Flashlight Attention Practice

This brief focused attention practice uses the metaphor of a flashlight to direct and focus the attention during a brief body scan. This is a foundational practice that will help cultivate everyday mindfulness.

Transcript

Hey friend,

This is Stefan.

Welcome.

This practice is called the flashlight and it's a focused attention practice.

I don't know about you,

But I feel like my attention is constantly being pulled in different directions.

And if I'm not mindful,

I can start to run on automatic pilot and lose track of where my attention actually is.

So in this practice,

We'll be exploring how we can move attention around.

In this case,

Moving it around our body.

It's a bit like a flashlight,

Sometimes zooming in on a very specific area,

A very specific sensation,

And sometimes zooming out and holding a broader awareness of our experience.

And I like this practice because it reminds me of the time my youngest son and I made shadow puppets and then moved the flashlight closer and further away so the shadows were small and then huge.

The beam of light kind of more concentrated or broad.

You can do this practice lying down or sitting and knowing that during the practice you have choices.

If there's any discomfort,

Choosing to move or maybe even taking a break.

So we'll start and end with the sound of the bell.

So beginning now by finding a comfortable position,

You might want to lie on the floor or a mat or the bed,

Or you can sit in a chair or on a cushion.

It's up to you.

If you want to close your eyes,

That's great.

But you can leave them open and just soften your gaze a bit as well.

Knowing that if you do close your eyes,

You can open them at any point,

Particularly if you start to notice you're getting sleepy.

So here we're just bringing some friendly interest to whatever we're noticing.

We're not trying to change anything and we're not trying to have any special experience.

Beginning now by bringing attention to the sound of the bell.

Beginning now by bringing attention to the whole body,

Sitting or lying here.

Noticing any sensations of contact between the body and the chair or the floor or whatever you're lying on.

Noticing any sensations of breathing in the body.

A sense of this whole body sitting or lying here,

Breathing.

And then when you're ready,

Begin to gather up the attention and drop it down through the legs and into the feet,

Both feet at the same time,

Imagining a flashlight shining on your feet.

Noticing anything here,

Any sensations,

Maybe some tingling,

Maybe sensations of contact,

Maybe some temperature,

Warmth or coolness,

Perhaps even some areas of no particular sensation at all.

Just noticing that too.

And if at any point you notice that your mind is wandering and you've lost track of your feet,

Simply noticing where it's gone and then guiding it back and allowing it to rest again on the sensations in the feet.

Know that noticing your mind wandering is part of this practice.

Then when you're ready,

Begin to gather up the attention.

Then when you're ready,

Letting go of that sense of the feet and moving up to the ankles,

Shining the flashlight on your ankles,

The ankle bones,

The ankle joints.

Again,

Noticing any sensations here.

Zooming in with your flashlight on particular areas or zooming out and holding this sense of the ankles more broadly.

And then letting go of that sense of the ankles and moving up now to the lower leg,

The front,

The sides,

The back.

Any sensations of contact perhaps.

And we'll move again up to the knee,

Shining the flashlight of your attention on the knee,

The front and the sides,

The back of the knee.

Maybe even inside the knee joint itself.

Exploring more broadly or zooming in with this flashlight of attention to explore a very specific area.

And then letting go of that sense of the knee and moving the flashlight of attention to the upper leg.

Again,

The front,

Sides,

The back of the leg.

Any sensations here.

Not needing anything to be a particular way,

Just allowing what's here to be here.

Noticing any mind-wandering there might be or even some boredom or irritation or frustration.

Maybe even a sense of calm or contentment.

There's no particular way to be in this practice,

No particular experience that's necessary.

We're simply noticing,

Seeing how it is to bring an attitude of interest and friendliness to whatever the experience is right now.

And now letting go of that sense of the upper leg and moving attention to the lower torso.

So the belly and all the way around the lower back.

Noticing any sensations of movement here,

Pressure.

You may even notice some noises,

Maybe the sounds of digestion or hunger.

In the lower back,

This is an area where we often hold tension or tightness.

Just noticing that as well.

Letting go of the lower torso and moving up to the upper torso.

So the upper back and rib cage,

The chest.

Noticing what's here.

Zooming your flashlight in on a specific experience or sensation or moving out more broadly to hold the whole of the upper torso in your awareness.

Noticing any subtle movements here.

And then letting go of the upper torso and moving on up to the shoulders and down through the arms,

All the way down to the fingertips.

Zooming in here to the very ends of the fingertips and any sensations that might be here.

We're zooming out a little and taking in the full length of the fingers and thumbs and the palm of the hand,

The back of the hand.

Holding the hands as a whole in awareness.

And then letting go of the hands now and moving up to the wrists and into the lower arms.

Perhaps there are sensations here of contact or of weight.

Simply noticing what's here.

And then letting go of the lower arm and moving up to the elbow.

The upper arm.

And letting go of the upper arm and moving up to the shoulders and into the neck.

These are areas of the body where there may be tightness or holding.

So making a choice here.

You might want to investigate what this feels like a little more.

Zooming in a little more or zooming out.

Or making a choice to move or adjust posture.

Letting go of the shoulders and the neck and moving up to the head.

Beginning with the front of the head and your chin and lips.

The area above the lips and nose,

Cheeks,

Temples.

The eyes.

The eyebrows and forehead.

Any sensations here in your face.

Expanding the flashlight of your attention onto the top and sides of your head.

Including the ears,

The crown of your head.

And then a sense of the head as a whole.

And now allowing the flashlight of attention shining on the head to expand.

So it floods down through the entire body.

Your shoulders and neck,

Your arms,

Torso,

Leg,

Feet.

Shining a light on the entire body.

One whole body sitting or lying here.

The body supported by the floor or the seat.

And if it feels right,

Maybe seeing how it is to bring a little bit of appreciation to the body.

This living,

Breathing body that does so much for us every day.

As we begin to bring this practice to a close,

Maybe bringing a little bit of movement to the body.

Wiggling fingers and toes.

Beginning to shift posture.

And really taking time and care as you slowly begin to move.

As you do this,

Seeing how it is perhaps to keep a sense of the body as you move into the next moments of your day.

Hey,

Welcome back.

I hope that flashlight practice served you well.

And I'd really like to hear from you.

So please take a moment to rate this practice.

And I'd really like to hear from you.

So please take a moment to rate this practice and leave a review.

I look forward to practicing together again soon.

Reviews

This helped me really settle into my body. Thank you 🙏🏼

I found your flashlight body scan meditation very calming and effective. It helped me relax and focus. Thank you 🙏 💕