Hey everyone and welcome back to the 7x7 Mindfulness Challenge.
Each lesson introduces you to a one-minute practice that you can use just about anywhere and anytime to help bring more mindfulness into your work and your life.
We'll start by teaching you a little bit about each mindfulness technique and then we'll go through a one-minute practice together.
You can always come back to this lesson anytime you want a refresher.
On day three,
You learned the technique of three-part breathing.
Today,
We'll start to release our physical and mental grip on thoughts and emotions using guided imagery.
Now that you've experienced the connection between the mind and the body,
You might start to notice that whenever your mind is clinging to stressful thoughts or feelings,
Your body might also start to clench up.
Learning how to release this sense of gripping in our minds and in our bodies can help to put a little space around these stressful thoughts so that they have less control over our lives.
We'll start by settling in to get the most benefit out of our short practice.
Take a minute to get your body into position where you can feel comfortable and safe and there are no major distractions.
You can also do anything else to make you a little more comfortable like taking off your glasses or grabbing a sweater.
Closing your eyes is always optional and if it's comfortable for you,
You can let them drift closed now or if keeping your eyes open feels more appropriate for you today,
You can still give them a bit of a break by letting your gaze just rest gently somewhere in front of you.
And finally,
Remind yourself that you're here to take the next 60 seconds to be mindful.
So give yourself permission to put any other items on your schedule off to the side,
Just for one minute.
Now we'll get into our guided imagery practice.
This technique has a little more room for what we'll call mindfulness customization.
You'll have the opportunity to choose an image that resonates the most with you.
We'll give you some suggestions to get started and then to finish the practice,
You can pick your favorite option or come up with your own.
So go ahead and start just by focusing on the breath.
There's no need here to count or to do anything special.
Just keep your attention focused on that anchor of your breathing.
And then whenever you notice a thought start to arise,
Remind yourself that you've devoted this particular time to mindfulness and find an image that will help you to let the thought go just for now.
You might picture it as a cloud drifting away into a blue sky or a leaf floating away on the current of a river.
You can also picture the thought written down in a notebook and let it go by turning to a fresh new page.
Or you can imagine the thought exiting your mind on your next exhale.
The intention here is to find an image that will do the best job of helping you to gently and kindly let the thought go,
At least for the amount of time you've set aside for practice today.
So now that you've tried a few images,
You can pick your favorite or experiment with your own for the 60 seconds of our practice.
And now slowly start to relax your attention away from your breath and back into the space around you.
If your eyes were closed,
You can let them gently blink open.
Or if they already were open,
Just bring your gaze slowly back into focus.
Take a second to thank yourself for devoting this minute to mindfulness and to notice how you feel now that the session is complete.
And congratulations for completing Day 4.
Then tomorrow,
We'll lean into this newly created space by using your senses to help stay grounded in the present.
We'll see you then.
