We're going to experience a practice of building the brain,
As we've been discussing.
So this is actually how you do it.
We use a technique called mindfulness,
Which is quite new in the Western world.
It's been around since the 80s,
But very,
Very old in Asia.
And we've discussed how important it is,
According to neuroscience,
How it builds your brain in all the right ways.
So we choose a comfortable seat.
You can sit in a normal chair if you like,
You don't have to sit on a cushion.
If you are sitting on a cushion,
You can cross your legs.
If you're sitting in a chair,
Your feet firmly on the ground,
Your back nice and straight.
You can just drop your chin slightly,
Your shoulders level.
Don't take yourself too seriously.
We're going to start with three deep,
Beautiful breaths,
Just to calm the nervous system and to calm your brain.
Because when you breathe slowly,
You're telling yourself that you are not running from a predator.
Remember the ancient body in the modern world.
So we're doing a bit of a brain hack by breathing.
Breathing deeply through the nostrils,
Inhaling.
And then slowly exhaling it out the nose.
Good.
Another one.
Breathing in through the nose,
Nice and smooth.
And then gently exhaling it out the nostrils.
And last one.
Breathing in through the nostrils.
Fill those lungs.
Open your mouth and gently sigh the breath out.
Coming out to a normal breath.
And if you can,
Breathing through the nostrils,
Nice and calm,
With control and slow.
Just something that feels comfortable to you,
Just quite natural,
Not forced.
And you may even hear yourself breathing.
That's okay.
And one way to come out of autopilot is to experience the here and the now.
As you breathe,
You can hear yourself breathing.
There may be birds tweeting.
Our autopilot brain has a tendency of shooting off into the future.
It doesn't exist.
Or getting lost in the past.
If we focus on our breath and what is now in the moment,
We are here.
Resting your awareness just on the simple process of breathing.
And you may feel in your body the breath as you inhale and exhale.
Relax.
Relax.
As you are doing this,
Your mind might start thinking other thoughts.
You may be wondering,
Why am I doing this?
Or thinking about what's for breakfast or lunch or dinner.
And there is another part of our mind which is the observer,
The meta-awareness.
And we gently encourage the subject of mind,
Which is like a little puppy wandering around,
To say,
Come back.
Come back to this moment,
To my breath.
And there are many distractions,
Sounds,
Sensations,
Thoughts.
Just keep saying,
Come back.
And every time we encourage the mind to return,
It's the same as one repetition for building your brain,
For building your prefrontal cortex as you focus.
Every time you say,
Come back,
Little puppy,
The prefrontal cortex gets thicker,
According to neuroscience.
And this is how you train your brain in mental wellness.
What we call the mechanics of mindfulness.
Give up on the idea of perfect focus.
That may come over time as you practice.
But for now,
Be happy that your brain has started building in all the right places.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Resting gently on your breath.
Nice and easy.
It's just this breath and that breath.
Breathing in,
I know I'm breathing in.
Breathing out,
I know that I'm breathing out.
That's good.
Good.
So now we're gently coming to the end of this practice.
Let's take in a nice deep inhalation.
Breathing in through the nose.
And open the mouth.
Gently sigh the breath out.
Ah.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes.
So there we go.
Maybe this is the first time you've practiced a real mindfulness session.
You've just started building your brain in all the right places.
And in the same way that our body benefits from physical health,
Our brain benefits from this form of mental fitness.
Now you know.
This is the Mindful Revolution.
