Grounding Using The 5 Senses

Journey Inward with a Sensory-Based Mindfulness Practice. This guided journey can be an effective bridge that assists the listener to transition from a state of daily life, stress, or anxiety to grounded presence, prepared for meditation. This 5-Sensory Practice may also be used as a stand-alone meditation on the senses. It is effective for Grounding in times of Stress, Panic, and Mental/Emotional Unsteadiness.

Transcript

Welcome to the Journey inward. Today I will be sharing with you a mindfulness practice for recognizing and working with the five senses. Mindfulness practices are very effective for meditators and these are practices that we grow through use every day and then we see them used on our meditation cushion and we can transfer these skills of mindfulness as they grow into using them in everyday life and you'll find them effective for bringing you into a more neutral balanced state of awareness. Mindfulness practices are useful in this particular one, The sensory practice for taking you out of your life circumstance whatever you're doing before meditation and bridging your way into a neutral meditative seated position where we are simply sitting in meditation. We say simply pretty I use that term loosely because it's not simple as you've probably learned so far to just sit and be. We often need something to bridge our way there using yoga postures, Yoga asanas. We bridge our way into meditation by stilling the body, Stilling the mind, Locating the breath and in today's sensory practice we use the senses and our mindfulness of the senses as we observe them to bridge our way into a meditative practice. I want to add that this practice is also very effective for grounding emotional turmoil and mind talk. I've placed a separate meditation on the senses. It's slightly different that you will have access to for panic attacks or times of emotional turmoil and stress because this meditation is so helpful for bringing us into this present moment. It can help you regain balance and the state of overwhelm and stress that so often creeps into our lives and we don't notice the compounding effects of stress until we're overwhelmed and feel erratic with mind chatter. So we want to observe our tendencies towards that and start pulling some of these mindfulness techniques into those moments. We want our meditation practice to serve as a skill set that we can weave into our daily lives. So let's begin this meditation together today. Again welcome. I'll be guiding you inward on a journey through the senses. Please begin today's meditation in a seated position with your eyes opened. We will practice noting what is without aligning or clinging to the pleasant or rejecting and pushing away the unpleasant. I don't want you to feel overwhelmed when there's maybe a neutral or a nothing place. We will just sit instead and notice what is as the observer through the vehicles of our five senses sight smell taste sound and touch. Notice where you are and find yourself comfortable. Again this is transitioning from daily life and bridging our way to meditation. Find yourself neutrally sitting or standing spine erect. Allow your head to just lightly float exhaling and allowing gravity to invite you down to meet the earth and whenever is holding you to the earth and let the in-breath fill you let your vision open and expand to see all that's around you. Beginning with our sense of sight we are going to identify five things that we see. Let your gaze rest on one thing at a time taking a few moments to notice what you're seeing. Try to avoid any stories as the observer you're noticing texture color noticing what is not allowing any stories to begin if they begin I'm thinking I'm I'm telling a story and I bring myself back to noticing and move to the next object of your attention again we're going through five visions five items that you see this could be a line in the paint on the wall the texture of a brick or a floorboard anything at all this just takes a few moments and extends an invitation to be present with your surroundings as you notice these five things you can say them aloud or silently in your head pausing and taking them in completely next allow your gaze to soften down the tip of your nose allow anything in your sight to become kind of blurry and your focus to be very muted if you're comfortable closing your eyes you may close your eyes turn your attention deeply inward find the sensation of your breath now the breath to meet the skin noticing four things that you can feel in your body on your body notice the texture notice the sensation let go of the story again aloud or silently name what you're feeling name the sensation of feeling the sense of touch meeting your skin maybe you feel your skin meeting the muscles and the bones that fill you feeling the fabric that covers you feeling the earth and the touch on the soles of the feet the legs the seat whatever is holding you right now maybe noticing the hair on the scalp brushing the neck letting the belly soften feel the breath moving deeply into the torso and opening rising your awareness to the ears your sense of hearing sound going to notice and note three things that we hear there'll be a prominent noise or sound that first catches your attention this can be hard try not to follow any stories or memories or anything let go of the like or the dislike for the sound that you hear allow it to just be named what it is and move your attention to the next sound that maybe comes into your periphery and then another noticing the quality of these sounds really listening deeply hearing the sound may be external in your environment maybe internal sounds that you hadn't noticed drawing in a nice deep breath finding that sense of sound as it comes through the base of the nostrils and fills the airway your interior space has a sound and as your awareness shifts to the base of the nose and you breathe in notice two things that you can smell allow the sense of smell to become the focus of your observation maybe the neutral smell of the air around you soap on the skin any odor or smell in the room around you that resides with you knows the external as well as the internal we might notice the neutral the absence of smell any sensory experience has a feeling of neutrality or deprivation for you I invite you to visualize visualize that comfort food that you know the smell of familiar fragrance oil visualize the smell of a forest but two things that you can smell you following this meditation could focus and narrow your attention in on this sense having a meal getting a shower smelling more things in your environment enhancing this experience really creating opportunities of mindfulness of smell meeting the breath at the base of the nose and following the airway that draws your attention deeper inward notice where the breath meets the back of the airway in the mouth open the lips allow the interior of the mouth to expand open expanding your attention and your awareness to the tongue noticing the texture of your tongue gently rubbing the tongue across the roof of the mouth if you'd like wetting the lips and find one thing that you can taste does your breath have a taste can you taste the sensation from brushing the teeth recently or eating something one taste how does the interior of your mouth what is the palate of your tongue this space what does it taste like again noticing that you could expand on this experience later through a mindful meal where you just sit in silence and slowly eat and taste and take in the sense of taste the quality is and the textures of foods and anything that comes into the mouth noticing the pleasant the unpleasant equally savoring being with that sense of taste as the lips close drawing the breath through the nasal passage noticing the smell around you as you exhale noticing the sound of your breath as the ears meet the air moving through you and around you feeling the sound hearing the sound as you breathe in the breath fills the body and meets the edges of the skin noticing the skin touching fabrics and surfaces that surround you softly beginning to open your craze to notice the space that surrounds you ever so slowly deciding at this point if you'd like to remain here with your eyes closed transitioning into a few moments of silent meditation this sensory experience has bridged your way into a meditation or you can sit in silence just be with you with your space with your life the observer of what is letting go of the stories just being in this moment this is the only moment the past is gone never be again the future is open can you allow yourself this moment if you're closing the meditation here you can bring your hands to your heart simply bow choose to stay choose to honor yourself and move mindfully into your day into your sleep into your work I hope that this practice supports mindful living supports peace and I offer peace to each of you during the times of overwhelm the times of stress and the times that are so wonderful we want to hold on to them let the peace of this moment surround you and run through you peace to your mind peace to your heart peace to your body om shanti shanti shanti perfect perfect peace namaste