Hi,
This is J.
G.
Larochette at Mindful Life Project.
Welcome,
Thanks for joining.
Mindfulness is paying attention on purpose to the present moment without judgment.
So those emotions,
Those thoughts,
The physical feelings,
We don't judge it,
We bring heartfulness to it.
And in mindfulness,
The way we teach at Mindful Life Project,
There's seven main skills.
How many main skills?
You got it,
Seven.
Mindful breathing,
Mindful listening,
Body awareness,
Mindful emotions,
Heartfulness,
Mindful thinking,
And gratitude.
Today we're going to focus on skill one,
Mindful breathing.
All we're doing is paying attention to the breath with curiosity and interest.
Like you're paying attention to your favorite show or your favorite book or you're playing your favorite game.
That interest in what's happening right now with that thing that you love,
We're going to bring that attention to our breath.
And every time we get distracted,
Instead of judging that,
We're just going to simply celebrate that we're mindful again.
So repeat after me out loud if you'd like.
To live mindfully,
The breath is the key.
Breathe in,
Breathe out,
Release the stress,
And let it all out.
That's right.
The breath can always help us to be back in the present moment,
To be in our upstairs brain instead of our downstairs brain.
And when we do the practice,
We make our mental muscles stronger.
So now repeat 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 and my heart to the sky.
And now the offering invitation is to close your eyes so we can really focus our attention to what's happening in us,
Not so much what's happening around us.
So if you can close those eyes,
Great.
And if that doesn't feel comfortable,
A soft gaze below is great.
Let's start by focusing our attention on the sound of the bell.
Try to keep your attention on the sound as long as it's there.
So just notice,
Were you able to pay attention to the sound of the bell for a short amount of time or longer?
Remember no judgment.
And any time that you're able to pay attention to one thing at a time,
You're mindful again.
Now let's bring attention to the breath.
If you'd like,
You can place your hand on your belly.
As we breathe in,
Just notice the belly expand and then go down.
So rising on the inhale as you breathe in and falling on the exhale.
Just noticing the breath as it is.
Now if you'd like,
You can place your hand on your chest and notice what it feels like there to breathe.
Breathing in,
The chest gets bigger.
Breathing out,
The chest gets smaller.
And just watch the breath right there.
Now if you'd like,
You can have an open hand about an inch away from your nose and feel the breath at your hand.
As you breathe in at your nostrils,
You'll notice cooler air.
And as you breathe out from your nostrils,
You'll feel warmer air.
Just notice that a couple times.
Breathing in through the nose,
Breathing out.
And now focus your attention on where you feel the breath the strongest,
The most.
That's your anchor spot.
Just like a boat needs an anchor to stay in one place with high winds or big waves,
Our anchor spot is where we feel the breath the most so we can come back to the present moment.
So is it the belly,
The rise and fall?
Is it the chest,
The growing bigger and growing smaller?
Or simply is it your nose?
The cooler air going in,
The warmer air going out.
Bring that curious attention like this breath is the most unique,
Amazing thing in the world.
Because it really is.
Each breath is a little different.
Can you notice the differences?
If your mind starts having thoughts,
No judgment,
Come back to the next breath.
If you start feeling some sensations in the body that feel uncomfortable,
Don't judge it.
Just gently come back to the breath.
Or sounds are happening around you and taking you away.
Gently notice that they're there and come back to the breath at your anchor spot.
Just see if you can pay attention to one full cycle of breath from the beginning,
Middle and end.
Now we're going to close our mindful breathing practice like we started with the sound of the bell and see if you can hear the sound a little longer this time.
And then whenever you're ready,
It's your practice.
You can wiggle your fingers,
Wiggle your toes,
Move your body,
Maybe stretch and open your eyes whenever you're ready.
And just check in.
After that five minute mindful breathing practice,
Do you feel a little more present?
Do you feel more relaxed?
Do you feel a little less present,
A little less relaxed?
And what do we do?
We said heartfulness.
No judgment.
We're back in the here and now.
So that is your skill number one,
Mindful breathing with anchor spot.
Keep on practicing and I'll see you next time.
