Waking up with awareness.
One of the best techniques to bring mindfulness to everyday living is to start your day with it.
Many of us have rushed a morning routine and do not pause to be present until later in the day.
This exercise can help you start off your day with a mindful moment,
Bolstering your practice in the coming hours.
Mornings may be an especially chaotic time.
Rushing to get to work,
Taking care of children,
And dealing with the foggy morning brain can make it difficult to really be present.
This calls for extra effort and kindness.
The places and times that give you trouble are often the richest opportunities to practice.
Notice when your mind and body are moving towards stress.
You don't need to do anything.
Watch it happen with patient awareness.
Just observing this process can help you understand it more deeply and become less vulnerable to it in the future.
Let's begin.
When you wake up,
Take a moment to pause before you get up.
If you use an alarm clock,
Try attaching a sticky note to it to remind yourself to pause.
While lying in bed,
Tune in to the body.
Feel the body resting and notice how it feels to begin moving and stretching.
Bring your awareness to your breath.
Take a few deep breaths.
Recognize that you woke up and are breathing this morning.
As you get up and begin your day,
Try to retain some awareness.
Routines make it easy to fall into autopilot.
Notice when you lose your presence and come back to mindfulness.
