Connecting To Your Senses: A Mindful Touch Meditation

This meditation is part of a series focused on being mindful of each of our senses. This meditation is focused on your sense of touch and the experience of sensation. It can be completed anytime of day seated or lying down. Thanks for listening!

Transcript

Hello and thank you so much for joining me.

My name is Erin Music and this is another part of a Mindfulness of the Senses series that I'm offering here on Insight Timer.

This one focusing on our sensations,

Our sense of touch.

So this can be a practice that you do seated or lying down,

Whatever is your preference.

You can do this any time of day so it might be something that you do to support with sleep or it might be something that you can do in the morning or really any time.

So I'd invite you now to make your way to a position that will feel supported and comfortable where you can find just a place of rest for the next few moments here for this practice together.

Making any adjustments that you need to make,

Bringing in any props that you might need,

Just really really finding a place and a space where you can feel well supported or you can just let go for a little while.

So you might extend your legs out straight,

Maybe feet falling away like a Shavasana or if you prefer you might have knees bent,

Perhaps a pillow or bolster under your knees.

If you're lying down you may wish to have a blanket,

A pillow beneath your head or maybe you're lying on a yoga mat.

If you're seated you might be curled up,

You might be on a soft surface or more of a chair or maybe you're back up against a wall,

Whatever works best for you in this moment,

On this day,

In the space that you're in.

And then just checking in and noticing anything that you might need to change,

Any shifting,

Anything that feels just not quite right and then just providing some support for yourself to settle in even a little bit further.

And when you're ready,

If you haven't already done so,

Inviting you to close down the eyes gently and then just coming into your breath.

Just noticing its natural flow in and out right now,

Expanding on the inhale,

Contracting and expelling on the exhale.

Nothing that you need to change or fix,

Nothing you need to do right now.

Just letting your breath carry you,

Bringing in with it all that is good and nourishing and cleansing.

And as you breathe out,

Allowing it to clear and clean and expel,

Just this beautiful natural flow of breath in and out.

And as you're breathing,

Just seeing if that brings in maybe just a bit more ease or relaxation into the body.

So keeping that breath ever steady in the background,

We're focusing on our sense of touch today.

So all of these receptors in our skin,

All of the input that we get from our environment,

From the air,

From the sun or the wind,

From the fabrics that are touching our skin,

The sensation of our own hands on our body or perhaps the hands of someone else that we love and feel safe with.

All of this information coming to our stream of consciousness,

Into our heart,

Into our mind in every moment.

And we can maybe,

Even now thinking about it,

We can recall or connect with touch that feels good.

Sensations that are brought into the body with touch that feels inviting or safe,

Warm,

Comfortable,

Enjoyable.

And then there might be touch that's more neutral.

Touch that if you're not really noticing,

You might not even notice that it's there.

You might not pay attention to it.

It's not calling out for you in any particular way.

But when we get really mindful and notice,

Then we might catch some of these little things and they might become a little more obvious as we become more aware.

And then we can also maybe recall or connect with touch that we don't like in our body.

Textures,

Temperatures,

Different sensations again that come into the body that are uncomfortable,

Displeasing,

Things that we just don't like.

So maybe it might be a really hot day and the sun is too much for you.

Or it might be an itchy sweater or a blanket that feels too heavy.

Any of those types of things again,

Those day-to-day inputs.

Our sense of touch is a guidance for us.

It tells us things that are safe and are good and things that maybe aren't so much.

So touch allows us to find safety.

It allows us to find comfort.

It allows us to find pleasure.

And it's like a beacon for us to be able to find our yeses and our nos.

And so you may have recalled some memories or sensations,

Maybe pictures.

And bringing you into this very moment,

We can connect with our sense of touch here now.

So noticing the surface that's beneath you.

Is it hard?

Soft?

Is it flat?

Or are there some valleys,

Some ups and downs,

Maybe with pillows or blankets?

Is it more cool or is it more warm?

Just noticing where your body connects,

Where it touches the surfaces beneath you.

So maybe your heels,

Your shoulder blades,

Your low back,

Or your hips,

Back of your head.

Are those sensations comfortable?

Do you feel held and supported here?

Or perhaps there's something that's a little bit uncomfortable when you notice these points now.

If at any time there is anything that arises in the way of discomfort,

Of course,

Feel free to move,

Readjust,

And support yourself.

And by connecting with this sense right now,

We can again just come back to some information that we need to turn our head slightly or we need a little bit more support in our low back.

And then just noticing the fabrics that are on your skin.

If you're wearing socks or slippers,

Just noticing how those feel on your feet,

Or maybe your bare feet.

And can you connect with the sensation of the air that's around your feet?

Do your feet feel warm or cool?

Maybe somewhere in the middle?

Do you feel any breeze?

Maybe there's a feeling of your feet being hugged by the socks that you're wearing.

And if you have pants or shorts on your bottoms,

Just noticing the sensation of the fabric on your legs.

From your ankles,

Up your shins,

Your calves,

To your knees,

Up your thighs,

The backs of your legs,

All the way up below and then above your belly button,

Potentially,

Depending on your bottoms.

And just noticing again,

Is this a soft fabric?

Is it more rough?

Is it thick or thin?

Do you feel warm or cool?

Maybe if you have a blanket or a sheet on top of you,

You might notice the weight of that on your body.

And again,

Is there any texture or temperature that you can connect to?

And then just moving up the length of your body.

If you're wearing a top,

Is it a warm sweatshirt?

A cool tank top?

A t-shirt?

A robe?

Whatever it is that you have on.

Just again,

Noticing where it covers your body,

How it feels on your body.

And again,

If there's a blanket or sheet here,

Do you feel the weight of it?

Where does it end on your body?

The parts that are covered versus uncovered on your body,

Do you notice the difference?

Maybe you can feel air,

Maybe there's coolness on the bare parts of your skin.

And maybe you feel warmer for the parts that are covered with fabric.

So just using your senses,

Just connecting and noticing all these little subtleties here.

So much in the way of contrast,

But also just noticing whatever it all may be.

We can notice fabrics that we like,

How they feel on our skin,

The weight of a blanket,

What is most pleasing to us,

The shape of a pillow beneath our head.

Do we like the sensation of something on our head or not?

Something that covers our face or not?

Noticing the air around you,

Noticing how it lands on your skin.

And then wherever your arms are right now and your hands,

I'd invite you to just shift a little bit here,

Bringing one hand to the heart,

One hand to the belly.

Doesn't matter which one,

Left or right.

I want you to just see if you can connect with the temperature of your hands.

Are they cool or warm?

Do they match the temperature of your chest and belly or are they different?

Noticing the expansion of breath underneath each of your hands and the contraction and just noticing the sensation of your own touch on your own body.

Just noticing what it feels like to offer yourself safe,

Loving touch,

Allowing you to connect with your breath,

Connect with more sensations here.

Just noticing,

Breathing.

And then if you'd like,

Maybe switching hands.

So switching it out so now the other one is on the heart and the other one is on the belly.

And then again just finding some breath here.

Noticing the weight of each hand,

The temperature.

Is there any change here now that each hand has been resting here for a while?

Perhaps now your hands feel warmer than they did when you first placed them.

Noticing if there's any shifts in clothing or in blankets with your arms now that you've moved.

So letting the sense of touch just be a guide showing you and guiding you and letting you know what's happening.

The sensations of touch,

All of these little nerve endings in our skin.

We take in so much of our environment.

We can feel when things are warm,

When they're hot,

When they're cold,

When they feel sticky,

When they feel maybe a little bit slimy or soft.

We can right away again come back to sensations that feel good,

Ones that feel more neutral,

And ones that are maybe not so welcome.

And all of that is okay.

Touch is a guide to let us know what feels best in our bodies.

So doing our best to just heed and listen and trust it.

It's not to be judged,

It's not to be scrutinized or questioned or analyzed.

It's just information that we can be guided by.

So taking a moment to just have gratitude and give thanks to yet another one of our magnificent senses.

Thanking it for guiding us,

For showing us,

For taking us places,

Allowing us to experience so many wonderful touches,

Wonderful experiences.

And also for it to warn us when things aren't safe for us,

And to let us know what is best for us in our bodies.

And now you can move your hands back down to your sides if you like,

Or rest them on your lap.

And then just taking a moment to notice another shift in sensation,

Or maybe your hands start to change,

Maybe temperature or sensation or blood flow.

And maybe where your hands once were,

You might notice a sensation left from where they were on your belly and on your chest.

So even in the absence of,

We can still have a memory of touch.

So preparing to close off our practice for today,

I'd like you to just witness again all of this information that you have observed within yourself today.

All of the different touch sensations that you have connected to both in this moment and in memory.

Just observing and giving thanks to this sense of touch,

But also to yourself for taking this time,

Allowing yourself to be in this space,

Allowing yourself to practice,

To slow down,

To go within and tend to yourself today.

Finding a couple nice deep breaths,

Maybe starting to wiggle through the fingers and toes,

Rocking the head from side to side,

And starting to come back into your surroundings.

Knowing you are better for it.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Namaste.