Below are instructions for brief mindful awareness practices you can do at any time – during a conversation, while taking a walk, or as you sit down at your desk to begin your day. You can combine them or do them individually. If you like, you can record them onto your phone or another device and listen back as you follow the instructions. If you do so, pause at every “…” for two or three breaths.
Breath: Turn your attention to your breathing, noticing the rising and falling in your chest and belly as you breathe in and out… Notice the physical sensations that accompany your breath… Follow your breath from the tip of your nose to the bottom of your lungs and back out again… Notice how the sensations arise not just in your chest and abdomen, but also in other places in your body in more subtle ways… If your mind pulls you away into thoughts or memories, gently escort your attention back to your breath…
Body: Turn your attention to your body as a whole… Slowly scan your body from the top of your head to the tip of your toes… As your attention moves downward, notice the sensations inside your body… Notice any areas of tension… Notice any areas of discomfort… Notice any places where you feel nothing at all… See if you can just notice without judging or trying to change anything… If your mind pulls you away into thoughts or memories, gently escort your attention back to your body as a whole…
Sights: Turn your attention to the sights in your environment… Look around and notice the shapes, colors, and textures that surround you… See if you can notice something you hadn’t noticed before… Notice the variety of visual stimuli that you often miss… If your mind pulls you away into thoughts or memories, gently escort your attention back to the sights in your environment…
Sensations: Now turn your attention to the sensations of touch or pressure where your body makes contact with the chair you’re sitting in or the surface on which you’re lying… Notice where those sensations begin and end… In your mind’s eye, draw a line around the sensations to mark their borders… Shift your attention to the places where your skin makes contact with the air… Notice the sensation of air against your skin… Now notice where your body is covered with clothing… Notice the sensation of your skin touching your clothing… If your mind pulls you away into thoughts or memories, gently escort your attention back to sensations…
Sounds: Turn your attention to the sounds in your environment… Notice the variety of sounds, however subtle, in your surroundings… Notice how each sound occupies its own place in the landscape of your hearing… Some sounds may be brief and fleeting… Some sounds may be continuous… Tune into any sounds that you weren’t aware of before… If your mind pulls you away into thoughts or memories, gently escort your attention back to the sounds in your environment…
Thoughts: Turn your attention to your thoughts… In your mind’s eye, step back from your thoughts and watch them as if from a small distance… Watch them as you might watch images on a movie screen or your computer monitor… See if you can notice what comes to your mind without holding onto it… Simply allow the thoughts to come and go like clouds drifting across the sky… And if you discover that you’ve become caught up in your thoughts, gently escort your attention back to simply noticing them as they come and go…