Know What’s Knowable

Every moment has a mix of things we can know and things we can’t know. In periods of great, obvious uncertainty in our lives, it’s easy to forget that there are still some “knowables.” Mindfulness can be a great relief in such times, and this mindfulness-based tool gives you an opportunity to know what’s knowable in three ways ~ knowing what you see, knowing what you feel, and knowing what you need. To do this practice, you’ll want to be in a space where you have room to move and stretch.

Transcript

So this is the Know What's Knowable practice and it involves both mindfulness and movement.

So you'll want to find a place where there's enough space to both lie down and to move around a bit.

I will be leading this in a meditative way,

But as with a lot of the practices that I share it's also something that you can do informally and you can practice just one part of it.

You don't have to practice the whole thing.

So to begin,

Please find a comfortable seated position.

And when you feel comfortable,

Please close your eyes either partially or fully.

And if you like,

You can put a hand on your heart or in some other soothing place.

Just as a reminder to bring not just awareness but loving awareness to both yourself and your experience.

And then taking a few deep relaxing breaths.

Maybe noticing the way the breath nourishes your body with every inhale.

And the way it soothes your body as you exhale and maybe release just a little bit of tension.

And now letting your breathing find its own natural rhythm.

If you like,

You can let your hand rest in your lap.

You can let your hand stay at your heart or bring it up to your heart at any time in this practice.

And then opening your eyes.

Slowly looking around the space you're in.

Letting your gaze be gentle and wide angle.

Just beginning to know what you see.

So silently acknowledging whatever you see without judgment.

And if you notice chips in the paint or a pile of laundry,

Letting these things be just the way they are,

Part of this human imperfect life.

You may notice some stories and memories arise as you look at the objects that are in your space and maybe have a personal history.

So as best you can,

Allow these memories to come up and wash over you and pass through without holding onto them or getting carried away by the stories.

And just continuing to look,

Lightly touching what's here in front of you just with your eyes.

Maybe being surprised by details that you didn't see at first.

Maybe taking in certain colors in your space.

And then for now,

Letting go of this focus on what you see.

Letting your eyes close.

And then noticing how you feel in your body after giving yourself this experience of knowing what you see.

Remembering that there's no particular way you're supposed to feel right now.

And slowly opening your eyes and shifting from this seated position to lying down.

So you want to be as comfortable as possible.

You might like a pillow under your head.

You might like a yoga mat underneath you or a blanket on top of you.

So if you need to gather those items,

You can press pause on this audio.

And just getting yourself into a position where you can relax.

And as you find that position,

Letting your eyes close.

Letting your arms be just a few inches out from the sides of your body.

And your feet about hip width apart.

And taking three easy breaths.

And turning toward knowing what you feel now.

This is a kind of compassionate body scan.

So slowly beginning to look over the inner landscape of your body.

Starting at the soles of your feet.

And moving up from those toes,

Soles,

Heels.

Starting on the left hand side.

And as you scan,

Knowing that you'll find some sensations that are neutral.

Some sensations that are maybe tense,

Uncomfortable,

And maybe some that are actually pleasant.

So as you get to the sensations that feel challenging,

Feel uncomfortable,

Seeing if you can offer some kindness.

And as you get to the ones that are neutral,

Seeing if you can maybe offer some gratitude for the discomfort that isn't there.

And if you get to areas that feel easeful,

Really acknowledging that,

Taking that in as best you can,

That there are some areas of the body that feel at ease right now.

So moving now up the left side from your foot and ankle up to your calf and shin.

And then up to your knee.

Thigh.

And then over to your right foot,

Those right toes and sole of the foot.

Ankle.

Calf,

Shin,

Knee,

Thigh.

And just taking in both of your legs right now,

Noticing where there's any areas of tension,

Offering kindness,

Neutral areas,

Offering gratitude,

And areas of ease,

Really taking that in and offering appreciation,

Expressing appreciation.

And then moving up into your hips,

Your bottom,

Pelvis,

Then up into your trunk.

Again with the same looking,

Listening,

Noticing what's here.

Where are the areas of tension,

The areas of ease,

The areas that are neutral?

And moving into the belly,

Up to the chest,

The back,

Up into the shoulders,

And then down the left arm,

That upper arm,

Elbow,

Lower arm,

Wrist,

Palm,

Fingers.

Feeling that arm,

Noticing where is there comfort,

Ease,

Where is there not much,

And where is there maybe some tension?

Letting it all be responding to all the sensations with kindness.

Then shifting over to the right arm,

Upper arm,

Elbow,

Forearm,

Wrist,

Palm,

And fingers.

Noticing,

Responding as best you can with kindness.

And then up into the neck,

The back of the head,

Around to the face,

The chin,

Cheeks,

Nose,

Ears,

Temples,

Eyes,

Forehead,

All the way up to the crown of the head.

And noticing where's the ease,

Where's the tension,

Where's there a neutral feeling?

Just offering kindness,

Warmth if there's tenderness,

Tension,

Appreciation and gratitude if it's neutral,

And really seeing if you can savor any areas of ease.

And then noticing now,

Maybe giving your entire body another wash of attention,

Head to toe,

Just noticing how you're feeling in your body.

Understanding what it's like in this moment to know what you feel.

And then as you feel ready,

Slowly and mindfully,

Shifting from lying down to sitting,

And then to standing up.

And it's important that you move very slowly,

Just to give your body a chance to adjust.

You don't want to get dizzy.

So as you get to your feet slowly finding your way from that upright position,

Standing up,

You want to begin by grounding your awareness in the soles of your feet and paying attention to the sensations that you feel there.

Letting your awareness expand up into your body and noticing the sensations that you feel,

Reacquainting yourself maybe with the areas of ease,

The areas of tension and the areas that feel more neutral.

And right now paying special attention to the areas where you feel tense,

Where you feel discomfort.

And we'll look now at what it's like to know what you need.

So as you focus on those areas of tension,

Letting your body show you what you need.

Begin to move,

Stretch or bend in whatever way would feel good to the areas where you feel tense.

So continuing to let yourself move in whatever way feels right,

Staying in that movement,

That stretch for as long as you like.

You're really letting your body tell you rather than listening to whatever pace I might move at or whatever idea you might have.

So you may want to pause this audio at some point so you can just continue to stretch and move for as long as you like.

You may find yourself doing a very familiar stretch,

Maybe a traditional yoga pose or of movement that you've done many times before.

Or you may find yourself moving in a way that feels really new and different,

Something that you've never thought of before.

So just know that whatever happens is okay.

There's no right way to do this,

No perfect way to do this.

You're just doing your best to listen to what your body tells you about what it needs and what you need.

And then responding,

Responding with compassion,

Responding with kindness.

So continuing to move this way,

Letting your body guide you,

Letting your body lead you,

Really changing it up.

We're usually telling our bodies what they're supposed to be doing.

But here you get to listen and let your body tell you what you need.

And if you need more time,

Please pause the audio and then take as much time as you need.

And whenever you feel complete or finished with this practice for now,

Please return to a standing position.

And as you stand upright,

Feet about hip width apart,

Ground your attention one more time in the soles of your feet,

Really feeling yourself rooted there.

And then let your awareness expand up through your body one more time,

Noticing how you feel after practicing to know what's knowable in this moment.

Knowing what you see,

Knowing what you feel,

Knowing what you need.

And now just taking stock,

Noticing how you feel overall and remembering that there is no particular way you're supposed to feel in this moment.

However you feel is okay.

And as you feel ready,

Gently opening your eyes.

Okay?