Find yourself in a comfortable seated position to start this evening.
Whatever that means for you,
That could be in a chair,
That could be your back against the wall and your legs out comfortably in front of you.
Maybe kneeling,
Maybe crisscross,
Applesauce,
Whatever feels comfortable for you and let yourself just settle in.
I'll go ahead and then just allow yourself to settle into your space.
Let your breath get easy,
Comfortable,
Maybe a little slower than usual.
And our thoughts and emotions are,
Of course,
Really a really important part of who we are and how we operate,
But they're not who we are.
They're not the sum total of who we are,
And they're influenced by our habits,
Our memories and our senses.
So we're going to start with a little meditation on the senses.
You can keep your eyes open if that feels,
Actually,
We're going to start with our eyes open.
But as we move through this meditation,
If you want to close them and that feels comfortable,
Go ahead and do that or keep your eyes open.
Either way is fine.
And using your eyes,
Allow yourself to see and register five things in your space.
And you can say these things out loud to yourself or in your head.
Just noticing and really seeing these five things in the space around you.
Breath is even,
Shoulders relaxed.
And bring some awareness to four things that your body feels.
This could be inside or outside your body.
Sensations of touch,
Perhaps,
Against your skin.
Different points that your body is making contact with,
Whatever you're sitting on.
Maybe the texture of your clothes against your skin.
Maybe sensation inside your body.
And once again here,
When you've identified those things,
Naming them for yourself,
Either out loud or inside your head.
And then bringing your focus to three things that you can smell.
Maybe those scents are immediate in your own space.
Or maybe they're the memory of scents and smells.
Becoming aware of what those smells are and naming them for yourself.
Again,
Either out loud or quietly to yourself.
Mindfully acknowledging the richness of all the senses.
And bringing some focus to two things that you can taste.
And again,
Maybe this is the memory of something that you like to taste.
Maybe it's the taste of leftover dinner in your mouth or toothpaste,
The taste of your breath.
Just naming those tastes and saying them either out loud or quietly to yourself.
And then bringing your focus to our last sense,
Our sense of hearing.
Noticing a sound within your space.
Maybe that sound is within your body.
Noticing,
Naming,
Saying the sound.
Either out loud or quietly to yourself.
And this kind of mindful attention to sensory awareness can be helpful when we're trying to quiet ourselves down at the end of the day before bed.
And also in those moments when thoughts and emotions start to race and take over.
Just quietly walking through the things that we can see.
That we can feel.
That we can smell and taste and hear.
Are a reminder of how much our thoughts and emotions are shaped by our sensory experience.
Wherever you are in your breath cycle,
Just let your breath exhale gently here.
And then take a breath in through your nose,
Filling up.
Slowly,
Easily let the breath rise.
And then sigh out.
Let that go.
