Mindfully Focusing On Your Belly

Today, we practiced 'Mindful Awareness Of The Belly', followed by 10 minutes of silence.

Turn your attention to the sensations in your belly.

If your mind wanders, gently and lovingly return your focus to the belly.

Mindfulness trains us to become aware of the contents of consciousness. To notice where our mind is at any point. It also helps us to learn focus. But there is an additional benefit to using the 'anchor' (focus point) of the belly; it fosters a mind-body/somatic connection. Something that is deeply healing and integrating when practiced regularly.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the session. I invite you to lie down or take a seat and get yourself comfortable. You can close down the eyes if you wish. Just begin to slow down the breath, Taking some slow, Deep, Sighing breaths, Just releasing any tension in the mind or the body that you're holding on to. And another one. So today we're going to be looking at a form of mindfulness meditation. The basic practice of mindfulness is that you set an anchor, You turn your attention towards the anchor, And when your mind wanders, You gently and lovingly bring it back. The goal isn't to empty the mind, It isn't to necessarily focus the mind, It's to become aware of the contents of consciousness. To accept reality as it is, For what it is, Right now, Without judgment or filter. So today we'll be using the anchor of the sensations within the body, Particularly in the belly. So I encourage you to put your hands on your belly and just feel what is arising within. The touch of your hands upon your skin, Internal sensations, Maybe feelings of digestion, Paying close attention to the sensations within the belly. We're doing so without judgment, Just noticing and accepting what is arising. And being really curious, Curious about the pressure, About the movement, About the sensations within the belly. If you notice that your mind is wandering, Gently, Lovingly, Return your attention back to the sensations at the belly. You might notice slight muscle contractions and releasings. You might notice feelings of movement, Pressure and release. You might notice a heaviness or an emptiness. We're just noticing what is arising and accepting it. If you notice your mind wandering, Gently, Lovingly, Turn it back to the sensations at the belly. Really double down your attention, Really focus and try and capture everything that is arising in the belly, All of the sensations, Noticing, Witnessing, Accepting without judgment. These are the sensations that are arising in this moment, So accept them. So with mindfulness meditation, You pick an anchor or an object to focus on. Oftentimes people begin with the breath, But you can choose whatever object you like. You can pick information from any of the senses and even internal thoughts. So in this session we chose the belly, Sensations arising from and at the belly. Our mind wanders, We bring it back, Our mind wanders, We bring it back. Practicing mindfulness on the belly gives us three benefits. The awareness of where our mind is in the moment, The primary benefit of mindfulness. The training of focus, Focusing our mind on a particular point, But also a mind-body connection, A somatic connection. Becoming more aware of the sensations in the body, In the belly or otherwise, Can be deeply integrating and deeply healing. So I enjoy practicing mindfulness meditation on focusing on the heart space, On the belly and on other parts of the body. So if this session feels compelling to you, Feel free to explore and play with different anchors of mindfulness. Thank you for joining me and I'll see you in the next session. But if you'd like, We can spend 10 more minutes together meditating, Mindfully focusing on the belly or practicing whatever practice you would like. Okay, So if you'd like to maintain the meditation, You are more than welcome to do so. But for everyone else, I want to say thank you for joining me in this session. There's always something to meditating in community, Either in real life or digitally. Coming together, Even towards the purpose of turning our attention inwards, Adds something. So thank you. Just taking a moment to acknowledge the act of self-care that meditating and indeed meditating daily can do for you. Today we looked at mindfulness, But choosing the anchor of the sensations at the belly. Mindfulness meditation is the act of returning attention back, Refocusing. So if you notice your mind wandering, That's actually the win, That is what you want to be doing. You're like, Oh, I realized that my mind has wandered. You bring it back. So you're training two things simultaneously. The awareness of the contents of consciousness and focus. The awareness is the primary thing we're looking for. It's like, Oh, There's my mind. And then we focus it on the anchor, Whatever we choose. Traditionally, The anchor is set at the breath because it's always moving and always changing. But over time, You can explore different anchors, Any of the sensations, Internal thoughts, In this case, The sensations at the belly. And I like the idea of using sensations from the body as an anchor because it's giving you a third thing, Somatic awareness, Mind-body connection, And perhaps integration. So feel free to explore the belly, Explore the heart space, Or explore mindful observation of any part of the body. Thank you. I'll see you in the next session. Catch you.