Hey everyone,
This is Todd Corbin.
This is an anchoring and arriving practice.
The late great Kobe Bryant would do a mindfulness practice like this,
And he would say that this practice was like having an anchor,
So though no matter what he faced in his day,
He was set and ready for it,
And he performed at an incredibly high level,
And having a calmer and clear mind was a big part of it.
So the reason this practice is so helpful and why it's important,
If you think about it,
To be a little bit more here,
Right here,
Right now,
Is because when you're more present,
You're not adding any additional stress or tension or worry or doubt or fear or frustration into your mind and body,
And that will help you perform at a higher level.
So let's start this practice by just taking a look around.
So wherever you are,
Whether you're inside or outside or sitting or lying down or standing,
Just look around the room you're in or outside and notice those things around you,
And instead of you sending your attention out to look at the objects,
Allow the objects to come to you and just notice different colors,
The different shapes that you're seeing,
Textures,
And as you have been looking,
We've also been listening.
So for the next few moments,
I want you to listen to the sounds around you,
And as you do that,
Allow the sounds to come to you,
Those sounds that are further away,
And even those sounds that are close by.
Just listen.
Instead of sending your attention out,
Just allow the sounds to come to you,
And as you do that,
Notice what may be happening in your mind and body right now,
And as we have been looking and listening,
We've also been feeling the weight of gravity on our body,
Unless we're,
Of course,
In space,
But as you're sitting or standing or lying down,
What I want you to do is feel the impact that gravity has on your body.
So just feel the weight of your body,
And you might notice that's not even a doing.
You don't have to do anything.
Gravity is just impacting us.
It's just a shift in attention,
A shift in awareness,
Where we're now tuning in to the weight of our body as we're sitting or standing,
And also maybe feel the clothes on your back right now,
And if you're wearing shoes or socks or bare feet,
Feel that.
Notice that.
Notice where your feet are.
Feel into that.
Notice where your hands are right now.
And depending on where you were before you started this practice,
Your mind might have been racing.
Your body might have been engaged at a high level,
So perhaps you can even feel into the beating of your heart,
So try to listen and feel for that,
And as we have been looking and listening and feeling into the body,
We've been breathing,
Which is a good thing,
Right?
We breathe about 20,
000 times every day,
And that's powerful because that means that every time we breathe,
We have access to something that is fully present right here,
Right now,
So we can anchor our mind to our breath,
Just like we'd anchor our mind to our body,
Just like we can anchor our mind to a sound,
To what we hear,
To what we see or even smell,
So what I want you to do is just take a few moments and just to start by tuning in to the feeling of your breath,
So as you breathe in,
Feel that,
What it's like to breathe in,
Just notice that.
As you breathe out,
Feel the physical sensations of breathing out.
You might be feeling your breath in your nostrils,
Or you might be feeling your breath in your chest as you're breathing in and out.
Maybe you feel your lungs expanding and contracting.
You can feel your ribcage doing the same,
Or maybe you can tune your attention to the feeling of the breath in your belly.
Wherever you tune your attention to the breath,
Just feel it going in and going out,
And as you do that,
Notice the quality of your mind,
Notice what's happening in your body.
You've created an anchor,
Multiple anchors,
To be a little bit more present in this moment right now,
So that what you're about to do in that next moment,
You're set and ready for whatever may come your way.
So if you've closed your eyes,
With the next breath,
Breathe them open,
Maybe take a deeper than normal inhale,
Breathe it out a little more fully,
And just sit quietly for a moment.
Notice the energy in your body,
Notice the energy in your mind.
This has been Todd Corbin,
And I thank you for listening.
