Today's meditation is a short mindfulness meditation you can do anywhere at any time.
Whenever you're feeling overwhelmed,
Like you've got too many tabs open in your brain,
This is a great meditation to do to get out of your head and experience life through your five physical senses.
This is one of my favourite ways to tune into the present moment.
Enjoy.
Find a comfortable seated position with feet either firmly planted on the ground or in any other easy seated pose you prefer.
Allow arms to hang naturally at your sides,
With palms face up on your thighs in a position of receiving.
Back should be straight but not stiff,
And eyes can begin to close gently,
Allowing your focus to shift from the outer world to your inner world.
Take a few deep restorative breaths here,
Inhaling deep into the belly and exhaling fully,
Letting out a sigh feels nice if that is right for you.
Let's do that three times,
Noticing your breath,
Expanding your belly like a balloon with each inhale and feeling a release,
A letting go with each exhale.
Your breath is your anchor to the present moment.
If at any point during this meditation you notice you've wandered off with your thoughts,
Simply bring yourself back to your home breath without judgement.
Shift your focus now to the first of our five senses,
Physical touch,
Noticing the feeling of the chair you're in supporting your body.
If your feet are on the ground,
Notice the stability of the earth beneath you at the point where the soles of your feet come into contact with the floor.
Feel the contact points between body parts,
The heaviness of your arms at your side,
The connection between back of hand and thigh and any other areas you feel your own body on itself.
Shift your focus towards the lighter sensations of touch you feel now.
Maybe you can feel hair grazing your shoulders,
Tongue resting gently in the mouth.
What other sensations of touch can you feel right now?
Shifting your attention to what you can hear now,
Start with the loudest sounds,
My voice,
Perhaps the ventilation in the house or building you're in.
Maybe a dog is barking outside.
Allow yourself to tune into and immerse yourself in the sonic world around you in the present moment.
Whatever you hear,
Allow yourself to be aware without trying to label it.
Simply listen.
You may also begin to notice much softer sounds,
The sound of your own breath,
A plane crossing overhead.
Can you even hear your own heartbeat?
Shift your attention now towards sight while keeping eyes closed.
Bring your attention to the field of vision.
Your eyelids are shut,
But you may still be able to see shadow and light in the room you're in.
For the next few moments,
Enjoy the view from your inner eye.
You may see twinkles of light,
Firework displays or full on images dancing projected on the screen of your closed eyelids.
Allow each experience to pass without judgment.
We move our attention towards our sense of taste now,
Becoming more aware of the breath moving past the oral cavity down into the lungs and back up again,
Making note of any subtle tastes you can pick up on.
Allow your focus and attention to move right into the mouth.
There may be stronger flavors or more subtle ones or nothing at all.
Take this opportunity to relax your jaw,
The muscles around your mouth and tongue,
Allowing it to rest gently at the bottom of your mouth.
Finally,
Allow your sense of smell to become your point of focus,
Noticing any and all scents you pick up on as you breathe deeply in and out of the nose.
Our olfactory system is surprisingly adept,
Though we typically don't spend much time paying attention to it.
You may find yourself picking up on the subtle smells as you continue to breathe.
If you don't smell anything at all,
Simply enjoy the sensation of cool air moving through your nostrils on each inhale and warmer air moving out as you exhale.
Continuing to focus on the breath,
Allow yourself to take two or three deep belly breaths.
Let's make them the deepest,
Most satisfying breaths of the day so far.
You may want to release your exhale with an audible sigh or enjoy a long,
Slow exhale through your nose.
Enter the breath you're craving.
Once you're ready,
You may also want to begin to bring your attention back into your body as a whole,
Feeling back into your fingers and toes,
Maybe taking a nice juicy stretch.
And as you open your eyes on your own time,
Remember that anytime you feel that there's too much going on in your outer world,
You can always turn to your five senses to bring you deeper into your body and into the present moment.
Have a beautiful day.
