Cultivating Curiosity

Instead of trying to change what you’re feeling, be curious about what you’re feeling. Simply noticing your experience without trying to change it is surprisingly beneficial. This is a 5-minute practice anyone can do and is especially useful for those looking to take the first step in establishing a mindfulness meditation practice. For the next five minutes, you have NOTHING to do.

Transcript

Mindfulness is an awareness of your present experience as it is,

Not as you would prefer it to be,

With compassion,

With curiosity,

And with courage.

Hi,

My name is Lori Wald and for the next five minutes,

You have nothing to do.

We practice sitting in stillness in order to develop more mindful moments in our daily life,

More awareness of what our experience is,

And less trying to change,

Which is exhausting to change what that experience is.

So sit in your comfortable yet dignified position and notice your breath.

The way your belly rises and falls.

Or notice the way your chest expands and contracts.

Or perhaps you can notice that whisper of air that goes in and out of your nostrils that comes in cool and goes out warm.

Identify how you're feeling right now.

Distracted.

Restless.

Tranquil.

Happy.

Hungry.

Probably a combination of a whole lot of things.

Try to focus on your breath and each time that you get distracted and you will get distracted,

Even in this very short set.

Just notice your breath once again.

That's the meditation.

Noticing the distraction and coming back,

Starting again.

Are you curious?

Oh,

I'm having that thought again that I've had 20 times today already.

Here it comes back.

I've never noticed the way anxiety sits in the pit of my stomach.

Don't try to change anything.

Just notice.

Be curious.

And if you've drifted off someplace,

Come back.

Just start again.

For the last minute here,

Just stop trying.

For the last minute here,

Just stop trying.

I'm Lori Wald.

Thanks for meditating with me.

Reviews

Enjoyed this short and simple meditation to ground myself i liked her calm and joyful voice a lot. Thank you