Morning Practice

A morning practice to help you arrive into the new day, and awaken your awareness and your senses. We can often start the day in stress mode so a practice like this can help us be a bit more intentional about our day. Instead of creating a to-do list, use this practice to help you decide how you want to be, instead.

Transcript

Morning practice. A practice to help you awaken to this new day. Cultivating curiosity, A sense of aliveness, Being awake to this body, This moment, This day. Spending a little while getting settled. So you might be doing this practice in bed before you've got up, Or maybe you've already had your morning coffee. If you're seated, See if it's possible to embody a posture of wakefulness, So allow the feet to rest flat on the floor if you can. Allow the hands to rest on the lap or the belly, And a spine that's upright but not uptight. If you're lying, Allow the body to be supported and held by the floor or the bed beneath. And we'll start by becoming alive to the contact points between body and support. Tuning in to where the body rests, Maybe sensations underneath the thighs, The bum, The back of the body. If the feet are flat on the floor, Becoming alive and awake to that contact, That connection between feet and floor, Floor and earth. Bringing to the foreground the sensations of the body being supported. By whatever's beneath and behind you. You can always come back to these points of where the body meets support, Feet on floor, Body on chair. At any point during this practice, If you feel yourself particularly scattered or becoming dysregulated for whatever reason, Using these contact points to help ground the attention and ground the body. As we greet this new day, Becoming alive to the body itself. So the invitation is to scan the body slowly and gently to see what's here. What's here in the body this morning, So not what was here yesterday or when you went to bed, But what's here now. You might start at the feet and gradually move up the body or you might prefer to start at the head and work down. Or perhaps just gently exploring the whole body in whatever way serves you this morning. Bringing a sense of curiosity to the sensations that you notice. So if there is discomfort, Can you be curious about it? Can you notice aches and pains without bracing or reacting? Can you embody a sense of allowing, A sense of softness for whatever's here just as it is? Becoming awake to the body and its sensations this morning. And can you also include pleasant sensations? Maybe it's pleasant to still be in bed and it's really cozy or pleasant to just be sat resting, Not doing, Not striving, Not rushing into your day. Becoming awake to the various sensations in the body. Starting to wake the senses. So we'll start with the sense of touch, Coming back to the contact between body and support, The touch, The pressure there. You might notice where the hands are resting, Maybe noticing temperature of what they're resting on, Texture. Awakening to the sense of touch. Shifting to the sense of hearing. So allowing sounds to come into awareness. Maybe sounds in the house, In the dwelling that you're in, Maybe sounds outside. Not reacting, Not judging, Just noticing. Awakening to the sense of hearing. And awakening to the sense of smell now. So perhaps you can smell your brew if it's close by or breakfast. Or perhaps there's not much to notice at all and that's okay as well. Tuning in to the sense of smell. What odours are here? Shifting to the sense of taste. So if you have had a brew or breakfast already, Can you notice the aftertaste in the mouth? Tuning in, Awakening the sense of taste. And then the sense of sight. So you might be doing this practice with your eyes closed and what do you notice? Or you might be doing this practice with the eyes open and noticing what's around you. Can you look at the room with fresh eyes? Awakening the sense of sight. And we'll shift focus now to begin to become aware of the breath as it moves through the body. So if it's comfortable to you, Begin to focus on the sensations and movements as you breathe. No need to change the breath in any way. And if focusing on the breath isn't for you, For whatever reason, Returning to the sensations of where the body meets support. If you're focusing on the breath, Bringing the curiosity to the breath, The same curiosity as you brought to the senses. So noticing where moves as you breathe. How quick or shallow is the breath today? Not judging, No need to change, Simply being aware. And for those of you that find the breath calming, The invitation is to slow and deepen the breath for a couple of minutes. So gently extending the inhale and gently extending the exhale. Allowing the breath to fill the belly as you breathe in. Allowing for a softening of the whole body as you breathe out. And if the breath isn't for you, Continuing to focus on where the body meets support, A sense of the body being held, Being supported, Letting go into support. If you're controlling the breath, Then gradually letting that go. Allowing the breath to return to its natural rhythm. And the invitation is for the next few minutes to find an anchor that serves you this morning. So I'll give two options. It might be the body resting on support, Maybe the feet or the seat or the hands, Feet on floor, Body on chair. Or it might be the movements of the breath through the body, Not controlling, Just noticing. So using an anchor to help steady and settle the mind. So often when we wake in the morning, We're already rushing. We've got out of bed, We've got on with things without allowing ourselves to arrive into the day. Without allowing ourselves to awaken fully, Getting carried away with the tendencies of the mind to rush us off into thinking or perhaps picking up the phone and scrolling. So for a few minutes, See if it's possible to do very little, But notice. Noticing the breath or noticing the body resting on support. Using these anchor points to steady and settle the mind as best you can. But of course, The mind will probably wander off. There may be some impatience and that is okay. Can you become alive to the tendencies of the mind and the body to take you out of the present moment, To move you into striving and doing? See if it's possible to let go of those tendencies, Let go of distractions and come back to the anchor kindly, Gently, Without judgment again and again. Noticing how the breath changes moment by moment. Noticing how the body shifts in weight, Very subtle and small movements, Moment to moment. Whichever anchor you've chosen, Bringing curiosity to the experience. Allowing whatever you notice to unfold moment by moment. And becoming awake and alive to the tendencies of the mind, Noticing where it takes you, Letting go as best you can, Returning to the anchor. And as you continue to focus on the anchor, I'm going to pose a couple of questions and just see what pops up, Just notice. Now maybe nothing comes up at all, That's fine too. So firstly, Asking yourself, What am I grateful for this morning? What am I grateful for? And then, Asking yourself, What quality do I want to embody today? Or perhaps just how do I want to go through today? So perhaps bringing to mind the mindfulness foundations of patience, Of trust, Of kindness, Of curiosity, Of letting go. Maybe choosing one of those to embody today. Or perhaps something else comes up. So thinking, How do I want to go through my day? Instead of the to-do list of what do I need to do, How do I need to be? And if you've been focusing on the breath as your anchor, Letting go of that focus. And coming back to the sensations of the body, Resting on support, Bringing to the foreground sensations underneath the thighs, The back of the neck, The shoulders. The bum, The back of the body. Dropping down into the feet, Noticing sensations, Contact, Pressure, Touch. And as we're drawing the practice to a close, The invitation is to bring that sense of aliveness, Of awakening that you've been cultivating in this practice into whatever you do next in your day. So if it's helpful to take another couple of slow, Deep breaths to close the practice, Then doing so. Or perhaps gently starting to stretch and move the body. Maybe shifting head from side to side, Maybe rolling the shoulders back, Or maybe taking a full body stretch. Whatever feels nice. No rush, No hurry. Morning practice.