Hi,
This is J.
G.
Larochette over here at Mindful Life Project.
Welcome and thanks for joining.
Mindfulness is powerful practice that we've been growing together.
It's about paying attention through a warm and kind,
Heartful way to what's happening in the present moment.
And this practice is going to be the wheel of skills.
So we're going to really use each of those seven skills.
How many skills?
Yes,
Seven skills to grow our practice.
Mindful breathing,
Mindful listening,
Body awareness,
Heartfulness,
Mindful emotions,
Mindful thinking,
And gratitude.
That's all seven.
We're going to get to practice all of them all together.
So let's get to practice.
Starting by getting in our mindful position as we always do.
And you can repeat out loud after me.
I've got my feet on the floor.
I've got my spine in a line.
I've got my hands in my lap.
My heart to the sky.
Now gently,
The offer invitation is to close our eyes or a soft gaze below.
We'll start the mindful skills of awareness by using mindful listening,
Starting with the vibratone.
Let's focus on it as long as we can.
And we forget.
What do we do?
Just try again.
As we jump into the practice,
Let's notice how our body is right now.
So feel your feet on the ground.
You can wiggle your toes a little bit.
Then bring attention to your sit bones in the chair.
Notice your weight,
Gravity pulling you down.
Feel your feet on the floor.
You can wiggle your toes a little bit.
Then bring attention to your sit bones in the chair.
Notice your weight,
Gravity pulling you down.
And then bring attention to your hands.
Now we're going to do all seven skills.
We're going to start with skill one,
Breath.
So let's just join the attention with kindness to the breath as it is right now.
So noticing the inhale,
The pause and the exhale.
Bring that interest to each breath to see how it's unique.
And if we get distracted,
No problem,
No judgment,
Nothing to solve,
We just gently come back to the breath.
And if we need the anchor spot where we feel the breath the most,
We can bring our attention there,
Belly,
Chest or nose.
Following the full breath from the very beginning where it starts,
Where the inhale stops,
The space between the inhale and exhale,
The exhale and then following the full exhale till there's another breath that comes in.
Now move around the wheel to mindful listening.
So now letting the breath continue,
But now pay attention to sounds.
What sounds are around you?
Without having to make sounds,
Can you hear sounds both close by and far away?
When we hear a sound,
Are there thoughts that come with the sounds?
Are there emotions that come with the sounds?
And if there are,
No problem,
But then just use the next sound to pay attention again.
Try to hear two or three sounds in the next five seconds if you haven't heard yet.
Great.
Now we're moving to skill number three.
So from the hub,
Right from that little area in the middle of the wheel,
We're putting attention outward to the rim.
And here we're going to focus on body awareness.
So notice your feet,
Any looseness or tightness.
Then gently move awareness up your legs,
Any tingling,
Any pulsations,
Warmth or coldness,
All the way up your legs.
Keep moving your attention up,
Up,
Up,
So you meet the awareness.
Keep moving your attention up,
Up,
Up,
So you meet the middle of your body.
And in mindfulness,
We're not judging any of it.
We're letting it be and just watching the experience.
So as you start noticing parts of the body and maybe some comfort or discomfort,
No judgment,
Just notice and then keep moving attention up.
Right now in the middle of your body,
Check your belly,
All the way to your chest,
All the way to your shoulders.
And then notice where your shoulders,
Are they up towards your ears or floating down?
And from there,
The connection to the neck,
All the way up the neck till you meet the jaw,
The jaw loose or tight,
All the way up through the face till you meet the eyes,
The temples and the forehead.
We sometimes hold stress there.
Great job.
Now the top of your head.
Now we're going to move to mindful skill number four,
Heartfulness.
So whatever you're feeling right now,
Whatever you notice about what's happening right now,
If there's some strong emotions or some thoughts that are taking you far away,
Bring heartfulness to it.
Bring care to yourself.
Repeat the following phrases one time through,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
May I be filled with peace,
May I be filled with love.
Compassion,
Heartfulness is always right there for us whenever we need it.
We're going to skill number five,
Mindful emotions.
So just noticing,
Naming the emotions that are here in our experience and what we're feeling right now.
Welcome them like good,
Good friends.
And then from emotions,
Whatever's there,
We welcome it,
But we bring in our mindful thinking.
Is your brain having lots of thoughts?
Are they future,
Past,
Present?
Are they present?
Is your brain having lots of thoughts?
Are they future,
Past,
Present?
Or is there some space in between thoughts?
Whatever we're feeling,
We welcome it.
We have our mindful skills to help us.
We'll close with gratitude.
So think of four to five,
Maybe six things you're grateful for right now.
And just say them in your mind or out loud,
Either way.
Wonderful.
And we'll close our mindful skills practice all seven with the sound of the bell.
Now,
Whenever you're ready,
You can open your eyes,
Wiggle,
Stretch,
Look around you.
Excellent job.
So the seven skills are always there for us.
And the more we practice them,
The more we can grow them.
And the more we grow them,
The more present we become with heartfulness.
See you next time.
