Interoceptive Awareness Check In

This meditation practices interoceptive awareness - an ability to develop understanding and acceptance of internal signals from your body/mind. You will have the opportunity to journey within and observe without judgement what is true for you in the present moment. Cultivating an attitude of acceptance and understanding for what is, can help develop skills of discernment and awareness. This meditation can be used for a number of human conditions, including depression, anxiety, stress, and pain.

Transcript

This is a short interoception meditation inspired by Segal,

Williams,

And Teasdale mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression.

The breathing space provides a way to step out of automatic pilot mode and reconnect with the present moment.

The key skill is to maintain awareness in the moment.

Go ahead and bring yourself into the present moment by deliberately adopting a long spine and a dignified posture.

If possible,

Close your eyes and find a fixed gait.

Through your awareness now,

Ask yourself,

What is my experience right now in thoughts,

In feelings,

In bodily sensations?

Research and register your experience,

Even if it's unwanted.

Now as if you're gathering yourself,

Gently redirect your full attention to your breath.

Notice the in-breath and out-breath as if they follow each other one after another.

Your breath can function as an anchor to bring you into the present moment and help you tune into a state of awareness and stillness.

Now expand your field of awareness around your breathing so that it includes a sense of your body as a whole.

Notice your posture,

Your facial expression.

You could imagine a sensory field moving slowly outward from your body,

Expanding,

Noticing,

Expanding again,

Noticing.

Through your five senses,

What are you experiencing in your sensory field of awareness?

You might notice what you feel,

Hear,

Taste,

Smell,

Or maybe what you see,

Even if your eyes are closed.

Maybe now can you unite the entire experience and feel as a whole outwardly?

Spend as much time here exploring as you like,

Relaxing back to your breath,

Your anchor