to bring them into one focal point.
What's happening somatically in your body?
What's happening in your mind?
Just hold this with a sense of curiosity,
Of kindness,
Of non-judgment.
Take just a few more rounds of breath and as you do that,
You can release your gaze and perhaps let your body wiggle and shake out from this experience.
And I encourage you to take the next few moments after we formally finish this attention exercise and write about it.
What came up for you?
What is attention to you?
What does your attention muscle feel like?
What do you notice about this attention muscle?
And how do you think noticing your attention will support you in your life?
I invite you to bring this awareness into the rest of your day,
Grounded in your senses,
Rooted in your heart.
Thank you.
Be well my friends.
