This is a 15-minute checking-in guided practice.
The intention is to get a felt sense of how you're doing,
Right here and now.
This is just a toe in the water of our state of mind,
Heart,
And body,
Rather than plunging into the deep end.
It's not an interrogation,
But a gentle warming up of curiosity and willingness to be with whatever might show up.
There will be moments of guided practice as well as silence.
Use those moments of silence to lean into the practice and open up as much as is comfortable for you.
Let's begin by taking our meditation seat,
Welcoming ourselves into this body in this moment.
You don't have to be seated in a chair or in a cushion for this.
You can be standing or lying down,
Whatever is most helpful for you in this moment.
You are seated in a chair,
Placing your feet on the floor.
And if it's comfortable for you to do so,
Scooching forward just a little bit on the edge of your seat if you can,
Holding yourself upright and alert,
Maybe using the backrest a little bit less.
But if you do need to use the backrest,
Do.
Your well-being is the most important thing here,
So take care of yourself.
If you're able to,
Invite the hands to some stillness,
Taking them off the keyboard or mouse or phone,
And just noticing where the hands land on the body,
Legs,
The lap,
Maybe a desk in front of you,
Wherever it is they happen to find some settling in.
You don't have to hold the hands in any particular way,
But you can if you like.
Just noticing the body upright and alert,
Finding a balance between comfort and wakefulness.
The eyes can be closed or open if you prefer,
Just a soft gaze into the visual spectrum is fine.
And we begin checking in with the body through the five senses,
Beginning with our sense of touch.
Noticing right now,
What do you feel on the surface of the skin of the body?
Maybe a sense of temperature in the room?
Clothing on skin?
Contact with the floor or chair?
Take a few moments and just notice those contact points.
What do they feel like?
Is that contact a hard surface or a soft surface?
Does it have texture?
Noticing the sense of touch inside the body as well,
Perhaps itches or aches are showing up,
Or other sensations of movement may be present.
And again,
Gentle curiosity is helpful here.
And shifting to our sense of seeing.
Even if the eyes are closed,
Tuning your attention into seeing,
That experience,
And noticing what's there.
And if the eyes are open,
Not having to focus on any one thing,
Just receiving whatever you see in your environment in this moment,
Not having to shut out anything,
And just receiving the sights,
Even behind closed eyes,
Shifting your attention to listening.
What are some sounds in your environment right now?
And here too,
Not having to identify or think about sounds.
If you notice thinking or other distractions showing up,
Just bring your attention back to the experience of listening,
Receiving sounds and silence.
What's that like?
What shows up for you?
And shifting once more to our sense of smell,
Noticing if there are any scents that you can feel in this moment.
Noticing too,
What is it like if you don't happen to smell anything in this moment?
Checking in is not about having to feel anything,
But just noticing what's already here that may have gone unnoticed.
A light checking in.
Let's take a few moments,
Notice what scents,
Aromas may be present.
What it's like to pay attention to that sense,
Even if nothing presents itself,
Like listening when it's quiet.
And then shifting attention and highlighting your sense of taste,
Welcoming awareness of any flavors that may be here,
Or perhaps none at all,
Choosing to attend to whatever you might be tasting in this moment.
And whenever attention wanders,
Just welcome it back.
Acknowledge the wandering and return to this moment,
The focus you choose to have.
And shifting our checking in practice to the mind and the experience of thinking in this moment.
And here too,
Just a toe in the water,
Just a surface scan without having to get caught up or filter or moderate anything we find.
Turn your attention towards thoughts as they show up,
Make themselves known and move on.
If it's helpful,
Refreshing our intention to just notice what's here without having to change anything.
Light check-in to thoughts coming and going.
And if a thought happens to hold on to attention,
That's an expected part of this process and this practice.
Just acknowledge that,
Let that go by bringing attention back to listening with the mind.
And as best you can,
Releasing judgments or attitudes about what thoughts may be showing up.
Just getting a sense of the temperature of how you're doing in this moment in the realm of thinking.
If it's helpful to you,
Perhaps just noticing the beginning of each thought as it puts in an appearance.
And then receiving the next thought.
And shifting attention just a bit to the heart,
The emotions that,
Like thoughts,
Come and go.
And here too,
This is just a checking in,
A light touch to what is in your heart in this moment.
There's no need to unpack anything or do a deep dive.
Just notice,
Ah,
That emotion,
Ah,
This other emotion.
And allow yourself to receive and acknowledge each as it shows up.
As part of the ingredients of this moment in body and mind and heart.
A light touch,
A little bit of care,
And refreshing a little bit of curiosity.
What are the ingredients of this moment in all three of those,
Body and mind and heart?
With that perspective,
Again,
A playful curiosity.
How are you doing?
And not having to intellectually think about that.
Just notice what the feeling tone is.
Be a sense of wonder about,
What am I doing in this moment?
What's it like to be me?
And knowing that there's no wrong answer.
It's just checking in.
You may notice pleasant things showing up or unpleasant things showing up.
That's an expected part of this process and this practice.
As best you can,
Just receive what is showing up.
Notice it,
Acknowledge it,
And not have to push it away or grab onto it.
Just being aware and experiencing body,
Mind,
And heart.
When you're ready,
If you'd like to open the eyes,
Still being mindfully present,
Still aware,
Still part of our checking in practice,
Listening to the body in a different way,
Inviting maybe a gentle stretch or movement that might feel nice after a few minutes of being relatively still.
And what is that?
Can you be curious about what it feels like to move for a few moments?
And what is that like,
Too?
That is also an experience in this moment.
Remember,
You can do this checking in practice as a formal meditation or just throughout your day to notice how you're doing and make a choice of how you respond to what is showing up for you in each moment.
Thanks so much.
Have a great rest of your day.
