Hello and thank you for tuning in as I guide you along this week's meditation practice.
This week is slightly different in that this practice is not so much like your typical meditation practice.
I call this practice not another meditation meditation.
That's because you can do this session anywhere,
Anytime,
Standing,
Sitting,
Walking,
Laying down.
And so it just differentiates from a typical session where we're probably laying down doing a full body scan or sitting with our eyes closed for 20 minutes.
We're busy people.
We have busy schedules.
And so that's why I feel that this practice may suit you well because you can do it anytime.
So this practice involves the following three steps.
The first step is asking ourselves,
Where am I?
How am I?
What am I thinking?
In this way,
We step outside of our doing mode for a moment.
We disrupt our habitual patterns.
And this introduces awareness to our current experience.
The second step involves a single focus of attention.
Attention is directed away from thinking and focused on the breath.
During the third and last step,
Attention is expanded so that it also includes awareness of our body sensations.
The focus here is on the body as a whole.
Again,
You can do this practice anytime,
Any day.
As a beginner,
You can do this exercise three times a day at set times.
And then when it becomes a habit,
You no longer have to just do it at the predetermined times,
But also when you feel you need to,
Such as when you feel worried or stressed.
This practice helps to integrate meditation practice into your daily life.
So we can begin.
Each step is going to be one minute long for a total of three minutes.
That's all.
So it could really be seen as a three minute breathing space.
And so to cultivate some awareness,
We'll ask ourself the question,
How am I doing right now?
Just kind of allow yourself to really feel this question so that you can answer it in a way that's true to you.
How am I doing right now?
Focus your attention on your inner perception.
Notice which thoughts,
Feelings,
And physical sensations you are experiencing.
And try to translate your experience into words.
For example,
You may notice self-critical thoughts.
So you can say,
I'm noticing self-critical thoughts,
Or I notice I am tense.
What are you feeling in your body?
Allow yourself to feel what you are feeling in the current moment.
See if you can accept it.
You can tell yourself that it's okay,
What you're feeling.
Whatever is there is fine,
Just the way it is.
Now moving on,
Here we focus on our breathing,
Putting our full attention on the breath.
And just following the breathing with our attention.
Noticing as the air travels into the nose on the in-breath.
Just noticing as the air travels out the nose on the out-breath.
And just staying here for a while,
For a minute.
And if you notice that your attention wanders,
Gently return it back to the attention of the breath.
And now we aim to cultivate some expansion of our attention.
Here we allow our attention to expand to the rest of our body.
Just feel how your breath moves throughout your whole body.
With every in-breath,
You can feel how your body expands a little,
And with each out-breath,
How it shrinks a little.
And then just give yourself a little time.
And then when you're ready,
You can go ahead and carry on with the rest of your day.
Just remembering to come back for three minutes so that you can find your center and achieve a sense of calm right here,
Right now.
Thank you.
Namaste.
