5 Senses Mindfulness Meditation

The more you meditate, the better you’ll be. Whatever you do, find what works best for you. If that means you sit on the floor wrapped in a plush blanket sipping on your favourite tea, then so be it. To enrich your meditation experience — and make it a staple in your daily routine — try focusing on your five senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste) while you get your OM on. Create a quick and short mindfulness meditation of your own to awaken your sense to calm the nervous system down.

Transcript

Welcome to Yoga Beyond Asana. You're listening to Shari and welcome to practice. We all have places to be and things to do and on a constant rush needing to be somewhere. I had been driving around in a predominantly busy neighborhood looking for a parking spot and I had been circling around in vain for the last half hour and I was getting anxious that I might be late for my physio's appointment. You see, A few years ago I had a torn hamstring that was causing me an incredible amount of pain. The pain was always more severe when sitting so while I was strapped in my car with nowhere to go I began to panic. The pain was getting worse. I was about to be late for my appointment and my anxiety was sky-high. In that moment I recall a meditation technique that I learned to help calm the parasympathetic nervous system which is responsible for rest and restore mentality. When we tap into the system it helps to lower the heart rate down and conserves our energy. The first step to this meditation is finding five things you can see. So I started to scan around the neighborhood driving slowly in my car. Luckily there wasn't any traffic on that street. As I began to look for things I saw a familiar face walking down the street. It was my friend, The owner of two beautiful labradoodles on the corner smiling. Curious about what made her so happy I followed her line of sight to see another woman smiling as they walked past each other. As I watched I realized for a moment that I had forgotten my pain and was smiling without even realizing it. Immediately I felt a wave of awareness come over me. Aware that I was not alone. Aware that I was safe and that I would find what I needed which there was a parking spot at the right time and place. It wasn't a few minutes after that that I found a parking spot nearby and I made it to my appointment. Let's take a moment to try the five senses meditation technique together and see if it can help restore balance in our mind and bodies. Wherever you are take a moment to scan around and find five things you can see. Try and pick out things you may not have noticed before or things you looked at often but missed the details on. Now begin to find four things that you can feel. The clothes you're wearing, A blanket you're under or a tree nearby. Notice how they feel on your skin. Textures that are soft or coarse, Itchy or smooth. Moving on to the ears. Begin to tune into one sound happening far away. Maybe a car horn or birds outside chirping or people talking. Move the awareness closer and find one sound happening nearby. Maybe sounds within this room or a building. Now bring the awareness inside, Listening to the sound of your breathing and the rhythm of your heart. Say to yourself I am warm and full of life. Now bring the awareness to the nostrils. Find two things you can smell. Notice any smell pleasant or unpleasant. The smell of food, Trees or flowers or even your breath. And finally find one thing you can taste. Take a sip of water or your favorite drink. Treat yourself to a sweet treat without giving yourself a hard time for it. Simple pleasures. Notice how the mind and body feel now. Maybe there is a softening happening, A gentler voice in your head or an ease of breath. Wherever you are remember that you are never alone. We're all in this wild journey of life together and the five senses meditation is always available to you whenever you need. Namaste.