Present Moment Awareness

This is a guided practice for present moment awareness. Often we carry around our past and future and need to consciously give ourselves both the time and approval to put these burdens down and enjoy this simple present moment.

Transcript

Permission to have time just for you.

So hopefully you have already found yourself a nice time and space that's just right for you.

So before we start just think about turning off any potential distractions,

Finding the right temperature for your room so it's not too hot and not too cold.

You can actually do this practice either seated or lying down.

Your sitting posture can be sitting from a chair or on the floor leaning up against a chair or sitting cross-legged if that's comfortable for you.

You can also lie down on a floor or a mat just ensuring that you're comfortable.

You'll be in this position for roughly 10 to 15 minutes relaxing all the way through to your shoulders and just checking to ensure that your back is supported.

When you find that you're in a position that's just right for you,

That you feel comfortable,

Just give yourself a few more moments as your body starts to relax.

Often when our body starts to relax we can find that we're not quite in the right position.

I often suggest that people turn their head from side to side until they find that nice natural position for the neck.

So just making some more adjustments that you might need to make just to make it really comfortable for your body today.

And then we'll just start by simply noticing our breath.

You know breath is such an essential part of being alive and yet so often forgotten.

So if you can just observe your breath.

See if you can observe it as one whole cycle of the in-breath and the out-breath.

Try not to control it,

Not to judge it or change it.

Just seeing if you can observe moment to moment from the initial intake through your nostrils,

Noticing how your nose feels as the air flows through the back of your throat.

Perhaps observing the rise and fall in your chest and the feeling of those subtle sensations of your breath in your belly or lower abdomen.

If you don't feel any sensations there maybe you wish to place one of your hands just resting on your belly and see if this helps.

And whilst you hold this focus on your breathing just start to be aware of any part of your body that you may be holding quite tense.

Then consciously give yourself permission just to release in this moment.

Just to breathe into that area gently melting away the tension and releasing it and letting it go.

Just breathe,

Release and relax and then coming back to have that final moment to make any adjustments that you may need to make.

Again after sitting for a few moments it's then that we can find a better suited position.

It's just a great opportunity to be kind to your body to notice what's going on and if you need to move just gently do so.

And then we're going to bring in our imaginal sense,

A visualization in the forefront of your mind.

I want you to imagine that you are holding two really heavy bags.

One in your left hand and one in your right hand.

The one in your left represents all of your past and the one on your right all of your future.

So firstly we're going to bring our focus to your left hand side and really feel the weight of the left hand bag.

Feel how it's pulling on your arm and creating tension in your shoulder with the weight.

This bag represents your past.

It contains all the really good parts of your life.

All your excitements,

Your fun,

Your connections,

Relationships and maybe also some sorrow,

Grief,

Your traumas.

Absolutely everything is in that bag that you carry around with you on a day-to-day basis.

So I'd like you to give yourself permission for just these few moments to put your bag down.

Go ahead and just give yourself that permission and then imagine lowering your arm down all the way down,

All the way so that the bag hits the floor and the floor beneath you starts taking the weight of that bag.

Maybe you can start feeling a bit of slack in the handle now.

Just bring your attention to how tightly you're holding onto that handle,

The grip of your fingers around it.

I'm going to invite you to slowly and consciously release that grip and then uncurl each finger one at a time until you completely let go.

Shake your arm out,

Give it a little shake and just notice how light and how free that arm now feels.

And then bring in your attention to the right hand side where you're still carrying a really heavy bag.

You may notice the difference between your two sides right now.

So this bag on the right hand side is your future and it's holding all of your fears,

Anxieties,

It's carrying your limitations that may be brought forward from your experiences from the past,

Your dreams,

Your desires and your hopes.

Absolutely everything to do with your future.

So again I'd like you to give yourself permission for these few moments to put your bag down.

Again lowering your arm down,

All the way down so that the floor beneath you takes the weight of the bag so you can feel the slack in the handle.

Again noticing how tight your grip is around that handle and just soften that grip and uncurl your fingers one by one very slowly and very consciously until you completely let it go.

And again shaking out your arm,

Noticing how light and how all the tension from your shoulders just disappeared.

And then bring to your attention how now you've put down all of your yesterdays and all of your tomorrows.

All you have left right now is today,

This present moment,

This moment right now in your hands.

You are not carrying any baggage with you and for these next few moments this time is simply and utterly just for you.

Nobody needs you,

Nobody wants anything from you right now.

These moments are just for you.

So just notice how your body actually feels.

How does it feel to live inside your body and only having to focus on yourself right here right now.

How does this feel?

Where does that land in your body?

And now let's scan our bodies starting from the tip of your crown all the way down to the tips of each of your toes,

Working really slowly throughout your body,

Acknowledging and feeling each part and how it feels.

Noticing if there's any tension anywhere,

Any niggles anywhere.

Just tuning into your bodily feelings and sensations and getting to know how each area feels.

I wonder how your forehead feels right now.

Are you currently frowning or using more muscles than necessary?

Is there tension in your forehead?

If there is,

You can gently raise your eyebrows as high as possible and just release and let them fall.

You may need to do this a couple of times but as you do,

As you release the muscles in that area,

Just notice how smooth and wide your forehead actually feels.

Continuing your journey in your face,

Just notice if you are gritting your teeth or if your jaw is just nice and relaxed.

If it's not as relaxed as you'd like it to be,

Then just lower your jaw gently so you create a space between your teeth,

Bringing your focus to your tongue and again just allowing this to fall naturally and rest at the bottom of your mouth.

Following the same awareness through your neck,

Across your shoulders and down your arms,

All the way down through your wrists to the tips of each of your fingers,

Bringing your awareness through your torso,

Down through your hips,

Thighs,

Knees,

Your ankles,

Your toes and the soles of your feet.

Noticing any area that gets your attention.

It may be warmer or maybe you can feel that slight movement.

If you can,

Breathe into that area with a loving kindness,

Appreciating each and all the different functions of our body and what it does for us on a day-to-day basis that keeps us functioning and keeps us well.

Simply noticing the here and the now and bringing your attention back to your breath without trying to control it and without trying to change it.

Just observing,

Observing your natural rhythm and maybe noticing any changes since you started going through this practice.

Then finally,

In your own time,

Take five to six long slow breaths,

Keeping them smooth and only going as deep as feel good is for you.

Noticing,

Being curious and feeling the sensations.

What areas do you notice the most?

How smooth does your breath really feel?

And I wonder if you can notice those tiny movements of pause at the start and the finish of each of your breath cycles.

This is a really simple and quick exercise that you can use at any time.

I encourage you to practice it,

Bringing yourself into that present moment awareness and also give yourself permission to put down your bags of yesterday and tomorrow.

And you know you can always pick them back up at the end of the session if you choose to do so.

Thank you.

Reviews

I liked the two bags visualization best. I connected with that the facial relaxation more than some of the stuff at the end. But a very effective mindfulness meditation all around.

Thank you so much. This was very relaxing before I went to sleep. ❤️