Thank you for joining us at Mindful Beats,
Where songs are written to help you enter into a state of mindfulness in a natural and enjoyable way.
Intentional focus on sound is our way of calming the jumbled thoughts racing around in our minds.
Vouted thoughts often simmer away in the background of our daily lives.
We often don't even notice them or are not aware of them.
But they are there and they impact on our ability to relax and focus.
This emotional stress may also manifest itself with physical symptoms,
For example raising the heart rate,
Such as the powerful link between the health of our minds and the health of our physical bodies.
Standing in this jumbled headspace is a little like trying to read a book when you have a television on,
A radio blaring from another room and your smartphone buzzing away in your pocket.
It is nearly impossible to read the book with all of these competing distractions.
Sure you may be able to get a gist of the storyline,
But are you really able to experience and imagine what the author's words are describing?
Is it even worth reading in this environment?
Practising mindfulness is a little like turning off the television,
Muting the radio,
Switching off your phone,
Allowing you to sit and read your book in quiet,
Uninterrupted comfort.
Only then can you really focus on understanding and enjoying the story.
Imagine if our mind had this level of focus during a busy work meeting,
Or when we socialise with a friend.
I am sure we would be much more productive,
Perhaps even a better friend,
If we could have this level of focus and attention at these times.
During the next 10 minutes,
I hope you can experience this feeling of focused attention.
The more you practice this skill,
The easier it is to return to this feeling when you need it.
Position yourself in a comfortable posture,
Ideally sitting up with your back straight,
But in any position that allows you to breathe easily and remain relaxed throughout the session.
Feel the pressure of your body through the surfaces you are sitting on.
Notice these sensations.
When you are ready,
Gently close your eyes.
I invite you to listen to the beat of the drum,
Noticing the slow and regular rhythm.
Let's use this rhythm to take a series of deep breaths.
Focus your attention to the sensation of the air going in and out of your lungs,
Following your breathing carefully,
Noticing the sensation of the air as it passes in and out of your mouth and nose.
I invite you to breathe in to the count of 4 and then breathe out to the count of 4.
Breathing with me now.
In out.
In out.
In out.
In out.
Allow your breathing to return to a comfortable rhythm,
State of rest and natural relaxation.
I invite you to bring your attention to the sounds of the music.
You may notice the sound of the Hidaki or the Digiri-do.
This is a traditional instrument of the first Australian people.
During this song,
I encourage you to focus all of your attention as best you can onto the sound of this instrument.
I invite you to use this instrument as our anchor of focus.
Stretching out your attention and focus,
Hearing other instruments in the song,
Noticing these different sounds.
I invite you to continue to return your attention to the droning tone of the Hidaki.
I hope you can enjoy the music in this time of focus.
If unhelpful thoughts interrupt your focus.
Simply collect these thoughts,
Put them aside and focus back on the sound of the music.
For a short time,
Bring your awareness to all of the changing sounds that are playing.
What captures your attention first?
Allow your concentration to shift from one sound to the next.
Simply allowing this moment to be your experience of the music.
I encourage you to now bring your awareness back to the sound of the Hidaki.
Once again focusing on this instrument as the song slowly comes to its conclusion.
To finish up,
I invite you to take two deep breaths to the rhythm of the drum beat,
Focusing on the sensation of these breaths.
Following the breath,
We will continue to use the count of four.
In out in out.
Pause for a moment to reflect on how you are feeling right now.
Is this the feeling of the focused calm we talked about at the beginning?
Do you now feel more equipped to give the next activity in your life the attention that it requires?
When you are ready,
And with a relaxed smile,
Gently open your eyes.
Slowly reorientate yourself to the environment around you.
Thank you for joining us at Mindful Beats.
I hope you have enjoyed taking the time to look after yourself.
I hope we can practice the power of mindfulness together again soon.
So gently.
